S5E19: The-Profession-That-Must-Not-Be-Named with Laura Harms

- Welcome back to the PreVet Podcast. Woo! That's nice. You wouldn't know this because you don't listen to the show, but I never started like that. - Wow, so how do you actually start it? - Welcome to the PreVet Podcast. I'm Alex Savolino, your tour guide on the journey to becoming a veterinarian. Listen along as we provide you with tips, tricks, and tales on applying to veterinary school. Welcome back to the PreVet Podcast. I'm Alex Savolino, and today my guest is Laura Harms. Laura, welcome to the show. - Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Kind of called out for not watching-- - A little bit, called you out. - An episode so far, but-- - But that's okay because today we have a very interesting episode for you. Laura is a, you know, it doesn't matter what Laura is, and I'll tell you why. The entire episode today, we're not gonna talk about veterinary medicine at all. Why aren't we going to do that, Laura? - I would say the main reason is because we are people outside of veterinary medicine as well. And I always like to bring up in conversations about people, just how are you doing in general? - Right, right. - Besides what we're all currently encompassing our lives in right now. So I think it's really important. - It's so important, and I'll say that anytime I'm together with vet students, and back me up on this, anyone talks about vet med. - 100%. And I find myself getting sucked into it as well, because it's what we're living right now, and it's like, all my stories are vet med, all my experiences, all my complaints, like literally everything. - And tell me why we would love to steer away from that, at least for today, like why does that matter? Because it is most of what everyone's doing, it is their lives, but why is it important to separate life from vet med? - Because it's not, you're not just your career, and you're not just your job. It doesn't have to be their identity. - Yes, precisely. Vet med does not have to be your identity. It can be a part of it. - It's a huge part. - Big part. - But a lot of people are striving to get into vet med, a lot of people are striving to stay in it, and everything like that, and get through it. But we are people besides vet med, and I think that's something that should-- - Should be celebrated. - Oh my gosh, 100%. - Here's why, so 100% agree with you. I think the other side of that, same coin, same side, is when we put all of our eggs in one basket, God forbid something happens to that basket. - Don't let that basket tip over. - Well it might tip over. - It might tip over. - What happens if all of a sudden, you can't complete your degree? - Oh my gosh. - Something goes wrong, veterinary medicine, all of a sudden disappears, we don't know. We don't know. - I think about that so often, and it's because if something happened to my hands, I'm not saying everything is revolving, 'cause there's a lot of different avenues of vet med as far as doing public health, and things like research, and things like that. But personally, I like surgery, I like things that are very hands-on, and my family always makes fun of me, 'cause I say I have to lay hands on the patient, because that's what they really teach you, is you can't tell someone over the phone, oh, your dog has this, this, this, and this, or whatever, you gotta lay hands. And so if something, I think about that, if something happened to my hands or anything like that, it would be pretty difficult, and so all the eggs should not be in one basket. - Exactly. So here's the challenge, and I think Laura, you're up to it. We will not mention veterinary medicine for the rest of the show. - Can't not wait. - We're gonna shake on it. - Okay, deal. - Deal. - Laura, what's keeping you busy these days? What's getting you excited? - Oh my gosh, it's funny that you say that. I literally just got back into town. I went, I've been on vacation, so I went up to Atlanta, one of my best friends got married, I actually officiated the wedding. - Was that your second time doing this? - No, only first time, but I've been in my share of weddings, you know? - Because you're a good friend. - Because I'm a great friend. - So you got back, you're still on vacation, took some time to officiate the wedding. We love that. What else are you up to? You have your puppies? - Got the puppies, got the puppies. So my parents actually watched my puppies, and so I went back home to grab them from them, and then my mother and I spent an entire day doing a puzzle. - My God, did you finish it? - Oh, we did, we did. - The scary puzzle? - Yes, I finished it at 10 p.m. She went to bed because I was leaving the next day, and I was like, I gotta finish this. So y'all, let me tell you about this puzzle. So during the pandemic, obviously, puzzles like took off. - They did, they did. - Everybody's at home, they wanna do something, you know? I would like to say that I have been a puzzler since I was like seven years old. And so anyway, this puzzle, it's a wooden puzzle. So the people, it's a company in Louisiana, and they like laser carve