Days Like These
It’s on days like these that I remember why I decided to go to vet school in the first place. They remind me why all the stupidity and the drama and the annoying things like studying and NEVER GETTING TO TOUCH A REAL ANIMAL are worth it - because in the end, we get to see real animals and we get to help people with those real animals.
I’ve always really enjoyed our Correlates classes. They are essentially husbandry classes and skills classes - because even though you could make an entire semesters worth of lectures and exams out of Equine Care, Maintenance and Exam, we just don’t have time for it. So all the food animals and small animals and their care and how to examine them is condensed into short little two hour sessions each week and every once and a while we have a talk on ethics or the animal shelter or behavior.
Today was my bovine correlates for this year and even though I didn’t get to actually touch a cow - the clinician leading the talk is one of the best faculty at the entirety of Texas A&M. Here is a man who actually gives a crap about the students - really, truly about the students - and not research or their job or their aspirations to get tenure or that specialization or that grant money. He actually listens to each and every one of us, actually cares about our opinions, fears, hopes and goals, and makes us feel like yeah, at first we are going to totally suck at being vets, but in a few year’s time we’ll finally have the competency we so desire to have and everyone will survive.
The other thing this clinician reminded me of is the fact that I secretly love large animal medicine. Not horses so much, but cows for sure. They remind me of those happy 10 weeks I spent in Costa Rica, a la James Herriot only with mosquitos and sun tan lotion. He reminded me that even though I don’t know anything about cows or about farm life, that if I want to be interested in it, I can be, and I don’t have to be defined by my background and I don’t have to let what I’m familiar with govern my career path within the profession.
Honestly, I love dogs. I love them more than life itself, and if I could see just dogs all day long, I would never get bored and I would never grow tired of listening to people talk about them. But there is more to being a vet than working on your favorite animal and being the best advocate for that species you can be - you still have to live in the real world and you have to enjoy your life outside of work. And for me to enjoy life outside of work… I don’t think I could live in a big city. I don’t think I would like commuting every day, and I know from previous jobs that unless there are frequent changes of scenery, I come to loathe what I do just because I hate being trapped in the same place, day after day after day.
It’s why I love my work at the aviary so much. Sometimes I’m in the office, sometimes I’m in the lab, and every day I go out there and check on my ducklings. One job with three locations, it’s perfect. And I think rural Texas (or any other state) has a lot to offer me in that arena. I love driving past pastures in the quiet of the morning (or riding my bike, depending on how ambitious i feel that morning) and I enjoy fresh air and sunshine. I like being away from the congestion and rage of humanity in the city. I like the idea of living in a town where everyone knows everyone - it’s a secret delight to my inner gossip. It’s why I love my neighborhood - I know just about everyone and my neighbors are my friends. I read the newspaper everyday because my community is important to me, the things going on here, locally, are important to me, and in my mind, rural life exemplifies this lifestyle.
I like feed stores and small groceries and run down old barns and life centering around schools and churches and the post-office. I like being spread out, far away and not tempted by all the material things in life. I like to have my hands in my pockets and my heels in the dirt and I like the very visceral, very real and alive feeling I get when I’m out tottering around in the country.
The other bonus for me is that I will not have a single cent in debt when I graduate. Although rural vets do not get paid less than their city counterparts, or even work more hours, I certainly don’t even have to worry about those fears, even if they are myths. I can freely choose to do as I wish in my career. My only fear is the extreme lack of technical skill that I posses, but that can be easily remedied.
It’s days like these that are my favorite because it’s when the real learning takes place. Looking at that cow in the large animal clinic, grinding its teeth and looking miserable made so much more of an impression on me than learning about the technical aspects of its disease, uroabdomen, via powerpoint in a sterile lecture hall.
I knew i chose this career for a reason.
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