Hi there; Birdie here!
I've survived the first tests of vet school! And no, I don't mean exams. For one thing, there's the first graded assignments we've had: a group assignment for problem solving and our bone quiz in anatomy. Everyone got a 5/5 on the group assignment for being more effective than the (problematic) PBL group in the video we were discussing. I got the same on the bone quiz, too. It was super easy--a single "identify x" question where x is a term for some bone part we needed to know from the thoracic limb. We didn't even have to be able to tell whether it was on the right or left limb yet.
The other thing I mean by first test of vet school is the first of the rabies series. I've taken to thinking that if you're smart enough to get in and strong enough to manage the rabies shots, you can get through vet school. I couldn't find anything cheaper than the $200/shot through school, so I get to deal with mine during weeks of classes. We have two-hour blocks built into our schedule for three weeks, right after lunch, for vaccine administration/monitoring for reactions. For anyone who already got the vaccine, it means you get a three-hour lunch break. For people like me who need the vaccine then, it means you have to sit around doing nothing important for an hour or so. I ended up waiting in line for half the first hour and then randomly browsing reference books in the library once I could leave the auditorium (we had to stay for half an hour after the shot so they could make sure we didn't have a reaction). Well, I did some bone studying for anatomy, too. I actually had no negative effects from my first shot at all--my arm was kind of sore if I tried to sleep on it, but by the next day--nothing! I've heard the second shot's the worst, so I'm not totally in the clear, but it's nice to know I'm not ridiculously allergic to the vaccine or anything.
I guess this is only the first full week of classes? It seems like it's been longer. We started and finished our first problem solving assignment and are working on the second one. We've also got a third problem that's basically a straight-up PBL case--we have a signalment, history, and physical exam on this cat and need to create a problem list (what's wrong with the animal--being as specific as possible!), list of learning issues (what we needed to look up/research to understand the case), differential diagnoses, and I think just a diagnostic plan but maybe also a treatment plan. We got a chance to ask more questions to improve the history today in class. Our (oldish male) professor played the lady who owns this cat and loves him...it was really cute, actually! He would tell little stories about the cat stealing bread, leave out things to tell us later if we asked the right question, and do that "now that you mention it..." reaction to leading questions to let us know the information is probably more self-convincing than reliable data. I'm going to miss this class, and it's the first one that ends.
We also got yet another lecture on how we're going to die of debt. It's for this Intro to Vet Med class we have once a week--it's pass/fail based on attendance, and for the most part it's a chance to expose us to areas of vet med outside of private practice. But this week it was about Don't Borrow More Than You Need, and Don't Need Much. We did not like that lecturer. In a list of how to keep costs down (you know, budgeting, distinguishing wants from needs, buying things used) he included "can you live without a pet?" That's the first strike against him. He talked about how he's on the scholarship committee and people have explained that they need the scholarship because their horse needed some expensive treatment or something. "Horse?" he asks. "Why would you have a horse?" We can kind of understand that too; horses are expensive. That's why I'm not riding anymore, but riding was a great way for me to have some physical activity and stress relief in undergrad. But then our lecturer goes on to say that someone wanted the scholarship because her dog needed an ACL repair. Of course he starts off with "Dog?" but then he goes on to finish with "let it limp! It won't hurt it!" At that point, we all just look at each other. Right, because pain isn't the reason the dog is limping. He also went on about how you can't give away your time volunteering to get experience and you need to be working. At some point I was frustrated enough to raise my hand and ask how he expected us to stay SANE doing all the things he recommended, which sounded like study and work all the time, and don't even have a pet to help you. He just said something about of course you need balance, he's just focusing on one part now, etc. I think that opened more people up to ask questions, but he decided in favor of further lecturing instead of answering any. I'm kind of disappointed this guy is in lab animal med; I was interested in finding out more about that area but the fact that I'd most likely be working with him is a turn-off.
