Stags are back!

There was quite a buzz the first day back to class as good friends reconnected, shared stories from their summer and prepared to dive head first back into school. Some of us were excited to be returning to the classroom, while others were questioning (not for the first time) why exactly they had chosen this for themselves. I think for everyone, though, the anticipation for the upcoming school year was running high.

In a conversation I had with one of the faculty members during the first years’ orientation, I told him, “In some ways it feels like it was ages ago that I was in that seat, and in others it feels like it was just yesterday.” Thinking back on the past year, I am astounded by the sheer magnitude of what we have experienced. A number of us packed up our belongings and moved to a new town (or even a new country!). We became members of a profession. We embarked on a journey that we’d been working so hard to get to for so many years. We met over 100 new people, many of whom would become good friends. We took in over 600 hours of class time. We got hands-on experience with species some us had never touched before. We learned to play new sports. We joined clubs and got involved. We volunteered. We studied. We doubted ourselves a lot. We struggled through difficult exams.  We tried out our amateur auscultation and palpation techniques on our pets at home just to feel like real vets. We partied, laughed, and played. 

No wonder it feels like September 2011 was so long ago.

Sitting through the introductory lectures to our courses for this year, the instructors are not subtle in their warnings about staying on top of the material. Our return to “school life” has been sudden and immediate – we’ve had no choice but to dive in head first. The stakes are higher this year and it’s daunting. But as I look back at the past year and see the mountain we’ve just traversed, I don’t feel quite so unsure and worried about what lies ahead now as I did last September as a brand new vet student. It will be difficult, for sure, and we may suffer long, arduous days…but I’m willing to bet that 2015 will be upon us faster than we expect. 

I, for one, am excited to see what’s in store!

-Dana Lemoine
OVC 2015