these puzzles, and when over the pandemic, there was a 10 week long waiting list to get this puzzle. - Unbelievable. - I know, and my mother-- - Puzzles and refrigerators, you just can't get them right now. - No, honestly, though, all furniture. But my mother, the real MVP of this earth. - Beth. - Beth, Beth, shout out. She got me on that waiting list and surprised me with this puzzle. - That's so nice. - So, oh my gosh, yeah. (upbeat music) - What are your hobbies, if I was gonna say to you like, hey, what do you like to do for fun? What is Laura doing? - I feel like an 80 year old woman when I say this, but I enjoy a good walk. (laughing) Like, literally a-- - Okay, yes, me too. - Like, I listen to just some like, I haven't hate myself for saying this, but just some jazz music. - Are we the same, I think that's why we get along. - Are we the same person? - 'Cause I also just only wanna walk and listen to jazz music. - Right, it's something so soothing. - Okay, so walking and listening to jazz. - Yes, yeah. - Don't you also run? - I do, well, okay, we're gonna use the term run loosely. I do a light jog. - This is, yes. - But I just like, I do enjoy running in the outdoors. So like, and it's just like my go-to in like 25 minutes, you'll be done, you know, so. - I know, and you burn so many calories. - So many calories. - Not great for the knees. - Not great for the knees, that's the only thing. But I've also taken up stretching. - Oh, I'm happy for you. Everybody needs to start stretching. - Actually, you're the one that convinced me to start stretching. - Because I'm like, you'll age backwards? - Yes, yes, that's precisely it. - Okay, so then let me go ahead and do this plug. So everybody, you know, I will say, I'll project. I feel like a lot of folks don't like to stretch. They think it's boring, or they think it's, you know. - Waste of time. - Waste of time, it's not a fun activity. Stretching allows you to do the things you want to do. - Preach. - I like to get up in the morning and get my stretch on and have a little like meditation, devotional, faith-based time. It sets me up for my day. But then I feel like when I go in the gym and I've had my pre-workout and I'm going hard, I can do it because I know that my muscles are not going to snap. - So I'm going to go ahead and recommend Miranda Esmond White, which is the classical stretching technique. Her daughter does YouTube videos. So it's classical stretch, the Esmond technique, E-S-M-O-N-D-E. We've been doing that for 20 years in my family. - Wow, so that's a tried and true method. - Yes, but I think everybody should get into some kind of stretching habit, whatever that looks like for them. - Yeah, like literally it just takes like five minutes, not even nine. - Right, just do it. Just, just do it. - Just do it. - Where we are right now, please be stretching while you listen to this podcast. - Yes, yes. (upbeat music) - We've talked about spending, you and I have. - Ooh. - I feel like, you know, we like to spend. - I like nice things, it's a problem. I also like, big plug, I like buying from like, ethically. - Oh, you're into sustainability. - I am very into sustainability. - You are. You just gave me a birthday present, but we're used to buying it off Amazon. - Correct, I haven't bought from Amazon in over a year, so. - I cannot claim the same. - I cannot give a package on the way. - I'm sure I do, there's someone at my delivery door right now. - Oh, good old Jeff. - But you know, Jeff, you like being sustainable. - I do, I do. - You're the reason I have a washable shower curtain now. - Yes, yes, and isn't it a game changer? - I hate it. - Oh my gosh, how, why? - I just think it's so gross. - You literally just throw in the washer and bleach it. - We're working on this. - Okay, okay, okay. - So talk to me about just like how you spend your money and what you enjoy and what that journey looks like. - Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. So like I said, like buying from sustainably, sustainable companies, and that's mainly, we are like a form of our friends. You know what I mean? Like my friend from like literally high school was super sustainable, Hannah, Hannah Edwards. Shout out. - Hey Hannah. - Hey Hannah. And so she just really got me on this journey of like not using paper towels, not like literally easy fixes that everyone's been drilled on like obviously, but-- - Some haven't though, some don't know. - Maybe, maybe, yeah. But yeah, I like buying from those companies that use like recycled water bottles. I just got a pair of shoes that use like an algae base for their souls of their shoes. I also love sneakers, so it's a good time. - I wanna say that if anyone on the podcast is interested in learning more about sustainability in season one, Bryce Talsma, I think it's episode four talks about sustainability and gives us some great tips. So you can listen to that. - Good memory. - Thank you so much. And then I also like that you mentioned like, as you said something about like we become who our friends, and we do that, something like that. But everyone could take a second and