Archives for School Daze category
Holy moley.
Being in vet school is a lot like being on a roller coaster. Parts of it are scary, parts of it are a rush, there are ups, and there are downs. So far there are a lot more ups than downs (which would be physically impossible on a roller coaster, so I guess my analogy doesn’t hold, but you get the idea. That, and the going down is the fun part on the roller coaster. Wow, bad analogy all around).
Anyway, I’ll start with the downs, so that I can end with the ups.
1. The built-in inner tube I am sporting around my midsection. Not pretty.
2. Being a terrible time manager so that it feels like I am studying constantly (even though it’s interspersed with serious procrastination), and when I actually plan an activity that’s not studying, I feel guilty.
3. Having to learn about a few things I’m not all that interested in, just because they might be on the licensing exam or they’re part of establishing a broad knowledge base. (Oh, histo, how I loathe thee…) Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 05, 2010 | | School Daze
I am trying desperately to learn the arteries, veins, and nerves near the brachial plexus. I’m also trying desperately not to have a nervous breakdown. I think I’m *this* close to the latter.
For those who’ve never had a peek inside a dog’s naked armpit, this is what it looks like:
Um, yeah.
My parents just called, and it was all I could do to keep from bawling.
Puh. Not a good day.
P.S. The way cool image comes from Dr. Whalen’s canine anatomy CD, available at vettext.org. Well, the CD is way cool, I should say. That image makes me want to cry.
Oct 04, 2010 | | School Daze
…so she had to go to the Pi D.
That’s the silly little memory trick we used in 9th grade geometry to remember how to calculate circumference.
I couldn’t help but remember that this week as I noticed how much my circumference has been growing since starting vet school. If only it were as simple as going “Pi D” to get rid of all this excess blubber. Eesh.
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Sep 27, 2010 | | School Daze
Last night, I took my first night off since starting vet school. As in, didn’t even think about cracking open a textbook.
The better half and I had a leisurely dinner, wandered over to Starbucks for some leisurely conversation, then picked up a movie at the local video place. Mmmm. It was loooooooveeeeeelllllllyyyyyyyyy.
At about 10:45 PM, I realized I’d forgotten to take the weekly histology quiz online. The one that’s due at 10 PM. Oops.
It’s only worth five points, but I feel a little idiotic for having forgotten… You know what? So worth it.
Sep 25, 2010 | | School Daze
This time last year, I was frantically trying to finish my vet school application, get into a Master’s program, and keep up with my classes. It seemed pretty stressful at the time. Now, that seems like a cake walk!
This week was our first anatomy exam, and the fear and pressure leading up to said exam was unlike anything I have ever experienced. Several times, I thought to myself, “WHY did I want to go to vet school, again?” I studied nothing but anatomy for about two weeks–morning, noon, and night. I had anatomy dreams. And nightmares. The whole freshman class was awash with stress. I considered all the people who are in the throes of the application process right now, so hoping to get into vet school… “If you only knew,” I thought.
Anatomy is a TON of information (I already have more notes from that class alone than I did in an entire semester’s worth of undergrad classes–plural). Unfortunately, though, it’s not the kind of thing you just memorize and be done with. It’s something you have to visualize in three dimensions, and on different scales–scrappy little mutts and horses have pretty similar musculature in their hind limbs, but they look nothing alike… No two animals are the same. At all.
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Sep 18, 2010 | | School Daze
Seriously?! I have the beginnings of a cold, and it is only the 8th day of class. ARG! Worse yet, I don’t think I’m the first one from our class to be out due to illness. A warning to future students: vet school hits you hard, and fast!
I started feeling icky a few days ago, but didn’t start feeling really yucky until yesterday afternoon. And then I felt a smidge better yesterday evening, and I thought, “Tomorrow’s only four hours of class–I can go, and then sleep, right?”
But then the little birdie’s voice said, “If you’re sick, stay home.”
Why is it that I have such a problem staying home when I’m sick? Thirty years ago, I would have given up my lunch money to stay home from school. I get really annoyed when other people come to school sick, so why do I have a problem staying home?
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Sep 01, 2010 | | School Daze
Anatomy is the biggest class we have this semester. It’s something like 9 credit hours, and it consists of a constant barrage of anatomical information, plus a semester-long dog dissection. Skin, muscles, bones, gaits, tendons, ligaments, OH MY!
I think, though, that it’ll also be the coolest class…
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Aug 30, 2010 | | School Daze
So, honestly, I’d intended to write a blog entry on my very first day of vet school. And my second. And here it is the third, and it seems like I’ve already been in school for three weeks. My head is going to EXPLODE! I mean that in a good way. 
Our first day started out with Dr. Fails’ anatomy class, and let me tell you, I don’t think there is a better person to have welcomed us to our very first class in veterinary school than Dr. Fails. She was enthusiastic, empathetic, funny, well-spoken… just, wow. She really made me excited for the coming four years, and indeed my entire new career.
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Aug 26, 2010 | | School Daze
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.”)
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Aug 22, 2010 | | School Daze
T minus three days to vet school (well, vet school orientation), and already I am having trouble with the first assignment.
The assignment is this: “Please bring an object, small enough to be held in your hand, which represents or symbolizes for you the meaning of veterinary medicine in your life.”
First, some background. CSU’s vet school orientation lasts one week, and three days/two nights of that week are spent at Pingree Park, the school’s mountain campus. So, sorta like summer camp. Pingree is supposed to be a bonding experience for the incoming class, and everyone I’ve talked to either loved it… or hated it.
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Aug 13, 2010 | | School Daze
