When I was little, my parents would only let me be in one extracurricular activity at a time. I chose band. When “all of my friends” signed up to be cheer leaders for the local pop warner football teams, I was told that I had to choose between that and my clarinet. I stuck with band. Now, several years later, I’m wondering if I’d have made a good cheer leader after all.
This has been the toughest semester of school I’ve ever had. I think that holds true for a lot of my classmates as well. I used to roll my eyes when the class above ours would talk about “the emotional pit of veterinary school” thinking that it didn’t exist. Well, my class has found it. This is the first time I’ve ever looked around the classroom and wondered if we’ll all make it out together.
I’m an optimist. I always have been. I’m the one people come to when they need a good pep-talk about getting through finals (or exams or presentations). I am the cheer-leader. Most of my classmates will never see me as anything different. Only a few have really seen me flip out, and I’d like to keep it that way (for now, at least). I just figure we’ve all invested so much (money, energy, time) to get this far, I’m going to do what I can to make sure we’re all doctors on the other side (regardless of what the job market looks like).
So here goes: I have two finals left and they’re going to be pretty terrible. I can do it. I can study my butt off and take these last two finals and then I can enjoy the holidays. I can watch TV without guilt and I can play video games and I can read a book FOR FUN. It’s all going to be worth it some day. I can do it.
Sometimes even the cheer-leader needs some cheering.