think about who they're surrounding themselves by. - There's fear of influence, one could say. - I agree, and just, and look at what you do. I am very easily influenced. I'll tell you that right now. I have been told I am the perfect audience for advertisers. Because if you put something in front of me, I'm gonna go get it. - No, literally same. - So look at who you're spending time with and then see how much they're influencing you. And if you're like, I don't really love that I do this, it could be because you're around other folks who are doing it. - I've done that in my life. I've seen like who brings positivity and things that I want to surround myself with. And it makes a difference. In just like your own mental health. So I got my degrees in sustainability studies and psychology and undergrads. So you are like reaching to the choir. - Literally it's both of your items. - Literally, I did one time an hour presentation on fast fashion, so. - Oh, fast fashion's a nightmare. - No, it's a bad time. - I'm trying to look at my clothing right now. I don't think I'm really wearing any fast fashion today. But everyone, go ahead and look up fast fashion, what it is. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - See if you're into it. - This shirt's actually made from recycled water bottles. - Laura. - And my bra. - Okay, I will say I both look adorable. - Thank you so much. - You're wearing your Tevas, which I'm sure is a sustainable situation. But I'm sure that shirt was a little bit more pricey. - You're 100%-- - It's a fast fashion shirt. - You are 110% correct. - Everybody needs to make decisions and do whatever they can live with. - That's precisely it. (gentle music) - Laura, you like to travel. - I do love to travel. - You have goals to travel a little bit more. You wanna go out west. There's some things that you wanna do. - I wanna go out west. I wanna go back over the ocean. One of the oceans, it doesn't matter, which one. - What does this mean? I wanna go back over the ocean. - So I've been to Greece. And so I would love to explore a little bit more. - I would love to go to Greece. Is it gorgeous? I feel like the colors just pop. - Oh my gosh, so I went on an environmental research trip actually there. It was a great time. It was like two weeks of living on small, small islands that aren't super populated. - Okay, that brings another thing to my mind. Folks need to be looking up. It's called, what is it called when you're looking at-- - Ecotourism? - Correct. - Yes, how did I know that's where you were going? - So everyone needs to look up ecotourism. So if you're on scrolling on Instagram and you're seeing these places that look fabulous, first of all, those pictures are posed and you're not really seeing what's going on. - Check yourself, yeah. - Behind the camera. But there are some really interesting studies. My friend in grad school, Irene, did a whole study on this and for journalism, where, and I'm sure Laura, you already know about this, but when things are popularized on Instagram, it sends people to these locations and it can mess up the locations. - Wrecks up the local culture. - It messes up the culture. Like for example, one of the good examples, and I did not see this movie, the Batman that had Joaquin Phoenix in it when he played the Joker. There's these stairs that he dances down and these iconic stairs. And then you can see how before that movie came out, no one ever went to this area. And then it shot up 'cause everyone wanted to go there and take a photo. That affects the environment. - 100%. - Everyone needs to just look up the choices they're making and how it can affect that area. Continue. - Yep, yep, yep, yep. And be sure you know where you're putting your money as well as far as like when you're traveling. But love a good Airbnb. Love a good like going with the culture and not just like going to the flashy touristy spots and buying the plastic little whatever key chain that's gonna be. - Little nitty nitty nitty. - Yes, I love a good knick knack, do you? - I don't. - See, that's our difference. - You like Chachkees? - I used to love Chachkees. I've been trying to minimize a little bit more. - Can you spell Chachkees? - I have no idea what that even starts with. - I'm gonna tell you. - Chachkees? - Yeah, I want age. - Okay, is that your final answer? - No, I feel like, wait, it must be something is like a silence is Z or something. - Yeah, you ready? - Yeah, I'm ready. - T. - No way. - C-H-O-T-C-H-K-E. - Chachkees? - It's Chachkees. - I hate that. - So is it T. - Where does that word, that's another thing I love. - It looks Greek. - I love knowing the origin of words. - You and my mother. - I also like knowing origins of words. And I also think folks should start looking up phrases. - Yes, yes, like knock on wood. I look that up. - What does it mean? - Oh my, well, now I'm on the spot. It was about touch wood. So back in like the, ah, you're gonna fact check me here. Somebody's gonna fact check me here. - Everyone should fact check everything. That's another thing. - No, that is 100% a thing. - We need to start fact