Now that we've started lab, anatomy is...well, it's frequently overwhelming at first, but it's really cool when you start to get it. The first couple of days we just had lab time to study the bones, but with a little radiology thrown in just to look at flat images of the structures we were studying. Yesterday, we started dissecting our dogs. We work in groups of 2. My partner and I named our dog Tobey. We were really anxious about cutting anything, afraid we were going to cut muscles/mess things up. Once we ended up trying things, though, we managed to do pretty well. Today we definitely cut through some muscles in the wrong spots, but between our muddling and occasional help from the teachers, we actually got there in the end! We finished cutting all of the extrinsic muscles to the thoracic limb (aka we took off the front leg), which is what we needed to have finished by Tuesday, so I'm super happy with our progress so far. It's going to take a lot of studying before I really know those muscles (much less insertions, origins, actions, and innervations!). I did a lot of prep work for the dissection, too. I highlighted my guide in three colors (terms, definitions/notes, and actual instructions) and made a sheet listing all the steps (it's something I had to do for organic chem lab in undergrad, and it was definitely helpful in terms of knowing how much of that section we'd done). I'm not really sure how I'll be able to keep this up AND type notes for cell bio histo at the same rate they're presented AND type notes for other classes once I have something more involved than problem solving with those two.
Speaking of things I'm not sure I'll be able to manage, let's talk about extracurriculars. This week I went to two speakers, a club meeting, and a club's rounds. The speakers gave us free food, which was great! But apparently clubs aren't allowed to give us food at the first meeting (/probably until we pay dues) so I don't get the two weeks of free pizza students at other schools might get. I will point out that our free food thus far has, with one exception, been way better than pizza (the one exception was pizza, and thus exactly the same as pizza. ;)). One of the speakers was from VBMA, but I still haven't paid my dues since I was too busy getting back to class to find an officer to give them to. I think I missed my window for the club fair discount, unfortunately. The other speaker wasn't a club, but was from Purina's Lunch N Learn; I think they do those monthly? That speaker was great, except for starting 15-20 minutes late (as we all grabbed food) and subsequently running over; our professor wasn't super pleased with that. I also went to surgery club and rounds for farm animal club. I think I want to do farm animal club for a semester, just because I have no experience with that, and then drop it next semester and do lab animal for the same reason. Rounds were pretty boring this week (apparently it's a slow season), but we got to see the tilting chute and some lambs being used for research. Surgery club during lunch was a little tough...maybe I'll get used to it?
And of course I had my live-in interview. It ended up being moved to Thursday during the lunch hour instead of Tuesday "after school" but technically during lab time. I kind of wish it hadn't moved--I would rather miss a few minutes at the very end of a pure study day in anatomy lab than try to change from "professional clothing" into my scrubs in just a couple of minutes between my interview and our first foray that puts the gross in gross anatomy. But I took this the same way I took the original technically-during-class timeslot: they're kind of my boss here and if it's physically possible to do it, I should do it and make it look as effortless as possible for their benefit. The interview went pretty well for the most part. They asked things like what I do to relive stress, how far from the school I live, and what was the longest commitment I've made (since this job is a 2-year commitment). I think I failed my doorknob question, though. You know--you're about to leave, hand on the doorknob, and they say "just one more thing"--possibly the most important one? This guy had told me that most of the job (the one I'm applying for here) is "knowing where things are." Then just as he's leaving he throws out "where can I get a Coke around here?" I told him there's a vending machine in the cafeteria, but mostly just pointed in a vague direction--totally not what he was looking for. And this is a second-year student, so he knows where to go. Well, I guess I can't do anything about it now...I think I might have to apply for a job as a Purina rep or something if I don't get this, though. At least that's less of a time sink?
I'm home for the weekend again this weekend. This time, I actually am with my parents--it's Labor Day weekend and there's nothing really going on at school, plus one of my friends from high school is having a party tomorrow, so I figured I might as well make the drive. I have decided I'm going to go the whole day without touching my car on Sunday, though! At least I can get one day of a break from driving.
When I get back, I've got more group work and more dissection, so I really need to actually prepare some stuff over this weekend. Luckily I've got some time since over the weekend I don't need to wake up at 6:30!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
And so it begins
Hi there; Birdie here!
I am now officially a vet student--I've picked up bones and everything. Right now our schedule consists of three classes, each for two hours, every day...at least, that's what it's been today and yesterday. I say right now because it's scheduled so that we don't have all 8 or so classes at once and we can focus a little more on all three. Each block for a class lasts 50 minutes, with 10 minute breaks in between so that classes start on the hour. Frequently the break separates lectures by two different teachers even if it's for the same course (these classes are team taught--afaik all classes here are) but sometimes it's just a good stopping point in a single long lecture.
