I have been told that I would not fit in very many places.
I thought that was an odd comment as I like just about everyone I meet and can work well with any personality type.
True I am super awkward ALL of the time. True I have never been accused of being cool. True I am so introverted that meeting people almost physically hurts.
But I love meeting people and getting to know them and always have. In a high school divided very deeply along clique lines (yes, Millard North), I spent time with the cheerleaders and the outcasts and the only out kid in school and the art kids and the math kids – my people to this day - and loved (love) them all. Whenever I have a say, once we are friends, we are friends for the duration.
Liz with Joy and Lucky
This past summer, I met teams at 23 different veterinary hospitals in Omaha and Bellevue. Every single hospital and every single team I visited is great. Every single person is wonderful. No word of a lie. I honestly like them all. The summer of 2021 was one of the best seasons of my career, even though I was between jobs.
As I walked into one of my first interviews in the early summer, a technician looked up from his patient and yelled, “Finch! I am so glad you’re here!” And another technician said later that day, “It has been so good to get to know you.” Hmm. Maybe I could fit in SOMEWHERE.
As I walked into the treatment room during one of my last interviews, a technician said, “I told my boss to offer you a job, because when you worked at Banfield, my friend told me you were nice to the techs.” And her boss DID offer me a job. An excellent one. Then it happened again. Hmm.
Everywhere I went, everyone welcomed me onto the team – for a minute, for an hour, for a day or for eight. And thankfully, Dr. Rachwitz and the Twin Creek Animal Hospital team (along with eight others and a bar) invited me to stay. I am staying here as long as I can. I love it so much.
Post-Pandemic, in The After Times (They ARE coming), I hope to see the rest of the veterinary team members I have met at veterinary meetings and the Street Dog Coalition and farmers markets – and Jukes Ale Works - too.
Before I had made my final decision, as the summer drew to a close, Dr. Rachwitz kept saying, “Just spend time with my team. You will know you want to stay.” He was absolutely right. I felt like…I fit in. The team is awesome. The leadership is awesome. For lack of a better word (just kidding, I just really love this one…), the medicine and surgery and client care and inner-team care are…awesome.
I ask the clients if we can do some tests, and they say YES and that they are glad I joined the team. I ask the team if I can sit with them at lunch, and they yell YES. I ask the docs if they will help with a case, and they say YES. They allowed me to come right into the middle of their medical work and their friendship and just…stay. I love it – and them - so much.
I was angry with myself for letting that strange comment just set up shop in my brain and heart. It is curious the things we accept as true without pausing to ask whether they match what we know to actually be true, often without even noticing that we are doing it.
This past summer, it started to dawn on me with the relentless stream of kindness that maybe I DO fit in, or can. And when I walk in to work in the mornings, I remember that I am again a part of a team, and being a part of a team has always been my favorite part of my now long and winding career.
Thank you all – the ones who welcomed me in for a short time, and the ones who welcomed me for the long run. You all make this career amazing, and I love walking through it with you.
I forgot how great it can be to do this with you, but I will not forget again.