Wet Cleanup on Aisle 5

Oriented and Exhausted

School hasn’t even started yet, and already I am TIIIIRRRRREEEEEDDDD.

Last week was 5 1/2 days of orientation. But before I tell you about that, I should mention that the week before was spent painting for three days, moving furniture, running errands, buying groceries, setting up my new room, etc. And then it was time for orientation:

Day 1: Listen to a bunch of introductions and overviews, plus a two-hour seminar on personal finance that was utterly useless to non-trad students. Well, any non-trad student with their act together, that is. It covered things like building credit, automatic investing, loan repayment strategies, etc. I was bored. So was the 40-some woman sitting next to me. But it probably would have been moderately useful to a non-non-trad. (That’s just more fun than saying “traditional.”)

We also got to see where our desk for the next year would be. All the first year students have a desk in an area known as “the cubes,” which consists of several large rooms with lab-bench style desks. Each person’s desk had a sign that said, “Welcome Dr. *insert your name here*!” a Purina dog food bowl full of candy, and various other goodies, such as the ubiquitous Hill’s backpack. With the planner inside that has the Hill’s logo emblazoned on every page. The one that matches the logo on our new lab coat (see Day 5B). One of my classmates remarked that we probably all have a Hill’s chip implanted in us, too.

Sorry, there I go again, getting all sarcastic. Hill’s REALLY donates a lot to vet students, so I suppose they have the right to plaster their logo on things…

The welcome to the cubes was very nice, and I really liked where my desk was, although I was a little alarmed by the breath of the person sitting next to me. Hopefully it was a fluke. I probably won’t spend much time in there anyway, since I like to study by myself.

Days 2-4: Head to Pingree Park, CSU’s mountain campus. Sleep in bunkbeds and eat cafeteria food. Bond with classmates. Some bonds were formed while having fun, some bonds were formed from suffering through together. Overall, this was a lot more fun than I’d anticipated, except for the whole bunk bed/shared bathroom part. I might have even sung along during karaoke.

Kevin Fitzgerald, the guy from Animal Planet/Alameda East, did a stand-up comedy routine. He’s my new idol. Entertainment biz, regular practice, and wildlife work?! Sign me UP!!

We also took the True Colors personality test. I learned that I am a nerd.

I met a few folks with whom I’ll probably be friends for life, which, you have to admit, is pretty cool.

Note: This event was sponsored by Hill’s, and their logo was NOT emblazoned on everything there. So, Hill’s, I apologize.

Day 5A: More talking heads. I think they went over financial aid and class rank. I think I heard two things that were new to me.

(This is the problem with being Type A. I have already researched all the topics they covered during orientation, so almost everything I heard was something I’d heard before. Nerd!)

Day 5B: Coating ceremony. A lovely shindig wherein we were each given a lab coat and name tag and officially welcomed into the veterinary profession. Plus there was cake. Mmm. Cake.

Day 6: Get photo ID badge and books, set up desk in the cubes. Forget that I am wearing said ID badge and proceed to shop at four different stores before realizing my idiocy.

Today I’m trying to get organized, plus I need to finish my homework, yes HOMEWORK! School hasn’t even started, and already we have homework. Too bad napping isn’t one of our assignments. But at least I am oriented.