Change. . . is evil. 
I have nothing to base this statement on but I am certain it is true.  In the next two weeks I will graduate from UC Davis as Dr. Riley, pack my house, move myself, my dog and cat to the opposite side of the country, start a new job, new career and attempt to construct a completely new social network.  I need to take 800mg of ibuprofen with a glass of wine just thinking about it.

Poppy and Lulu playing ball in the backyard. We will miss our animal roommates too!

Change. . . is dangerous.
People always talk about what an adventure these types of life changes are.  Well adventure is overrated!  Adventure often involve snakes and getting injured.  Sure, you might end up with a great tan and a cool bracelet identifying you as a fellow soldier in a remote African mountain tribe, but is it worth it really? 

Good times on GEVA dental days

Change. . . is only partially deniable.
My brother told me that denial is a perfectly healthy way of handling these kinds of stressful situations.  That had been working really well. But when you start packing, when graduation approaches, when your parents start asking you what day would be best to fly home, leaving you virtually abandoned to the humidity and loneliness of North Carolina, it is more and more difficult to deny that change is coming.

The beautiful future of equine veterinary medicine

Change. . . is relentless.
Change approaches at the same rate whether you are dreading it or hoping for it with every fiber of your being. 

The regularly featured partner in crime Dr. Pryor and myself at Drake's Beach

Change. . . is a sacrifice.
The hardest part of all of this is the changes in relationships.  For the last four years, I have been working alongside an elect group of amazingly intelligent, kind and fun people.  I'm not just referring to my classmates, who are incredible, but all the doctors and technicians that I no longer just respect and revere but consider my friends.  Veterinary work is demanding and it makes all the difference in the world when you work with people who make you laugh, who challenge you and who support you.  While I'm not giving up these friendships, because I believe they will always be there, they are changing. 

Two of my favorite residents, Jan and Albert working on an abscess.

Change. . . is necessary.
Did I just write that?  Most of us do not like change.  We like patterns, routines and comfort but if I refused this change and instead I clung to these last four years of my life, what would happen?  I would be hanging onto an empty shell, a corpse.  The life of vet school is about to leave and all I would have to hang onto and live in, is the memory.  Life would grow stale and stagnant.  Change is forcing me out of my comfort zone again, making me grow as a person and now as a doctor.  There will be new patterns and routines and in a year, I will be asked to leave them behind again.
So maybe change isn't evil.  It feels evil right now but maybe change is doing me a favor.  Maybe change knows better than I do, what is good for me.
That being said, I will miss these days and I will look back, with fondest memories, on the class of 2012 and our clinical year in the UC Davis VMTH.

So goodbye for now UC Davis.  Maybe our paths will cross again in the future. . . .