Lollipop moments are but small and few. If you don’t know what I’m talking about I suggest you YouTube “Drew Dudley: Leading with Lollipops” (I’ll even include the link in this Blog because I think everyone should watch it at least once). According to Dudley, a lollipop moment is “a moment where someone said something or did something that, you feel, fundamentally made your life better.” My lollipop moment? It came at just the right time.
My name is Chelsea and I am currently a Term 4 (Second Year) DVM student at St. George’s University (SGU), on the island of Grenada. I’m sure you’re all thinking “Holy moly, this girl goes to veterinary school on a Caribbean island? That’s got to be the life!” Sure I live on a tropical island, but I’m still a veterinary student with the exact same course load of any other DVM student studying in the states. I didn’t get out much my first year of school, you could say I was a hermit of sorts. You’d find me pretty much locked in my room spending countless hours going over the physiology behind the cardiovascular system or trying to figure out how the hell you pronounce cricoarytenoideus dorsalis. I often wondered what SGU even saw in me, I was entirely convinced I got in by some mistake. That being said, I suffered constantly from imposter syndrome and was depressed. Everyday I put a smile on my face, pretending that life was good and I was more or less sane. On the inside? I was being torn apart. It was a constant battle of balancing being a DVM student, being thousands of miles away from my family, getting enough sleep, and everything else in between. At the end of the first year, I was seriously considering dropping out of school. Though I was constantly battling my mind, SGU gave me the opportunity to attend the Veterinary Leadership Experience in Post Falls, Idaho. I took them up on the offer, but I felt like I was taking the experience away from someone that would make it in this rigorous DVM program.
I arrived in Post Falls, greeted with applause and smiles. Getting ready to move into small group activities, I spoke with one of my facilitators and referred to her as “Dr.” She stopped right there and said “Oh no, not here. Here I’m Jen.” My other facilitator, Chuck, is a professor at a university and from day one was throwing out hugs left and right. “Okay” I thought, “not exactly what I was expecting.” From this moment on, I was challenged in ways I didn’t think I would be. In the course of a week, I conquered my fear of heights, made lifelong connections with my small group, and learned that never, under any circumstance, should you cut a donut. For the first time in my veterinary career I not only felt my 100% genuine self, but I finally felt like I belonged within this profession. Leaving VLE, I knew I deserved those three letters at the end of my name and a diploma on my wall.
My facilitators and my small group members changed my life. So, I suppose I have two lollipops to “give”. One to SGU, for blessing me with this opportunity and one to VLE, for helping me find myself again and reminding me that I was destined for greatness within this profession.
Drew Dudley – Leading with Lollipops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVCBrkrFrBE
