Reflections on Life in Vet School
Saturday, November 29, 2014 at 12:00PM Therese Gavin, Texas A&M
Life as A Vet Student, Entry
Not long ago, an old friend asked me what the theme of my life in veterinary school was. The question caught me by surprise, but what surprised me more was I honestly did not know the answer. So, I did what one typically does in such situations, and said something I knew wasn’t wrong, but also wasn’t quite right—“Contentment,” and hoped my answer wasn’t questioned. Yet, the question remained on my mind and I soon discovered why.
I have literally been in school for 91.6% of my life, and those fleeting two years prior to school were primarily consumed by a desire to consume as much mac n’ cheese as possible. It is no surprise that this vast amount of schooling has become somewhat of a blur. However, looking back, I realized the profundity of the question posed to me, and the truth behind it: the main difference between my life in vet school and my life before it did indeed come down to a matter of theme.
In veterinary school, I have encountered some of the most motivated people I have ever met. Most of my 132 classmates have dreamed of being a veterinarian for their entire lives. Many applied multiple times, refusing to accept failure as an option. We are the poster children for living your dream and never giving up. I took all the right classes, volunteered at the shelter, shadowed at the local veterinary clinics-my entire life was consumed by the desire to get into vet school, and this effort paid off, as I am now beginning my third year of vet school. Life before vet school was characterized by persistence and an unwavering desire to succeed, despite any obstacles that may be encountered along the way.
So, the theme of life before vet school was, quite simply, a constant future-focused lifestyle where I was always looking towards the future.
One of my favorite professors in undergrad would always remind us to “stop and smell the roses.” It was a strange message to have intertwined in the Biochemistry lesson, but a needed one. He knew his class was full of high-achieving pre-medical and pre-veterinary students who had grown up working hard and striving towards their goals-we didn’t need anyone to tell us to live our dreams, we had that part down. Instead, we needed someone to tell us to pause for a few minutes and remind us to look at the blessing surrounding us.
We were the poster children for never giving up and being future-minded, yet at some point, we got so caught up in looking ahead to the next goal that we began to miss the good things along the way. We came to class with sour looks on our faces and complaints on our tongues, completely losing sight of the things we have to be joyful for.
I spent my whole life this way, thinking of vet school as the goal, and everything else was just a means to an end. Now that I have finally realized that goal, it is hard to do anything but continue to think that way, and in truth, it is not a bad way to live. I am exactly where I have always wanted to be in life, and without my drive and future-focused lifestyle, I know I would be at a very different place in life.
There is a French phrase, “L’appel du vide,” literally translated to “the appeal of the void,” which describes the inexplicable feeling that overcomes you when you are at a high place to simply jump off, despite the deadly consequences that will inevitably result from this decision. It is not that you want to die, but rather, that jumping would be the option that hands you the greatest amount of control-you can stand there, on that ledge, and accept that a gust of wind may push you off, or you may accidentally miscalculate a step and end up falling to your untimely death…or, you can just do it yourself. Seize control of your fate, make your own future. Just like we are always taught to do.
It is not always wrong to stop trying to achieve maximum control over your life, even if just for a few moments, because at some point, our need to constantly control the future will equate to suicide. Our ability to discern between these moments and the ones that we should control is what leads us on the path to true satisfaction. For some, the difficulty lies in seizing control and stepping forward, but in my life, I have found that stopping is the real challenge.
To this end, I vowed to make the change the theme of life during vet school from that focus on the future mentality that defined life before professional school. This difference is not so much a change in lifestyle choices as it is a change in perspective.
My favorite professor, Dr. Tom Hanks, was recently asked to give a “Last Lecture.” In this lecture, the speaker attempts to portray a message that he would want the audience to take away about life and the lessons contained within, supposing it was the last lecture he was ever able to give. Dr. Hanks concluded his lecture with the following:
“Seek your passion. Don’t give up. Because then you’re just waiting for the reaper.
Do not seek your passion in money or things. Seek them in your heart, and follow them wherever they lead.”
To this I would add:
“As you are following your passion, open your eyes to the road around you. Enjoy the scenery. Pause occasionally and check your compass, internally and externally, and make sure it still points north. Do not seek for the sake of seeking-Never allow yourself to become so concerned with the destination that you forget the passion driving you to it.”
So, while the theme of my life in veterinary school is still a work in progress, for the first time, I am making it a priority to not only continue achieving my goals, but also to appreciate the present, refusing to allow the beauty around me to be lost amidst the future-focused lifestyle. During these past two years, I began to notice the roses that line my path and they restored my sense of joy and peace, reminding me that it is indeed the path I am destined to be walking upon. This year, I hope to be able to say I not only saw these roses, but I smelled them as well.
-T. Gavin
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
“Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different...” –C.S. Lewis, “Prince Caspian”
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