The three current classes are Problems Solving, Cell Biology & Histology, and Anatomy.The first two don't seem very difficult right now--Problem Solving is one of those non-medicine communication-type courses, and the cell biology we're going over now is pretty much stuff I learned in high school. It's pretty hard for me to be patient and pay attention, actually. I know some people might not have had a biology class in maybe five years, but it's so familiar to me. I don't want to start typing my notes and working on studying it, but I know I should start doing it correctly now so that when we get to the histology stuff I don't know I'll be prepared.
Of course, anatomy is the really intimidating class. We have to know everything about everything! I know I can do it, but it's pretty hard to believe that when nearly every word out of our lecturer's mouth seems like a foreign language. I know the directional terms pretty well, but today the lecturer used words like "cancellous" like we knew what they mean! We also had some physics/engineering today in the biomechanics of bone section. So if you're a pre-vet wondering why you need physics...for bone, apparently. The course coordinator is also making a point of not saying "right" to mean something like yes or correct, so that it only corresponds to the direction and you won't be saying "the left eye, right." I've already started doing it...that "correctly" in the last paragraph used to say right.
I managed to trade all of my scrubs in for a smaller size, even the sponsored ones we can't exchange at the bookstore--I found a classmate who wanted to make the complementary switch. We haven't actually used the scrubs yet; we start anatomy lab and histology lab both on Monday. We did pick our partners (mine is the girl who sits next to me in the classroom--hopefully we don't get sick of each other), get lockers, and pull out our bone boxes. We each have a scapula, radius, ulna, and humerus to look at at home or in class since we're doing the thoracic limb first. Of course, it's the dog we're working on (with comparative points for the cat) this semester; large animal anatomy is next semester. There's about twelve names to learn for parts of each bone, plus we have to know all the muscles and their origins and insertions, and eventually all the blood vessels and nervous tissue too...I just keep reminding myself that all the vets and all the vet students above me have done this and I can too.
Outside of class at the vet school...there's a lot I want to do outside of class, actually. I applied for a live-in job at the clinic. If I get it, I'll learn some clin path stuff, get good experience, and get to know the clinicians...not to mention making some money! On the negative side, though, it consists of working overnights, and if I get it I'll have to stay at school over most breaks. So it will be really good for me if I get it, but it's pretty competitive, and I won't be too upset if I don't. If I don't, I'm thinking of trying to get involved in the blood bank program, but I don't need to worry about that until sometime after my interview on Tuesday. Also, we had our club fair today. There are so many clubs! I signed up for AAHA (mostly because it's zero commitment--it seems pretty similar to VBMA really, but with some vet med wet labs I think?), and put my name on the lists for VBMA and the Josh Project. VBMA offers business training for vet students, since that's not in the curriculum much, and the Josh Project is a charity that brings plush dogs and books to children in the hospital telling them it will be okay. There are also a bunch of vet med related clubs that I want to get involved in: farm animal and lab animal medicine, since I've never done either of those things, and surgery and diagnostic imaging since those will probably be important to me in practice and I could use the experience. Oh, and I also signed up to feed the night birds in raptor rehab. It's not much of a time commitment since it's only once a month or so, but it's associated with opportunities to learn physicals, care, blood draws, etc. on the birds of prey they have there.
I'm not sure how I'll have time for everything vet med related, much less anything outside of that, but it's the outside part that keeps us sane, right? I'm planning to join a gym, but I haven't picked one yet. I'd also like to get involved in some improv group or DnD or something to have friends outside of school. All of this is purely theoretical, though. I want to, but I doubt I really will. I miss being able to ride horses, but it's way too expensive for me right now.
There's a ton of stuff going on this weekend at the vet school, from an 80's themed party to painting dog houses for a shelter to learning blood draws on birds. Unfortunately, I won't be there for it. I'm still glad I'm going to this convention and seeing some friends from high school, but MAN this is a lot of driving. And I have to do even more tomorrow to help my sister move into her dorm. It's a good thing I don't really need this weekend to study since I'm away. Well, regardless...I'll be back in that classroom soon. I'm pretty excited about starting the labs. I hope things don't get too overwhelming...
