‘Find your cause’

Published 2:08 pm Monday, April 16, 2018

A room full of veterinary medicine students sat in attention as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue spoke of his experiences as a veterinarian and politician at the DeBusk Veterinary Teaching Center in Ewing, Virginia, on Monday.

Perdue was born in Bonaire, Georgia, and was a farmer, veterinarian, and the governor of Georgia before he was appointed to the position of Secretary of Agriculture by President Donald Trump in early 2017.

He spoke on his own personal success and his philosophy in achieving it while interjecting good-natured humor into the lecture that kept the audience’s attention.

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“Life is a infinite lifetime of differential diagnoses. Life is about choices. It’s about learning how to make good decisions. It’s about learning how to take data and facts and diagnostics of a situation and deciding whether it’s A or B,” said Perdue.

Perdue stated that veterinary medicine helps a person sort and assimilate through decisions and data to get clarity on the path that you should take in life.

“The great thing about LMU and what you’re learning about in veterinary school is learning how to go back in your communities…I believe in getting indigenous students…indigenous to this part of the country…to go back and lift up your communities,” he said.

Perdue spoke at length about having a genuine cause for being a veterinarian.

“What is your cause? What do you want to do? What impact do you want to make in life? You just didn’t come to veterinarian school to be a veterinarian. You came to do something and to be somebody…I want to challenge you all to think about that,” he said.

He also stated that veterinarians are usually very altruistic people who want to make things better.

“Knowing your cause will give you confidence in your mission,” he said.

Perdue’s next point was compassion. He stated pursuing your cause with compassion go hand in hand. He highlighted how passion for not just animals, but people as well, is how to be successful in the field of veterinary medicine.

“You’re going to be leaders in your community. You’re going to be able to do it confidently and you need to do it courageously as well,” he said.