Graduation Day!

For those of you who could not be there to share in my graduation ceremony from UC Davis, here is a link for you to view the entire ceremony:

UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine - 2016 Graduation Ceremony

If you zip ahead to the 1 hour 38 minute mark you'll be able to see my graduation speech. I was honored to be selected by my class as the Student Speaker at our Commencement Ceremony. I am so happy that my speech was so well received...it was worth the sleepless nights and anxiety for such an honor.
A huge thank you to the class of 2016 for the honor of representing you at commencement. I love you all. To all my family and friends, thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of this journey and being there at the finish line. I hope to continue to make you all proud!

Here We Go

In just a few days Carolyn and I embark on a crazy journey to the strange and foreign lands of pirates and dinosaurs. While there may not actually be pirates in the Caribbean or dinosaurs in the lost world of Venezuela, adventure is a certainty. For me this marks the first time I will be leaving home soil. Neither Carolyn or I claim to speak Spanish beyond a spattering of improperly conjugated verbs and a few key phrases. Memorizing new vocabulary is practically an occupation for me so I still hold hope that I can be nearly fluent in Spanish when we touch down in Venezuela. This trip was over two years in the making and required careful planning and a great deal of work to make a reality. Carolyn first told me about her plans years ago. She had ordered a Venezuelan travel book with impressive and persuasive full color photos. For years she has been on and off working on a fiction novel in which the main character's journey takes her to Venezuela. The mythology of the indigenous people of Venezuela is woven into her novel and it's natural wonders are almost characters themselves. I remember being at our old house in Santa Barbara after having just camped out in the back yard over night. She turned to the best picture see could find of Angel Falls, "Babe, can we go there?". The thing you have to know about Carolyn is a green light is tantamount to purchasing your ticket when it comes to travel. You can't expect life's relentless gravitational pull toward keeping your feet planted on the ground to win. Pretty early on I realized that not only was this trip going to eventually happen, it had to happen. Regret and restless were destined to haunt Carolyn for the rest of her days if she let gravity win. Given this revelation, I became accomplice to this crazy scheme. I understood that she needed to see this place and finish her novel like I needed to be a vet. For years we racked up airline miles, as the flights to and from were the most expensive part of the journey. If we could save up enough miles we could book the rest relatively cheaply. For two years we dreamed and tried to leave cheaply. Carolyn read books about how to travel and what to do there. We had loose timeline of sometime soon and I had to talk her out of trying to do the trip in between our wedding and moving and starting vet school. In an odd twist of fate our friends sent out an invitation to their wedding for June 22nd this summer on the island of Aruba. Carolyn and I, being experts in geography, didn't even have to google Aruba to know that it was just off the northern coast of Venezuela. To our pleasant surprise not only was Aruba close to Venezuela, it was cheaper to fly from the U.S. to Aruba to Venezuela than it was to fly direct to Venezuela. Significantly. All of a sudden we we're actually doing this. No longer next year or some other vague future time, it was time to make this happen now. That's the short version of how this trip came to be. I can't tell you how many phone calls were made, websites searched, emails exchanged and nights Carolyn had fallen asleep scanning travel sites for perfect deals occurred along the way. Not to mention the vaccines, malaria medications, currency exchange, and passport hurdles.