I am now officially a vet student--I've picked up bones and everything. Right now our schedule consists of three classes, each for two hours, every day...at least, that's what it's been today and yesterday. I say right now because it's scheduled so that we don't have all 8 or so classes at once and we can focus a little more on all three. Each block for a class lasts 50 minutes, with 10 minute breaks in between so that classes start on the hour. Frequently the break separates lectures by two different teachers even if it's for the same course (these classes are team taught--afaik all classes here are) but sometimes it's just a good stopping point in a single long lecture.
The three current classes are Problems Solving, Cell Biology & Histology, and Anatomy.The first two don't seem very difficult right now--Problem Solving is one of those non-medicine communication-type courses, and the cell biology we're going over now is pretty much stuff I learned in high school. It's pretty hard for me to be patient and pay attention, actually. I know some people might not have had a biology class in maybe five years, but it's so familiar to me. I don't want to start typing my notes and working on studying it, but I know I should start doing it correctly now so that when we get to the histology stuff I don't know I'll be prepared.
Of course, anatomy is the really intimidating class. We have to know everything about everything! I know I can do it, but it's pretty hard to believe that when nearly every word out of our lecturer's mouth seems like a foreign language. I know the directional terms pretty well, but today the lecturer used words like "cancellous" like we knew what they mean! We also had some physics/engineering today in the biomechanics of bone section. So if you're a pre-vet wondering why you need physics...for bone, apparently. The course coordinator is also making a point of not saying "right" to mean something like yes or correct, so that it only corresponds to the direction and you won't be saying "the left eye, right." I've already started doing it...that "correctly" in the last paragraph used to say right.
I managed to trade all of my scrubs in for a smaller size, even the sponsored ones we can't exchange at the bookstore--I found a classmate who wanted to make the complementary switch. We haven't actually used the scrubs yet; we start anatomy lab and histology lab both on Monday. We did pick our partners (mine is the girl who sits next to me in the classroom--hopefully we don't get sick of each other), get lockers, and pull out our bone boxes. We each have a scapula, radius, ulna, and humerus to look at at home or in class since we're doing the thoracic limb first. Of course, it's the dog we're working on (with comparative points for the cat) this semester; large animal anatomy is next semester. There's about twelve names to learn for parts of each bone, plus we have to know all the muscles and their origins and insertions, and eventually all the blood vessels and nervous tissue too...I just keep reminding myself that all the vets and all the vet students above me have done this and I can too.
Outside of class at the vet school...there's a lot I want to do outside of class, actually. I applied for a live-in job at the clinic. If I get it, I'll learn some clin path stuff, get good experience, and get to know the clinicians...not to mention making some money! On the negative side, though, it consists of working overnights, and if I get it I'll have to stay at school over most breaks. So it will be really good for me if I get it, but it's pretty competitive, and I won't be too upset if I don't. If I don't, I'm thinking of trying to get involved in the blood bank program, but I don't need to worry about that until sometime after my interview on Tuesday. Also, we had our club fair today. There are so many clubs! I signed up for AAHA (mostly because it's zero commitment--it seems pretty similar to VBMA really, but with some vet med wet labs I think?), and put my name on the lists for VBMA and the Josh Project. VBMA offers business training for vet students, since that's not in the curriculum much, and the Josh Project is a charity that brings plush dogs and books to children in the hospital telling them it will be okay. There are also a bunch of vet med related clubs that I want to get involved in: farm animal and lab animal medicine, since I've never done either of those things, and surgery and diagnostic imaging since those will probably be important to me in practice and I could use the experience. Oh, and I also signed up to feed the night birds in raptor rehab. It's not much of a time commitment since it's only once a month or so, but it's associated with opportunities to learn physicals, care, blood draws, etc. on the birds of prey they have there.
I'm not sure how I'll have time for everything vet med related, much less anything outside of that, but it's the outside part that keeps us sane, right? I'm planning to join a gym, but I haven't picked one yet. I'd also like to get involved in some improv group or DnD or something to have friends outside of school. All of this is purely theoretical, though. I want to, but I doubt I really will. I miss being able to ride horses, but it's way too expensive for me right now.
