Moving Forward
Dear students,
On the morning of September 11th, 2001, my classmates and I were sitting in a lecture in Room 13. With no warning, class was interrupted and we were told by a school administrator that there was an active terror attack in New York City and that we were to leave the School and return to our homes until further instruction.
I'll never forget that morning and the way the air felt. It was unfamiliar and surreal. And in the days that followed, things started changing. Two of our classmates never came back to School. Others couldn't return home to New York to be with their families. Some still hadn't heard from loved ones that worked in Lower Manhattan.
It was a scar on our country that would take years to heal; but in the months and years that followed we moved forward, we went to work, and as students at Penn we threw ourselves into our studies and at the end of four years, became veterinarians. Four years after 9/11, I was an intern at AMC in Manhattan, where New Yorkers still had not healed, but continued to look forward to better days ahead. Even though it is a distant memory, I will never forget those years following 9/11 when we were all just trying to figure things out the best ways we knew how.
The COVID-19 crisis this year is like nothing we've ever dealt with in our lives before and, unlike 9/11, this is an event that is taking lives in many countries and is so much bigger and so much more terrifying in its magnitude. COVID is forcing us to face fears that we never knew we had, and to make changes in our lives that we never fathomed we'd have to make. We are "winging it" in nearly every aspect of our daily lives, trying to accomplish our tasks efficiently while working remotely, trying to balance our lives, and find comfort even though we can't embrace our families and loved ones the ways we want to, and trying to understand if and when things will get better. Amidst all of this, you are trying to fulfill your dream of becoming a veterinarian; but with all of these nebulous unknowns, it may seem an unachievable goal.
Bottom line: The months and years ahead will be hard. Things will be tedious and frustrating. There will be days when you are in the weeds and feeling overwhelmed and lose your way a little. However, you will adapt and should take comfort in the fact that you are in good company. I am a clinical assistant professor at another veterinary school and we are all struggling to make sense of things, but as educators we learn more every day about how to make it work and how to make the process the best we can for students. We understand how stressful and upsetting this is for you and it is our highest priority to innovate and make sure that your education not only makes you the best veterinarian, but is also enjoyable and memorable.
Even though it seems like there may not be one taking shape, trust the process. It's there - it just needs to declare itself over time. And trust Penn. I feel lucky to have received my VMD from Penn, just like you will, and have nothing but the utmost confidence in the School's faculty and administration. They will get you through this. And your classmates will get you through this. And your friends and family will get you through this. And you will succeed because you will do what you set out to do, even though the path may look a little different than you had envisioned.
You will always remember this time in your life, and many of the memories will involve the uncertainty you may be experiencing now. But you'll also remember how you persevered and learned from your faculty and mentors and connected with pet owners and contributed to groundbreaking research and made animals and people healthier. COVID may delay things from happening and change the world in ways that are out of our control, but it won't change our goal of helping the world's animals live better lives. Remember your goal. You'll get there, and it will all be worth it.
Seth Eaton, V'04