My Favorite Tuesday Afternoon

Anika Farina - Tufts

Experiences - Winner

I would like to share an experience of mine that has left me so passionate to become a vet. This is a story I wrote during my Junior year at my undergraduate institution (The University of Colorado at Boulder).

         Growing up I had that ‘childhood DREAM’ of becoming Mia Hamm. I was going to be the next famous goal scorer on the USA Women’s Soccer Olympic Gold Medal Team. But even if that did not work out, I knew I would work with athletes as a coach or physical therapist, or through a prestigious organization like the Olympics. However, as college academia began to take priority, I decided to stop playing competitive soccer and focus on my academic courses of study. 

         This semester I enrolled myself in a course entitled “Disabilities in Contemporary American Society.” I chose this course because it is worthwhile to me to understand the true issues people with disabilities face in society today. Throughout the semester I have realized this course has taught me so much more than I could have imagined. Most importantly, it encouraged me to reflect on my career choice of becoming a veterinarian.

         On a Tuesday evening, during the first guest lecture in the course, there was a moment where I realized I was so proud of myself for choosing the path of becoming a veterinarian. During this guest lecture, five members of the EXPAND program (for people with disabilities), came to speak to the class about the struggles they, as paraplegics and quadriplegics, face in abled-body society.

         Jason Regier, a two time gold medalist and member of the U.S Paralympic Quad (Quadriplegic) Rugby Team, eventually took the stage. Completely composed as he talked about his life as a college student before his spinal injury, and then his life as a quadriplegic, you could tell Jason was a very strong and brave man. He continued on to describe to the class the obstacles he had to overcome as he began to train for the U.S Quad Rugby Team. Through his hard work and motivation, he qualified for both the Beijing and London Olympics, (in which his team won Gold Medals).

         But then, it was after he shared this with the class, that he accidently showed his emotions.

         I will always remember the next words that came out of Jason’s mouth. He said, “The happiest day of my life was after I won the Gold Medal in Beijing. Then I flew back to the U.S, and two days after I had won the Gold in Beijing, I had the worst day of my life. I had to put my service dog down.”

         It was in this last sentence that Jason’s voice began to crack. Jason paused for a moment, and apologized to the class. He needed to take a minute to calm down and prevent himself from crying.

         It was explaining to the class that he had lost his dog, that caused Jason to break down and lose his composure. 

 In that same moment, I realized that it was the pain of losing an animal companion, five years ago, that has caused Jason more pain than any other event in his life.

         And In this moment, I discovered that as a vet I would do so much more good for individuals and communities than I would do as a coach or physical therapist to the few elite athletes in the world. While sports do so much physically and mentally for children, teens, and adults, being able to save someone’s service dog may really mean so much more. 

         Ultimately, my love for soccer and passion for sports will never leave me, but I have never been more inspired to become a veterinarian than I had that Tuesday afternoon.