There's a ton of stuff going on this weekend at the vet school, from an 80's themed party to painting dog houses for a shelter to learning blood draws on birds. Unfortunately, I won't be there for it. I'm still glad I'm going to this convention and seeing some friends from high school, but MAN this is a lot of driving. And I have to do even more tomorrow to help my sister move into her dorm. It's a good thing I don't really need this weekend to study since I'm away. Well, regardless...I'll be back in that classroom soon. I'm pretty excited about starting the labs. I hope things don't get too overwhelming...
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
I guess I'm officially oriented now
Hi there; Birdie here!
I've never felt so official as a vet student--we had our coating ceremony this afternoon. I got my blue coat and I'm ready to put it to use! The stage in the auditorium is apparently equipped to show cows--there's a drain in the middle--but none of us tripped on either that or the raised bits at either end by the stairs. Apparently at least one person does usually, so our coordinator was proud of us. Most of the girls wore dresses, but I was in slacks and a short-sleeved button up blouse I've worn to interviews. I felt very doctorly in it, especially with my security ID badge stating that I'm a vet student clipped to my belt loop. At the end of orientation, I fully feel like I'm going to be a doctor--and that, hard as it will be, it will be worth it.
Let me back up and start from the beginning.
Our first day of official orientation (as opposed to our fun leadership activities) consisted of a lot of sitting around and listening to people. First sitting in the auditorium and being introduced to people, then sitting in our classroom and listening to people talk about the army and SCAVMA. I seriously considered applying to the army scholarship, but more of my debt is from undergrad so I'd be better off in a post-graduation repayment program--not something I have to think about right now. I'd already joined SCAVMA as soon as the email went out about how to pay dues--I'm not sure I want to be part of our student chapter of the AVMA (American vet med association), but it's the umbrella for all of our clubs. Which means you can't join clubs without being in SCAVMA, and I definitely want to join clubs. We also got our ID badges for the vet school, but unfortunately those aren't actually student IDs and we still need the student IDs from main campus. Those were a pain to get--the office is only open 8-4:30, which means it's pretty hard for us to be free to go there when they're open.
Days two and three were more of the same, except that we sat in our classroom the whole day. There were a lot of talks about stress management, about how hard this will be, etc. We got tons of free stuff (backpacks, water bottles, even a set of scrubs!) from food companies and other sponsors. I'm going to miss the free food...although honestly I'll probably still be set for a while with club lunch meetings. Four pet food companies came and talked to us--I think they all have discount/free food programs for students, too. Luckily I took notes in case I acquire a pet and those become relevant. Okay, for when I acquire a pet. I got a tablet to take my notes on, and I've been using orientation to figure it out. OneNote seems to be what most people I know use for tablet notetaking, but in my experience, it sucked. I ended up downloading LectureNotes--I paid $5 for it, but it recognizes my keyboard, is searchable as long as I type, and lets me highlight and draw, so it's better than anything else I tried.
One major talk we got that's actually worth writing about was "Your Financial Future." I was totally expecting it to be doom and gloom--I know the state of the profession lately. But actually, despite being realistic, it left me feeling positive. The average starting salary was higher than we as a class had expected, and he ran a debt calculator that showed a reasonable debt load (15% debt:income ratio) that could be paid off on a new vet's starting salary was pretty close to the debt I'll have when I graduate. And that would be paid off in 10 years, without consolidation. It's the first time I've seen anything that made this seem manageable, rather than doable with great sacrifice, and it's made me feel a lot more positive about vet school.
That doesn't do much to reassure me on employment prospects of course. I'm still worried about that, despite the fact that approximately everyone tells me I don't need to yet. One of the alumni who came in (who works in private practice, a non-specialist) could only get part time work and had to fill in with relief work. She's very happy with it, but it wasn't originally by choice. There was something promising here, too, though: apparently, there's some guy who recruits heavily from my school for vets to work in Las Vegas. They were the highest paid new graduates last year, and they get tons of respect. It's hard hours and maybe it's not what I'd want to do for long, but it might mean I can have a job right out of vet school! And if not, well, maybe the army will take me.