Here we are. We dreamed big enough, wanted it bad enough,had a push from fate, and we leave on June 19th for the biggest adventure of our lives. One week in Aruba, 2 weeks in Venezuela, and several days journey back via the island of Curacao. In Aruba we will snorkel, relax (hopefully), and attend the wedding of Christo and Sandi. In Venezuela we will take a dugout canoe up the Amazon river to see the world's tallest water fall. How tall is it? 19 times taller that Niagara falls or roughly two Empire State buildings. Along the way we will interact with the Pemon indigenous peoples and hopefully fail to interact with disease carrying mosquitoes. The Amazon is home to alligators, piranhas, anacondas, and numerous other crazy creatures. Our next trek is to the the top of the nations highest peak: Mount Roraima. We will cross rivers, sleep in caves, and explore one the oldest rock formations in the world. Certain plants and animals that only exist in this place in the world will be all ours. We will explore the Valley of Crystals on top of the mountain where quartz crystals come up from the ground. We will feel like we're flying when we look out on top of the 9,000+ foot peak where we get to sleep for one night. The jungle we trek through is home to various species of monkeys, bats, leopards, and giant ant-eaters. Finally we will leave Venezuela for the tiny island of Curacao to enjoy some beach time relaxing and some more world-class snorkeling. We will not be bringing our phones as they most likely won't work and could be stolen or damaged along the way. We might have a few opportunities to check email along the way but it's hard to know when. We have all the bug spray, sun screen, and back packing gear we need (and then some) to ensure we do this trip the right way, which is the prepared way. I think the heaviest thing I am packing is our first-aid kit with every cream, pill, or bandage we could possibly need. We have basic travel insurance to cover well... lets just say we have it. We will arrive back home on July 10th if all goes according to plan. While we are away please don't worry about us. Be excited for us and be anxious to hear about our adventure. This kind of trip is the kind of trip that people dream about their entire lives and never take. This kind of trip will bring with it stories and pictures we can share with people for the rest of our lives. Think of it as just another crazy chapter in the Matt and Carolyn adventure storybook. If all that falls through think of it has something we had to do. Just like in the Pixar movie "Up", which is conceptually based on the Venezuelan lost world, adventure is out there. Only in our story we don't wait. We go.

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Zomney for President if you don't like your brains!

I could go into a prolonged diatribe or express my disbelief that the race is even this close or I could just say watch this video and laugh.

Vet School One Month In: Finding Your Groove

Well it's been over a month now since vet school started. "So what's it been like?" you ask. So far it's been really really good. It hasn't been easy nor has it been too difficult. So far it has been less stressful than undergrad in many ways, yet it would be untruthful to say it's been stress free. It's a different kind of stress. Many of my friends and family have noted my sudden disappearance from planet earth and I can fully attribute that to the kind of experience vet school has been so far. That is it's totally consuming. Where life was put on hold for school before now it seems life revolves around school. I now shower and eat more often at school than at home. I am seriously considering installing a towel rack with some nice decorative towels to "class up" the bathroom at school since I use it more than my own at home. My routine is just now beginning to take shape as the second exam approaches. I passed my first exam but by too narrow of a margin to feel comfortable. I have worked into a solid workout routine but haven't lost any weight as of yet. I have made friends and have been (for me) very social. Yet I am still working on being comfortable with my new peers and myself in this new world. I have moments of confidence in animal handling labs equal in magnitude to those of insecurity in study groups. I absolutely feel good about coming to Davis and love my environment.
The new curriculum that we are learning is still a work in progress. We are constantly confused and chronically uninformed on where to be and when. The night before a lab I realize that I have several instructional videos to watch. I have shown up to class in scrubs with no lab or last minute borrowed rubber muck boots to work in the livestock wing. No one was sure what would be on the exam until roughly 48 hours before it happened. It's not that the program is disorganized, rather, it just works on a need to know basis. You don't need to know until you really need to know. And if you don't know you'd better ask somebody. Me, personally, I think this is all by design. I think they purposefully and skillfully withhold information from us. They know us vet students are planners. We need to know all the info and scheme to be our best selves for a given activity. Here we are forced to be slightly unprepared, slightly uncomfortable, vulnerable, and flexible. We simply must ask our peers questions and consult facebook for consensus on burning questions. We must learn to function in the face of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. Speaking of fear and anxiety...we had a full hour lecture on the alarming prevalence of depression in vet students. Ironically this lecture preceded the hour long discussion that focused on the obscene debt we were taking on and the modest salaries we could expect. What's that? you're not depressed? Well have you calculated how much you'll be paying in interest on your loans? No wonder an easy 60% of us report being depressed or suicidal. Bummed as we all were following those lectures, there was no time to dwell. There's a vet student basketball game at 4, a bbq on campus at 5, a house party at 7. Besides we're here now, no point in dwelling on the imperfections of the profession. I guess if I had to explain what this first few weeks as been like I would use an analogy. Picture yourself working tirelessly in your bathroom mirror to perfectly primp your hair for the biggest dance of your middle school career. You are only so-so on your outfit, you're nervous your going to sweat through your shirt, and you sprayed too much perfume. You get to the dance and you don't see you friends. People are there its just people you only sort of know. Maybe you make awkward small talk with the girl who sits in front of you in English, maybe you fidget in the corner silently. Your crew eventually gets there and the lights go out and the music begins to play. Much to your horror the DJ has dealt a fatal blow to your night. It's a medium paced song. I can slow dance to a slow jam and rock in a somewhat rhythmic motion to a fast song. But what the hell do I do to this song? Panicked you look around and see that others are trying desperately to find the groove. Some are doing well, others look like babies taking their first step. Options include quickly walking out of the dance or risk looking like your inventing a dance that looks like speed tai chi. You've already sweat through your shirt so screw it. You bounce around like an idiot and surprisingly your awkward dance circle digs it. For 3 minutes and 43 seconds you forget how the song began and you forget to worry about if your shirt is cool. Ah, yes this is being in the moment.This is the secret and the key to this dance living up to your wildest day dreams. You are at the dance you might as well try to enjoy yourself. Just when you start to iron out the dance move the song changes. "Pour some sugar on me", Def Leppard. F-it just start running in quasi-slow motion while pumping your fist and hope that they play your song later.

