Graduation Speech 3/14/2016

Graduation Speech 3-14-16

My, How You Have Changed!

Friends and family have probably already noticed the fact that your vocabulary has had a significant change since going to school at Bel-Rea.

“How was your day at work, sweetheart?”

“Oh it was great until a hemoabdomen came in and we had to quickly induce it and get into surgery, of course the mass was splenic in origin and we had to do a splenectomy, and naturally it started running a series of VPCs and went into Vtach, so I had to get out the lidocaine and watch for the arrhythmia to convert.” Bel-Rea is an intensive program that trains the student in many esoteric concepts that requires a great deal of work.

Despite the technical rigors of being a technician, there are many aspects of yourself that has also changed besides knowing big words, being able to run very complicated equipment, and evaluate the health of your patients. It is not to say that these aspects or qualities did not previously exist in you, but they have been developed and amplified during your tenure in this program:

Reliability – the quality of a technician first centers around one important concept, that you are there to do your job. The difference between a great and horrific night is only one technician away. While emphasized in school, during internship, this has certainly been a necessity. You have already shown commitment and perseverance by graduating today. This probably hasn't been a subtle change witnessed by friends and family who notice when you say you are going to do something or be there, you will be.

Teamwork - there is a great Facebook meme out there that shows the avengers and it says something like, “the feeling that you know this will be a great shift”. I'm not sure if the choice of dysfunctional individuals forming an amazing team was intentional, but it can be somewhat appropriate to our field. Many of you, when entering the program were often of the belief that they could avoid humans altogether by working with animals. We all know that is, of course, impossible and after animal care and internship, being a team player is absolutely vital to success. Many friends and family may often notice your increased willingness to participate in groups, or even perform social activity that previously may have been paralyzing for you.

Taken from facebook 3/14/16

Accountability – we all make mistakes, but the first tenet of being a professional is accepting responsibility for your mistakes. As a technician, we learn that many mistakes can be corrected if it is made known in a timely manner. All those around you may start noticing you take more responsibility for your action and that is what being a leader is all about.

Critical thinking – many students have a preconceived notion of what they were going to do after Bel-Rea but we all know that what we plan and what happens are never the same. A very noticeable thing is when watching news programs about animal care, your perspective has changed significantly from when you started. Many of your friends and family have also probably noticed that you tend to approach statements in the media about anything veterinary more skeptically. This may have even spilled over in other facets of your life.

And finally, confidence- every one of you are more confident today than you were years ago and for good reason. You have chosen and succeeded in a difficult profession wrought with physical effort, passion, and critical analysis, and you not only embraced it, but succeeded. You should feel confident about your career and yourself on many levels.

Congratulations Winter Class of 2016! Onward to being a better technician and bettering yourself in many important ways.