That logical, cautious hope combined with the feeling of signing my oath and going up on stage in my new blue coat make me more excited than ever to start vet school. This isn't just a dream anymore--I'm doing it! I hope I can make it, but for now I'm going to assume I can. Classes start tomorrow--wish me luck!
I've never felt so official as a vet student--we had our coating ceremony this afternoon. I got my blue coat and I'm ready to put it to use! The stage in the auditorium is apparently equipped to show cows--there's a drain in the middle--but none of us tripped on either that or the raised bits at either end by the stairs. Apparently at least one person does usually, so our coordinator was proud of us. Most of the girls wore dresses, but I was in slacks and a short-sleeved button up blouse I've worn to interviews. I felt very doctorly in it, especially with my security ID badge stating that I'm a vet student clipped to my belt loop. At the end of orientation, I fully feel like I'm going to be a doctor--and that, hard as it will be, it will be worth it.
Let me back up and start from the beginning.
Our first day of official orientation (as opposed to our fun leadership activities) consisted of a lot of sitting around and listening to people. First sitting in the auditorium and being introduced to people, then sitting in our classroom and listening to people talk about the army and SCAVMA. I seriously considered applying to the army scholarship, but more of my debt is from undergrad so I'd be better off in a post-graduation repayment program--not something I have to think about right now. I'd already joined SCAVMA as soon as the email went out about how to pay dues--I'm not sure I want to be part of our student chapter of the AVMA (American vet med association), but it's the umbrella for all of our clubs. Which means you can't join clubs without being in SCAVMA, and I definitely want to join clubs. We also got our ID badges for the vet school, but unfortunately those aren't actually student IDs and we still need the student IDs from main campus. Those were a pain to get--the office is only open 8-4:30, which means it's pretty hard for us to be free to go there when they're open.
Days two and three were more of the same, except that we sat in our classroom the whole day. There were a lot of talks about stress management, about how hard this will be, etc. We got tons of free stuff (backpacks, water bottles, even a set of scrubs!) from food companies and other sponsors. I'm going to miss the free food...although honestly I'll probably still be set for a while with club lunch meetings. Four pet food companies came and talked to us--I think they all have discount/free food programs for students, too. Luckily I took notes in case I acquire a pet and those become relevant. Okay, for when I acquire a pet. I got a tablet to take my notes on, and I've been using orientation to figure it out. OneNote seems to be what most people I know use for tablet notetaking, but in my experience, it sucked. I ended up downloading LectureNotes--I paid $5 for it, but it recognizes my keyboard, is searchable as long as I type, and lets me highlight and draw, so it's better than anything else I tried.
One major talk we got that's actually worth writing about was "Your Financial Future." I was totally expecting it to be doom and gloom--I know the state of the profession lately. But actually, despite being realistic, it left me feeling positive. The average starting salary was higher than we as a class had expected, and he ran a debt calculator that showed a reasonable debt load (15% debt:income ratio) that could be paid off on a new vet's starting salary was pretty close to the debt I'll have when I graduate. And that would be paid off in 10 years, without consolidation. It's the first time I've seen anything that made this seem manageable, rather than doable with great sacrifice, and it's made me feel a lot more positive about vet school.
That doesn't do much to reassure me on employment prospects of course. I'm still worried about that, despite the fact that approximately everyone tells me I don't need to yet. One of the alumni who came in (who works in private practice, a non-specialist) could only get part time work and had to fill in with relief work. She's very happy with it, but it wasn't originally by choice. There was something promising here, too, though: apparently, there's some guy who recruits heavily from my school for vets to work in Las Vegas. They were the highest paid new graduates last year, and they get tons of respect. It's hard hours and maybe it's not what I'd want to do for long, but it might mean I can have a job right out of vet school! And if not, well, maybe the army will take me.
That logical, cautious hope combined with the feeling of signing my oath and going up on stage in my new blue coat make me more excited than ever to start vet school. This isn't just a dream anymore--I'm doing it! I hope I can make it, but for now I'm going to assume I can. Classes start tomorrow--wish me luck!
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Welcome Week
Hi there; Birdie here!
