Closing the Gap - Kisa Storey

October 21, 2025

Kisa Storey, AVC 2026, travelled to Hopedale and Sheshatshiu as one of the student participants on the Chinook Project. As part of the experience, the students craft various pieces of writing.

This is a photo of me performing a spay during our clinic in Sheshatshiu. In the second week of the trip, I was feeling much more confident in my skills, and I was starting to realize how much I had grown in such a short period of time. I was proud of myself, but also starting to become hyperaware of the fact that I was not far off of graduating and becoming a veterinarian- not just a student. I have been a student almost my entire life- and suddenly I found myself staring directly at my future- and not feeling ready. There was a gap of knowledge missing between me now, and who I hoped to be as a practicing clinician. So much of what I must learn to be the person I imagined are things school cannot prepare me for. Talking with the veterinarians about the “trials by fire” they endured as new graduates was comforting, but also confirming the conclusion I had come to. I will find myself in situations for which I am unprepared, just like they did. When I am the only person in the room responsible for making a medical decision affecting the life of my patient. When I am unsure of the right path forward and must use my best judgment. But hopefully, just as they overcame these challenges and learned more from them, I will too. Though it feels daunting at moments, there are others where it excites me to be challenged. It is in those moments I feel I learn the most about myself.