checking people too. And I will say, I heard from a student actually this week, a student who I just took their word for everything they said for no reason, 'cause I liked them. And then found out, ooh, ooh, ooh. Their perception is completely different than mine. So they were saying something about how, oh, no one's excited about this event. But I had been around people getting really excited about an event. And I'm like, oh, I shouldn't listen to that. So people need to start fact checking people. - And there's just the Debbie Downers out there, like. - Correct. - All right, so the origin and meaning of knock on wood. In many cultures, it's a common superstition for people to knock their knuckles on a piece of wood to bring themselves good fortune or ward off bad luck. When common explanation traces the phenomenon to ancient pagan cultures, such as the Celts, who believed that spears and gods resided in trees. - That's interesting. - And the touch wood was the slogan it used to be, but it turns into knocking, knock wood. - Oh, interesting, interesting. Knock on wood. - Knock on wood. - Should we? - Nice. I think, yeah, because we end up saying things and we don't know what they mean. - 100%. - Also, sometimes I think a lot of people get phrases wrong. - Oh, okay, I'm also the queen of like. - Can you give an example? I feel like you just had one the other day. - I have them frequently, like frequently. Also, okay, I blame my mother for this, like honestly, Beth, come on. I learned to read at a very young age, okay? And so that's not like a toot on my own horn or anything, but I also didn't say these words out loud. - Correct. - And so I was reading them and in my mind, that's how I pronounce them now. - Okay, but mispronunciations and getting phrases wrong are different. - Okay, they are different, but I do both. Like I do, I do them across the board. - I feel like, for example, play it by ear. People here say play it by ear. Let's play it by ear. - No, they do not. - Are you serious? - They do, and it's played by ear, which goes to music. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - I've heard it's champing at the bit, not chomping on the bit, because a horse champs. - A horse champ? - It's champing at the bit. - Is it really? - Yes, it is. - I, okay, I've definitely not known that. - Also card, it's card sharp, not card shark. - No way. - Yes, it is. - No way, no. - Yes, it is. - Wait, card shark, because it's like the... - It's a card sharp. - A shark is a sharp at it? - Correct. - Oh. - Now here's what happens, though. Here's what happens. - Wow, listeners. - Here's what happens. Phrases do end up taking on new meanings, and then people-- - And change meanings. - Correct, so there are some, and even if you look up card sharp versus card shark, now people use them synonymously, but it was originally sharp. - Interesting. - And so, it gets all twisted, so if you're ever around-- - Don't get it twisted. - Don't get it twisted. If you're ever around a linguist, or a wordsmith, or a word wizard, you gotta be careful. - My nightmare. (laughs) - I mean, you know, 'cause they're gonna call you out. - Yeah, they will. I also just introduced this to Alex at the very beginning of the pandemic, so I'm not on TikTok, I'm not on Instagram reels or anything like that, I'm not that cool, but it was a very common thing listeners, I don't know if y'all did this, but to call a pandemic by any other P words, to like, in a Patricia or like a Panini or, wait, you had a good one. - I think I said paparazzi. - Yeah, in a paparazzi? - Yeah, Laura said that to me in the car on the way over to the college journalism, where we're recording this, she's like, yeah, in a Panini, and I'm like, why are you saying that to me? I'm not talking about sandwiches. I miss that trend, but I think that's hysterical. - Yeah, it's pretty great. - I think what I enjoyed about the pandemic is some folks have really tried to find humor in it-- - 100%. - In this horrific time, so I do appreciate that. - Some light-heartedness. - Yes, which I know that some people, and we've been around people like this, who feel like making light of something takes away-- - The gravity. - The gravity of it, correct, the normity of it, but one could also argue we kind of need that a little bit, and we needed it. - Yeah. - We needed it. - As like humanity, I mean-- - Right, that was a really dark time. - You need a really scary dark time. - Correct. - And like for our own mental health-- - Still scary. - Still scary, still dark, you know, you need the light-heartedness at some points. - Agreed, 100%, 100%. - Mm-hmm, so. - Well, Laura, as we're wrapping up at the end of the show here, I'm really glad you came on and we could have this chat and just enjoy each other's company-- - Oh my gosh. - Without talking about something that takes up, I would say what percentage of your time do you think? - Oh my, it's scary, probably like 80%. - I would say 80%. - I make a conscious effort, though, to not let it, though. - I wanna thank you for taking time to make time for friends outside of that. - It's important. - That