Don’t Give Up

First of all, I just want to say sorry for my break from writing: my planned ‘brief hiatus’ turned out to be much much longer than I would have liked! Relating to my time away from pen and paper, I would like to use this first blog post of 2020 to think about just how difficult it is to be a vet student, and say that it is completely normal to struggle to stay motivated and stay healthy!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Vet school is far from being easy! You’re away from home, contending with long hours at uni, deadlines, a highly intensive course, and those all too close for comfort exams…it’s a pretty stressful ordeal! Most people manage to battle through, and after five years get to call themselves ‘MRCVS’, as we have all spent a lifetime hoping for. However, it is not always plain-sailing.
As you may have read in ‘The Road Is Not Always Smooth’, my previous post, I spent a large portion of this summer juggling EMS placements with revision for August resit exams; a battle which unfortunately culminated in failing my third year of vet school. Hence, my retake year began, and along with it came a hefty dose of stress, panic, and defeat.
For most of the first semester of the year, I was feeling deflated, alone, hopeless, and basically expected myself to fail again; and in succumbing to these thoughts, I was probably setting myself up to fail again! But then, I realised something had to change, and I started to talk to the people around me. Talking does not magically solve problems overnight, but it is a crucial part of the process of taking down the wall we build around ourselves when things start to get tough, and allowing ourselves to be supported. Brick by brick, it does get better!
And talking to someone does not necessarily mean visiting a counsellor. Counsellors have been specifically trained to know how people’s brains work, and can therefore offer amazing tips, advice and support when you most need it, but they are not the only option. If counselling services are not suited to you, you are not ‘beyond hope’, there are plenty of people around to help you! I personally found the biggest healing power to come from the people who know me best, either from a personal perspective or a professional one (and my housemates who know me in both situations are just amazing support!). They know you, they see your good points, and sometimes they will know how you can make things better for yourself by suggesting things like taking up a hobby, or taking a walk, or even just telling you that you’re great at what you do! On top of all of this, they care about you and they want to help!
In summary, I’d just like to share a couple of things this year (so far!) has taught me:
1. Failure is normal– embrace it and learn from it, do not let it defeat you!
2. Friends and family are amazing– all you need to do is reach out and let them know how you’re feeling!
3. It is never the end of the road
Keep battling on, and you’ll get there eventually!