This is officially the end of my first week at the vet school, even if we haven't technically started yet. I got all of my stuff here last Sunday in the family van, even if it did take until 10 at night before I was back with my own car due to a variety of family stuff cropping up.
Monday was my real moving in day, rather than just moving up here. I attempted to build a dresser and had it collapse three times until it was irreparably damaged. I got a new dresser though and managed to build it successfully with my flatmate's help, and finally had a place to put my clothes! I'm living with two other vet students: a third year and another first year. The first year, Lauren, and I bonded over my inability to put together a dresser. Once we got the second one to work, though, I concluded that it was physically impossible to put the first one together (alone at least)--totally not my fault!
Monday night was also the first welcome week activity: a barbecue in the vet school courtyard. Apparently the turnout was much greater than last year, and since everyone who came brought a food item, there was a LOT of food. Lauren drove both of us, so we stuck together, and somehow--by way of hovering until we were noticed/had something to contribute to the conversation, mainly--became part of a decent-sized group of first years all hanging out. We stayed right up until the end of the barbecue, but didn't hit up the house party afterwards--I still had to do something about all the stuff I'd tossed on my bed to deal with later.
Tuesday meant more trips to Target and STILL failing to find a nighttable. The one I bought wasn't tall enough--I finally gave up and ordered one online. Hopefully it will be here soon. And that evening, our second activity: bowling! Well, it was originally meant to be bowling, until the activity coordinators found out that league bowling was actually going on that night. Luckily, they found a new place to hold our activity. It's called Quarters, and there we got to not only do some bowling but also play laser tag and mess around on arcade games for a while. This time I drove, and my GPS took us to some apartment complex called "the Quarters" instead of the arcade before we input the address instead of the name. Luckily, another girl from our group of first years also showed up half an hour late, so the three of us got to bowl together. Laser tag was supposed to be two games until a different team won each of the rounds. My team lost the last round, but I personally was in the top players in the first two games! I think laser tag was the best part of that event. :D
I didn't actually attend the welcome week activity on Wednesday; instead, I spent the day with my sister, who is spending the week at her boyfriend's house in Prairieville. We went to the Mall of Louisiana--it's huge!--and got snowballs at a little roadside stand not too far from where I'm living. I had a flavor called "Snowman Cream" (the stand's name was related to snowman), which was light blue and tasted almondy.
I didn't really mind skipping the activity Wednesday since I knew I'd be spending all day (9:30am to 4 or so) with my vet school classmates for Tiki Tubing. It was a pretty good time. The group I'd driven up with kept floating ahead of the huge, loud, crazy drunk group. We also met up with some other cool people, including a couple of guys who took the opportunity at every sand bar we stopped on to try and throw rocks into abandoned tubes on the other side of the river and a couple of girls from my hometown. I even made sure to reapply sunscreen when we stopped, but it didn't stop me from getting an utterly awful sunburn where my bikini top didn't cover. My shoulders are RED. I'm not sure it's possible to do Tiki Tubing and NOT get a sunburn.
Then on Friday was the mandatory FLE--Freshman Leadership Experience. I thought it was amusing that we had to RSVP for it--"are you coming to the mandatory FLE?"--along with RSVPing our families for coating ceremony. For this we were split into small groups, and then had to complete little exercises like moving a pyramid of cups using only a rubber band we were each holding by a string without speaking or turning over a tarp while we were all standing on it. Our name tags had different animals on them to split us into groups, and mine was the snakes. *clap* *clap* SSSSS! We also made shields for our groups, which will be hanging in our classroom all year. Each of the challenges, if we completed them on time, won us a supply for the boat race that finished out the day. We used cardboard, duct tape, box cutters, and a trash bag to make a boat that was supposed to get across the YMCA's pool with two people in it. Our group wasn't the fastest to make it across, but we were the first to have a boat that made it all the way! The group that did have the fastest boat, the puppies, also managed to beat the facilitators' cardboard boat--and those second years cheated, with multiple trash bags and cling wrap and all kinds of stuff we weren't able to use.
Orientation officially starts Monday, but this afternoon there's one more important thing: seat picking. The classroom doors open at 5 today, but I'm going to get there rather earlier--partly because other people are already going to be lining up, and partly because we can pick up what we ordered from the bookstore starting at 3.