profession. And for also whenever we're together, I would say like 90% of our conversation is not about that. - Yeah. - We're talking about other things. - I would definitely agree. - So this is a challenge to everybody who's listening. Start looking at how you're spending your time and what you're chatting about and what you're thinking about. Prioritize, is that how you wanna spend your time? Is that all you wanna talk about? Or do you wanna be more than that? - Be intentional with your time. And then also ask when you sit down at a table, don't just automatically start sharing your grievances about the day and things like that. But as far as that topic, can we say it now? - I don't know if we can. - Okay, whatever. - That's not, it's the topic. - It's essentially Voldemort. A lot of空 over! - We're not gonna say it. - We're not gonna go there. But ask how someone's doing or how their family's doing. And a hobby that they've gotten interested in lately, I don't know, it's easier than we think it is. - We need to. - We do. - And I will say that, you know, I was doing my passion planner reflection today, which I honestly can't stand, but I'm trying to keep up with it for this year. - Okay, proud of you. - And it was asking me how did I feel about how I spent the last month. And I know that mentally I was giving energy to a lot of things I don't wanna give energy to. And then it was like spilling out into some of my friendships. And I'm like, I don't wanna do this anymore. I don't want to burden others with this topic. I don't wanna burden myself. So everyone just, right now, reflection time. - Reflection time. - Challenge to reflect, time to spend your time. - Go to a local coffee shop. - Good? - And just do some reflection time. Docs of Coffee and Alachua. - Listen. - Oh, that's my secret spot though. - Oops. - It's okay, now everybody knows. - We wanna be like rainbow fish, and we want to share our scales. - 100%. - Our scales, our stories, where we frequent our hunts, where we go to, so others can enjoy it just as much as we do, and talk about something other than the profession that will not be named. - That will not be named. (singing) (upbeat music) - Laura, thank you so much for being on the podcast. - Oh my gosh, this has been fantastic. - On your vacation. - On my vacation. - Great experience. - Oh, 10 out of 10. - Always. - Recommend. - We always have a good time while we do this. - Always, always. - We would also like to recommend listening to the Fleetwood Mac, The Dance album, while we're here. - Do we need to play a segment of it? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I love this idea. Do you wanna do Silver Spray? - Oh, do I wanna do Silver Spray? - You're so right. - That's not even a question. - So I know a lot of my, this audience is younger. - Okay, that's literally no excuse though, because I was born in 1997. - Correct, but I want them to know that it's okay that they haven't heard this song. - Oh, okay, fair, fair, fair, fair, fair. - So I'm just gonna play you an excerpt from Silver Springs, from Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks' "Wailing." - Absolutely wailing. - Letting her soul shine, singing directly to her ex-husband. And just a little backstory, they had been divorced at this point for about 20 years. They, the whole band comes back together and sings a song and she looks directly into his eyes. - And with her scarfed out microphone. - As she sings this portion. - Ah! (upbeat music) - So for anyone who gets really angsty. - This booth has never seen. - We've never hopped that much. - Never seen this action. - What's that song that is very hip right now about "You're a Psycho"? ♪ Hope you're happy, na na na na na me ♪ ♪ If you ever cared to ask ♪ ♪ Good for you, good for you, good for you ♪ ♪ Good for you, bye Olivia Rodrigo ♪ - There we go. - If you like "Good for You" by Olivia Rodrigo, you're gonna love Silver Springs. - It's literally, 100%. - Because same energy, same vibe, but a little bit more folksy. - Exactly, from the '70s. So if this is your jam and you get energy from this. ♪ Hope you're happy, na na na na na me ♪ - You need to listen to "F. Lee" with Mac. ♪ Only took a couple weeks ♪ - I mean, how do you not get energy from this? ♪ Give me the words ♪ (upbeat music) - Now everybody just remember, take time away from veterinary medicine, take time for yourself, take time for your friends, do what you need to do. Laura, it's been lovely. - This has been a privilege. - I'm Alex Avellino. - And we'll talk to you soon. - Talk to me about favorite jazz instrument. What do you think is like, if this isn't in the jazz combo, I'm not listening. - Okay, so live, I think is different. But live, I love a good sax player. I think it's so attractive. - It's the sexiest instrument. - It is the sexiest instrument. - So what about you? - I love a good trumpet. - Oh. - When it starts off, I mean. ♪ Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop ♪ - Wait, and that is. - A little Chris Bode. That is Alex coming to you live. (laughing) ♪ Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop ♪