After my internship, I interviewed my mentor to get an insight on her path of becoming a Veterinarian. This interview struck me in a way that I never could have imagined. Working with Dr. Bischel beforehand, and watching her practice veterinary medicine inspired me to pursue my passion to become a veterinarian. We have previously chatted about the skills needed in order to “keep a good head on your shoulders”, as she would say. We talked about what it means to focus on academics and how to stick to your passion, ours being veterinary science. Through these conversations, I realized two things. One being that Dr.B’s path and mine sound awfully familiar, and the second one being that I Found my internal motivation.
At the first student led conference of the semester, Ms.Nuvia brought up the terms “Internally and externally motivated”. I never really understood what they meant. I knew the broad definitions of the words but the only one that rang true in my life at the moment was external motivation. I would complete assignments so I could get a good grade and that was it, versus being internally motivated to complete the work because I wanted to learn about the subject. Internal motivation was something I honestly never expected to find. I was hoping I could ride on external motivation to get me where I wanted to go.
Doing my internship at Eastlake Village Veterinary Clinic sparked my passion for helping animals, and as a result, I have been more motivated than ever. The switch was like night and day. It was almost as if as soon as Dr.B said,
“You just have to really stay focused and keep that path if it’s your passion. And if it is truly your passion it’s going to be easy to do because I know that it was mine and I have known since I was 5 years old that I said I want to be a vet.”.
Every word she said rang true. I knew that I have solidified my career path, and that the road getting there is not going to be easy, but I am willing to fight for it because I am not doing it for me. I am doing it for the dog that broke their leg. For the dog that was dumped on the side of the road. For the cat that ran away from home. And for the hundreds of animals that I know that I will help.