Some might say it was written in the stars. I think I was always meant to work with and be surrounded by animals. I have always felt they are a part of me; a part of my heart.
I was awkward, with low self esteem when I was a young girl. However, I was ALWAYS sure of my goals, of what I wanted to do in my life.
I don’t remember exactly when I proclaimed to my parents that I wanted to be a vet. It just felt innate to me; that there was no option that I would do anything else. My family always had pets and friends with farms and livestock. From an early age, I had a great passion for horses and equestrianism.
One of my youngest memories is being at a friend’s livestock farm, wandering around, gazing at all the cattle and sheep in awe. I have a picture that my Dad took of me that day. I am sitting by a barbed wire fence, my hand through the wire. reaching towards the ten or so cattle that were curiously surrounding me in quiet wonderment. In that moment, I think he knew I was destined to be a veterinarian.
Like all young girls who dream of being a veterinarian, I was obsessed with all things fluffy and cute. I used to play with multiple legged bugs in the garden; fascinated for hours on end. I could never fathom why others would squash a bug. They were a kind of miracle to me.
People encouraged me in my goal of becoming a veterinarian but many times reminded me that I would have hard and serious work ahead. Or they would comment, “That would be my dream job except I couldn’t put animals to sleep”. This statement reflects an important aspect of animal care. Some people have their dream of becoming a veterinarian end when they face the reality of humanely ending the lives of their older and sick patients. I look back and don’t remember a time when this discouraged me. I knew it would be extremely emotional and yet, although sad, I felt it was a wonderful gift for our loyal companions: gently and painlessly helping them pass on without prolonged suffering and strife. I believed that after the love they had given during their lives, we could offer them a peaceful close to their time with us. So, long story short, this didn’t prevent me from working towards my goal.
The biggest inspiration in my life is my Dad. I get emotional when thinking of the huge influence he has been in my life. He always supported my aspirations to become a vet. It makes me smile when I talk about him. He is such a fascinating, wonderful human being. My dad is a very well respected and renowned orthopaedic surgeon who has dedicated his life to his job, sometimes to the detriment of his family, but never for selfish or self-serving reasons. He is modest, unassuming, funny, personable and, above all, humble.
He has always been focused and driven to get to where he wanted to be. I find myself striving to emulate him. He makes me want to be a better person and to push myself beyond my comfort zone.
One day, after I had finished the third year of my first degree, we were having having a serious conversation about what was “next” for me. He said, “If you know in your heart that you want to be a veterinarian and you are willing to put the work in, I will support you in every way. I will provide the financial backing for you to achieve it.” At that cross roads in my life, his encouragement and faith in my abilities was very significant for me. The reality of the hard work, dedication, sacrifices that lay ahead, plus the possibility of high financial cost to my Dad, sat heavily on my shoulders.
In that moment, he gave me the world. I owe him everything. I am not
sure if he truly understands this; possibly I have not told him enough.
My first degree was a BSc in Animal Science at Aberdeen University. To be honest, I found it fairly easy to do a minimum of work and get through exams while living an “optimal” student life. I had a lot of fun. OK, I admit, sometimes too much fun. But I feel those years were essential in getting the “fun” phase of my student life out of my system and preparing me for the “serious, hard work” that I had been warned about all those years ago. I matured greatly during that time and, unlike my 17 year old self, I was ready for the intensity of Vet school.
Edinburgh Veterinary School was always my top choice for graduate studies. I interviewed at both the University of Glasgow and Edinburgh. After being accepted by both I enthusiastically opted for Edinburgh which allowed me to forego my first year of study and slot straight into the second year of the program.
This later proved to be an extremely stressful, harrowing and emotional step. The warnings of intensity of this course did not do it justice. It very nearly broke me as a person. I found it difficult to contemplate failure but the work load seemed impossible. I relied heavily on my Mum and close family friend for emotional support throughout this time. I survived, although that point was my lowest in vet school. Giving up was NEVER an option.
While I continued to study and work hard, I watched my high school friends move on, holiday without me, get married, buy houses, have children. These things really did not cross my mind…my education was my relationship at that time. It was the sacrifice I had to make in order to get to where I wanted to be.
An amusing memory from my final year ball prior to graduation was an “awards ceremony” at which I was named “Most Likely To Be A TV Vet”…. What lead to that conclusion still remains a mystery to me!
As a graduate, I travelled throughout Scotland and England, contracting at various clinics until I settled at one near my hometown. It was one of the most significant jobs I have ever had. My boss was my friend and mentor. He shared his expertise and I discovered my love for small animal surgery. My workmates were my family.
The decision to leave was purely based on my desire to move to Canada. It was a difficult and terrifying step to take but I felt content. My experiences and sacrifices to date had prepared me for this next chapter in my career.
I started my new life from scratch, with nothing but my cat, “Peanut”, 20kg worth of luggage and a large rented apartment. The experience was everything I thought it would be……exciting, frightening, lonely, sad, happy – the whole bag of emotions.
Of course, at times I felt like I had made a terrible mistake. I think this is to be expected in such a situation. But not once did I regret my move. I have been fiercely independent since a young age (my parents would probably call it stubborn!) and am usually adaptable to a variety of situations. As a family we travelled to at least one different country each year and I developed an awe of the world. It is such an amazing place and begs to be explored.
One person who did make the transition easier was my Aunt. An astounding woman and one of my reasons for choosing Vancouver to live over any other city. She was given a devastating diagnosis of stage 4 metastatic colon cancer just before I moved to Canada. While an extremely upsetting situation, my Aunt made the decision to carry on living her life both upbeat and positively as she always has. She was then and continues to be a huge inspiration to me… She is a vivacious, young at heart, tough, strong and a very independant woman! She has taught me that positivity and the right attitude can help you survive anything in life…
I have realized through the years that I am not happy with a mediocre existence. I have a deep desire and need to be better; to better myself, do better for others and for a more positive world. I may be only one person, but if i can make a small difference and spur others to do the same, then I have succeeded in carrying out the biggest part I can. All while fulfilling my life’s ambitions.
The veterinary profession brings a world of opportunities. One can choose to do good, heal, and draw awareness to what matters on this earth. One thing that I am passionate about is the subject of animal cruelty. Even discussing the topic causes a piece of me to die inside. It hurts to contemplate human acts that cause massive amounts of suffering on an innocent, helpless, living being. It goes against everything I practice and believe in and the oath that I have taken.
The fact that someone is so hedonistic and selfish, motivated by greed, that they can effectively mutilate an African rhino’s face to remove its most defining feature; its horn, is abhorrent to me. It is baffling that a buyer feels his mantel needs this horn more than the rhino does.
This sort of pain and suffering lights a fire within me to do something to help, whether it is to raise awareness of these issues, give aid to sick and injured animals in third world countries or to teach simple husbandry to the people in the countries who need it most.
I have realized through the years that I am not happy with a mediocre existence. I have a deep desire and need to be better; to better myself, do better for others and for a more positive world. I may be only one person, but if I can make a small difference and spur others to do the same, then I have succeeded in carrying out the biggest part I can. All while fulfilling my life’s ambitions.