We, Jarrettsville Vet, sponsored the pre-expo meet and greet with the vet students at Virginia-Maryland Vet school, my alma mater, in Blacksburg Va. I was given the chance to deliver the opening message. This is what I started the weekend activities with.
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The introductory note was expected to be a chance to highlight the clinic. Use the podium as a pitch to attract the students. As I put it, be the bowerbird. The bird that flashes the pretty objects in front of potential partners. All razzle-dazzle "I'm so pretty you can't resist me."
But why would I make this about me.. this is about them. Isn't medicine always supposed to be about them?
Here it is;
I want to start with a big thank you to everyone who made this possible. I'm not being specific to this event, (although of course I am grateful to be here with all of you), but, a bigger thank you+ to all of the clinicians, technicians, assistants, faculty, staff and benefactors who made this moment what it is. This is a celebration of a collective of dreams. I will be forever indebted and grateful to have been a part of this magical place. I always proclaim that I am the proudest and humblest of any graduate of the Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. So if you haven't heard me proclaim it before I am here again to say Thank You!
Let's take a moment to give a big round of applause to those of you who are living the dream and have guided those along the way in theirs. You all should hear a big congratulations!
There are soo many things that I want to say to you, the next generation of veterinarians.. A million pearls and minutias of advice. I want to imbibe a pep talk to last the decades you have ahead. Sprinkle snippets like; hold this excitement close to your heart. Remember the purpose you came to this place with. Summon the courage it took to come here. The determination of commitment wrapped in empathy. But, this isn't your starting place, that seed was germinating a long time ago. But, it is your launching pad. The magic this vet school holds, the power it bestows will carry you for decades.
For those of you who don't know I came here because the James Herriott books influenced me so compellingly I couldn't imagine being anything else. I loved those stories so much I read them over and over. I wanted to grow up to be that face of kindness, within a small hometown community and live the stories like he did. Such a noble profession centered around the most meaningful acts of compassion. That was who I set out to be some many years ago.
You all are already writing your own stories. You too have already decided who you want to be.
So I am going to start here. This time and place is a reflection of who you already are. The magic of this place is the heroine you are within your own story. The story that has its best chapters yet to be lived. Yet to be written.. For the first time in your life you get to write all of the rest of the chapters. You get to decide all of the characters. The plot. The endings. What could be more magical than that?
Let's remind ourselves that the most cherished part of this story is who you are within it. Not who you hope to be when they get to your next destination. But, who you are right now. You see this person, the one right here, right now, is the culmination of a dream. The manifestation of your hopes. The cure to your hard work and dedication. Medicine is just the scientific concoction that is a problem in search of an answer. The host, the being that medicine applies itself to improve starts with a soul. The rest is accoutrements to the singular being that was always perfect. The road of life just got in the way. How can each of us grow, learn, acquire, live without the influences trying to change us? Why would we willingly allow this?
Medicine is the recipe book for so much about life. Its the way we fabricate answers when life poses us problems we cannot intuitively insulate ourselves from.
Medicine is the guidebook for self care. We learn to articulate a problem. Accept a challenge. Question every aspect of it. Acquiesce to a series of weighted treatment options knowing full well that the tried, true and tested options might be null, void, or, even detrimental. We acknowledge that a new, innovative option might blossom tomorrow. We accept without question that all efforts will fail at some point and death is a part of life.
50 years ago I knew I was meant to be here. My life had to include being a veterinarian. It took me 20 years and a whole other career to get here. Get my feet into that white coat ceremony. Bask in the barrels that is anatomy MDL (do they still call it that?). Sheer, utter, defiant determination built this expert within. I will never be able to repay the debt I owe to those who believed in me enough to grant safe passage here. Graduation was a benchmark but never an end point. The days that came after, the ones so richly packed with cases and challenges only proved what I knew at 6 years old. This is the most noble of professions held in tightly clenched fists of humble pride. Medicine isnt ever about power it is about grace and generosity. It is about kindness wrapped in vulnerable empathy. There is magic in its power. There is a life of infinite bliss here if you can just keep one foot in front of the other, a pocket full of hope, and promises to yourself as a love letter to remind you that you are, always have been everything you ever needed.
Find your place based on what you want your lifes story to read as. Be protective and selective. Never let anyone define or constrain you. This magical story is yours live and you should hope that it includes all of the ups and downs of a tragedy, a mystery and a love story. All of the tears, fears, doubts, and miracles with all of the obligatory highs and lows. The puppies waggles and kisses and yes the euthanasia goodbyes that remind you that you too are living your own James Herriott story. There is a beginning and an end to everything this amazing life delivers. Be as excited, proud, tired and blissful at the last day of your white coat ceremony as you were when you first put it on. The first time they called you "doctor" should be, will be, as magical as the last time you say it to yourself.
Best of luck to all of you.
