Rotaract Club brings local celebrity to CMU
Central Michigan University’s Rotaract Club brought Dr. Jan Pol to campus Tuesday night to discuss his veterinary practice and recent reality television stardom.
Pol, who currently stars in the number one television show on National Geographic Wild “The Incredible Dr. Pol,” is a veterinarian in Isabella County who specializes in large and farm animals.
He began the talk with some background about himself.
“I grew up on a dairy farm in Denmark as the youngest of six children,” he said, adding that he had a feeling from very early on that he wanted to be a veterinarian. When his sister moved to Canada in 1955, he was inspired to travel. He applied for an exchange program and came to Michigan.
“Once you have that travel bug, you just have to keep traveling,” he said. “We settled here 35 years ago and started our own practice.”
Pol went on to explain that one of the first clients of his practice in Isabella County are still clients today.
“Some animals, I have treated the fifth generation,” he said. The hit reality show would come years later with the original idea from his son.
Pol explained that while the show may be popular now, it originally started with four minutes of footage. After sending the footage to many different networks, National Geographic Wild, a new network, eventually picked it up.
“I have no idea why the show is so popular,” he said. “I can only assume it is because I work with animals and do it my way, and that is what is so appealing.”
Rotaract Club president Ben Reyhl, a senior from St. Charles, explained the Rotaract Club tradition of bringing in speakers that discuss a wide variety of topics.
“When we bring in speakers, they can kind of give inspiration to our club members,” Reyhl said. “While they might not be directly related to what Rotaract Club is, the feelings of fairness and truth are always the same.”
Dr. Monica Holmes, the faculty adviser for the Rotaract Club, explained the club was interested in bringing Dr. Pol to campus because of his local celebrity.
“The people in the club really like the show,” he said. “He’s kind of a local attraction. He’s so famous.”
Pol ended the talk with a reminder that he is first and foremost a veterinarian.
“Success, you never know how that happens,” he said. “The main thing is the animal always comes first.”