Now that's a proposal!

It's kinda hard to do but this guy puts me to shame in the elaborate marriage proposal department.

I'M IN !

I have been accepted to the UC Davis school of veterinary medicine. The number two school in the nation has chosen me from 1142 people that applied this year (they totally bought the "Batman" thing). This summit, 12 years in the making, has not even begun to sink in. Part of me feels like it won't for a very long time. Nearly every decision made for the last decade centered on how best to inch myself closer toward reaching this point. The heart-ache of disappointing grades, rejection letters, and watching peers pass me by while I continued to slowly make my way, is now part of a whole set of emotions I can completely let go. I made it, and like everyone else always said it was worth it.

I still don't know how I got here other than to say I wouldn't have been possible without the love and support of all my family and friends. The journey towards one's goal is often most difficult at the point at which you are closest to achieving it. Without Carolyn as my constant cheer-leader providing me with an shakeable foundation of support and love I could not have gone this far. Without all the teachings and values instilled in me by my parents I may not have even had the courage to begin this journey much less make it this far. Dad, all of those cheesy kung-fu movies we watched, believe it or not, gave me the idea that no matter the size of the challenge; no retreat, no surrender. You didn't believe in letting me win in chess or basketball, teaching me to not fear challenge or failure in the face of my best effort. You wouldn't allow me to be satisfied with any form of half-assery,and an indefatigable work ethic followed.
Mom, you were always such a kind ear and someone whom I could always lean on. From you I have gathered the importance in fighting for what you want out of life even if the wind blows against you. Your emotional strength knows no bounds and it was this strength you gave to me that carried me through many difficult times. Somehow you are always able to strike the right tone of encouragement, empathy, and reality.
Without all of the fabulous individuals I have worked with over the years I may have lost my way perhaps forgot why it was I set out on this path. From each of the doctors I have worked with I have learned so much. Watching them work was constant motivation. Thank you for all your support Drs. Thank you all my tech homies that made the journey bearable. I have learned a lot from all of you as well and have been deeply heartened by comments like: "when you become a vet, I will be your tech". For those who still want to become vets, you now know it is possible for you to do it as well.
[I would like to thank the academy....the director,..] If this were an award show I would have played off stage by the orchestra ten minutes ago. The list could go on forever but the point is this: WE did it! Please share in this victory with me as part of your own success. Use this moment to reflect on your own goals and realize, as Paulo Coelho writes: "when someone wants something bad enough and follows their own true personal legend (purpose), the entire universe conspires to assist them".
For now I will enjoy the moment and weigh the decision between UC Davis and the Colorado State vet prep program carefully.I cant believe I have a choice to make. Crazy. (Lets see, agenda for this month: decide between top vet schools in nation, finalize wedding plans with girl of dreams, party butt off remaining days of Santa Barbara residency. Seems like becoming starting point guard for the Kings should be next on this list of incredulous to-do's). Colorado is much cheaper than Davis and offers a masters degree in addition to my DVM. However, I don't get to actually start vet school for another year making it a 5 year program in Colorado. Davis is close to almost all of our family and friends and would graduate me in 4 years. The schools swap spots between #2 and #3 in the nation so education quality and program prestige don't really provide a differentiating factor. As master Yoda would have undoubtedly said in this instance, "Have much to consider we do, hard decision it will be. Visit Colorado we must". And Visit Colorado we shall...