I haven't forgotten about my blog!
So vet school is keeping me busy...who would've thought? I have my first official vet school exam tomorrow morning at 10 am so I've been studying like a madwoman. I don't think I've ever studied this much in my entire life. Although it's a lot easier to study when you don't have to worry about a job. Nice how that works out. I thought it would be weird not working for the first time since 9th grade, but honestly I love it. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I actually understand the material I'm learning and I'm confident about it (most of it anyway. Physiology is a different story...). So I'm only a little nervous about the exam tomorrow. Mainly because the professor is new to me, so I don't know how her exams are going to go. But I'm going to kick ass on the actual material. Studying is a lot more bearable and even a little fun when you understand it.
Honestly, class and studying takes up the VAST majority of my time, which sounds like an obvious statement. But really, I go to class from about 8-3 every day, then I literally study from about 4:30-11:30. It's crazy. Sometimes I take a lunch or dinner break though! And in those breaks, I've been going to club meetings. I'm determined to be super involved in things in vet school and it starts right now:
SAVMA - Student chapter of the American Veterinary Medicine Association. It's required to join any school clubs, but it also has tons of benefits. For example, scholarships that you can use to go on trips for other clubs.
CMC - Canine Medicine Club. We do a lot with the kennel dogs on campus. Today, we did obedience training with them. Hot, sweaty, but really fun. And I got to get rid of these super nasty chicken nuggets that I bought. Luckily most dogs will eat anything.
ABC - Animal Behavior Club. They do some things that are kind of similar to CMC, but they also have behavioral research going on and we get to clicker train the donkeys. They also have speakers coming in to talk to us about equine behavior, marine mammal behavior, dealing with aggression/anxiety in pets, and other cool stuff. Also DIY cat toys and agility courses :)
VIDA - I don't remember what this stands for, but we provide veterinary services for families in financial need on St. Kitts. There is also a section of VIDA that goes to other countries and does spay/neuter clinics. They recently went to Guatemala and next they are going to Costa Rica. I definitely want to that, but it's been said that you'll get more out of it once you get further into your anatomy classes, so I'm thinking maybe 3rd or 4th semester. But on the island, they do heartworm tests, vaccines, toenail trims, medications, exams, blood tests, and anything else that can be done fairly easy with portable resources.
They also do a lot with PAWS (People for Animal Welfare on St. Kitts).
Adventure Club! We go on adventures/hikes around the island! I'm super excited about this one, although I had to miss the first hike. I can't wait for the next one.
SVECCS - Student Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care...something. Emergency club. This is another one I'm really pumped about because they do a lot of wet labs (I think these are just opportunities for hands on learning, possibly on live animals instead of models) and they are doing stuff like IV catheter placement, urinary catheter placement, and ultrasounds. Some of the students also go on trips (the last one was to South Africa) to do wildlife emergency medicine. They work with this world renowned vet and they dart rhinos and dehorn them (so they are less likely to get poached for their horns), administering medication to animals...lots of cool stuff. This might be with a different club though. The meeting was a while ago. I can't remember everything. I have too much information stuffed in my brain as it is.
I'm also joining an intramural beach volleyball team. It's a beer league and they play every friday. It's going to be awesome to have at least one night every week that I HAVE to relax because I made a commitment to be there :) I believe our first game will be this Friday. We need a team name too. Any suggestions?
I recently discovered this notecard application online that has been way helpful. I've spent hours studying on it and it really helps you memorize the material. You have to type in your answer, so you aren't just "looking" at it to memorize it, so it tests your actual memory. It also keeps track of the ones you've gotten wrong and it will bring those ones up more often. So if you have any friends that are still in school, RECOMMEND DOWNLOADING GENIUS TO THEM. You will be improving their quality of life.
The island is still gorgeous. We had our fun with Tropical Storm Maria, but ever since then, it's pretty much sunshine all day every day. Except for maybe a random hour every day when we get a sporadic downpour of rain (sun stays out, by the way) and then it's EXTREMELY humid afterwards, it's pretty perfect, climate-wise. We do have the occasional weird days where it rains constantly, but that is just the universe saying "You've had enough vitamin D. Stay inside and take a nap." You can't really check any weather websites for the weather, because it can be raining in one spot and then 2 miles down the road it's not. You can see the mountains right across from campus and it always looks like it's raining on top of the mountain, but it only rains a little bit on campus. Nice.
In sad news, I haven't been to the beach in two weekends! Man, my life sucks.
I saw "Contagion" this weekend! I really liked it. If you aren't into science or medicine it all, only go if it's free for you, but if you are interested in science at all, I highly recommend it. If nothing else, it's exciting.
I guess I should actually get some sleep before my exam. I just wanted to update my poor neglected blog. Things to see, people to do....woops... :)
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