In 2009, two years after I graduated, I had a life changing episode that I will never forget. Just after graduating, I applied for a scholarship sponsored by SCIVAC (Italian Companion Animal Veterinary Association) for the best thesis. I thought I could have some chances as I did a large retrospective study on feline lymphoma in collaboration with the University of Padua, but I would have never thought I would have been the winner. I still remember the day I received that email. 

For the first time in my life, I had a lump sum to spend for an externship abroad. I didn’t know where to go at that time, as the veterinary clinical pathology world was kind of new to me. What I remember is that I had been fascinated by a small cytology book written by a British veterinary clinical pathologist called Kathleen Freeman.