//beginnings

After my first month in practice, my boss sat me down and asked me how I was going. I thought about all the mistakes I’d made, the dumb things I’d done or said, and the deep sadness I’d felt alongside those tiny but significant moments of triumph. One month out and I still felt useless. I needed so much support. When was I going to actually feel like a vet?

“I’m still pretty stressed out. I’m just so slow and I need so much help even now.”
“Oh, that’s okay.”
“I actually still feel like a bumbling student.”
“Well, get used to it.”
“What?”
“I’ve been at it twenty years and the feeling still hasn’t gone away.”

I realised then that I wasn’t alone, not really. I was going through what thousands of vets had gone through before me. Everyone, even my respected and infallible boss had done some stupid and embarrassing things. Everyone started somewhere. And even decades on, everyone is always still learning.

I guess that’s why they call it a veterinary practice.

My journey had only just begun. The road ahead was going to be long and tortuous. But I finally understood that there was no actual destination. Only the journey. There were going to be good times, there were going to be tough times, and, oh yes, there would be stories to tell.