The First Fortnight

 Wow wat a crazy few weeks its been, the first two weeks of the rest of my working life, and a lot has happened so lets catch up. For those new grad vets out there who are reading this just know that you are doing amazing, you are worthy of being where you are and you are not an imposter, you belong, keep going you got this! 

How have my work supported me?

I feel like the luckiest vet in the world right now, I start my job at a practice I did about 8 weeks of EMS at throughout my time at university. I knew I got on with the team which for me was the most important thing. I trusted that they would support me through the biggest learning curve of my career. For those of you who are looking into new grad jobs I would say;

1. find a supportive team 

2. don't stay somewhere where you don't feel supported or heard, if its not right then its not right and there is no shame in leaving somewhere that isn't right. 

3. communicate openly about what you are comfortable and uncomfortable with, your boss won't know if you don't tell them.   

For me my work haven't put me on the rota for the first month, I am what you would call a floater, I help out where needed with consults, flea and worm checks, booster vaccines, diarrhoea and vomiting cases. I am also doing surgeries here and there building up my confidence. This has worked amazingly for me I have been able to feel useful and stay somewhat within my comfort zone while always knowing that if needed there will be someone around to give me advise if needed. 

I am also lucky enough that my practice prioritises breaks, we get 1 hr lunch breaks (unpaid) and then at 11am each day we get a coffee and the same again at 4pm except this time there is 30 mins of consults blocked off (unless emergency) so it tends to be a proper break. To me this makes the day flow and brings us together and keeps moral up. 

I have let my work know how much I appreciate them, if your practice are doing something well, make sure to thank them, it'll go a long way.  Ask for feedback ask your manager or mentor if they have any tips for you or anything they think could change to help further your leaning as a new graduate vet. 

So turns out I'm Dyslexic!

So not only have I just completed my first two weeks of my job but I also went and got an official dyslexia diagnosis. Of course I haven't had the official paperwork and the whole report. But my assessor said at the end of the testing that she believed I was dyslexic. OMG the testing is no joke! 4 hours it took and afterwards my brain was FRIED, I got home and I struggled to form a sentence, it was tough. For years I have been wanting to get this diagnosis and in reality I should have got the testing at university, but I was just so scared, I was scared that I would just get the test and be told that I was dumb that I wasn't enough, the fear of being told that during university was too much for me the risk was too much. So having now graduated I thought you know what I have proved to myself that I can do this I have graduated and I have MRCVS after my name I AM ENOUGH, no matter what the result of the dyslexia test I knew I could go in and say with confidence dyslexia or not I am a Vet and I did this through my own work ethic and determination. Well turns out all that worrying was stupid anyway because I am dyslexic. Throughout all of my schooling years going under the radar when it came to diagnosis because I was a hard worker and had reasonably high IQ, I don't know what I'm trying to stay but it feels like I've been validated in some sense, all of my hours of work and setbacks and teachers telling me that my best wasn't good enough, well now I know that my hardest was enough. Having to work was seemed like twice as hard as my friends to get grades around 20% less than them, it was tough but it doesn't mean that I wasn't as worthy as them. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is even though I now have the diagnosis, it doesn't make me any less of a vet, I'm sure over the coming years I will delve into my dyslexic strengths and work out ways to work around the areas I struggle with. 

To everyone who has supported me and helped me through my schooling thank you, thanks for putting up with all my quirks and for those of you who pushed me for the diagnosis thank you, you know who you are. Those of you who have been here for a while from the way I write you could probably tell that I was dyslexic especially if you know me in real life, I type how I speak there's no difference what you see is what you get.