Bonus: all the groups and their boat names, since some of them were pretty great
This is officially the end of my first week at the vet school, even if we haven't technically started yet. I got all of my stuff here last Sunday in the family van, even if it did take until 10 at night before I was back with my own car due to a variety of family stuff cropping up.
Monday was my real moving in day, rather than just moving up here. I attempted to build a dresser and had it collapse three times until it was irreparably damaged. I got a new dresser though and managed to build it successfully with my flatmate's help, and finally had a place to put my clothes! I'm living with two other vet students: a third year and another first year. The first year, Lauren, and I bonded over my inability to put together a dresser. Once we got the second one to work, though, I concluded that it was physically impossible to put the first one together (alone at least)--totally not my fault!
Monday night was also the first welcome week activity: a barbecue in the vet school courtyard. Apparently the turnout was much greater than last year, and since everyone who came brought a food item, there was a LOT of food. Lauren drove both of us, so we stuck together, and somehow--by way of hovering until we were noticed/had something to contribute to the conversation, mainly--became part of a decent-sized group of first years all hanging out. We stayed right up until the end of the barbecue, but didn't hit up the house party afterwards--I still had to do something about all the stuff I'd tossed on my bed to deal with later.
Tuesday meant more trips to Target and STILL failing to find a nighttable. The one I bought wasn't tall enough--I finally gave up and ordered one online. Hopefully it will be here soon. And that evening, our second activity: bowling! Well, it was originally meant to be bowling, until the activity coordinators found out that league bowling was actually going on that night. Luckily, they found a new place to hold our activity. It's called Quarters, and there we got to not only do some bowling but also play laser tag and mess around on arcade games for a while. This time I drove, and my GPS took us to some apartment complex called "the Quarters" instead of the arcade before we input the address instead of the name. Luckily, another girl from our group of first years also showed up half an hour late, so the three of us got to bowl together. Laser tag was supposed to be two games until a different team won each of the rounds. My team lost the last round, but I personally was in the top players in the first two games! I think laser tag was the best part of that event. :D
I didn't actually attend the welcome week activity on Wednesday; instead, I spent the day with my sister, who is spending the week at her boyfriend's house in Prairieville. We went to the Mall of Louisiana--it's huge!--and got snowballs at a little roadside stand not too far from where I'm living. I had a flavor called "Snowman Cream" (the stand's name was related to snowman), which was light blue and tasted almondy.
I didn't really mind skipping the activity Wednesday since I knew I'd be spending all day (9:30am to 4 or so) with my vet school classmates for Tiki Tubing. It was a pretty good time. The group I'd driven up with kept floating ahead of the huge, loud, crazy drunk group. We also met up with some other cool people, including a couple of guys who took the opportunity at every sand bar we stopped on to try and throw rocks into abandoned tubes on the other side of the river and a couple of girls from my hometown. I even made sure to reapply sunscreen when we stopped, but it didn't stop me from getting an utterly awful sunburn where my bikini top didn't cover. My shoulders are RED. I'm not sure it's possible to do Tiki Tubing and NOT get a sunburn.
Then on Friday was the mandatory FLE--Freshman Leadership Experience. I thought it was amusing that we had to RSVP for it--"are you coming to the mandatory FLE?"--along with RSVPing our families for coating ceremony. For this we were split into small groups, and then had to complete little exercises like moving a pyramid of cups using only a rubber band we were each holding by a string without speaking or turning over a tarp while we were all standing on it. Our name tags had different animals on them to split us into groups, and mine was the snakes. *clap* *clap* SSSSS! We also made shields for our groups, which will be hanging in our classroom all year. Each of the challenges, if we completed them on time, won us a supply for the boat race that finished out the day. We used cardboard, duct tape, box cutters, and a trash bag to make a boat that was supposed to get across the YMCA's pool with two people in it. Our group wasn't the fastest to make it across, but we were the first to have a boat that made it all the way! The group that did have the fastest boat, the puppies, also managed to beat the facilitators' cardboard boat--and those second years cheated, with multiple trash bags and cling wrap and all kinds of stuff we weren't able to use.
Orientation officially starts Monday, but this afternoon there's one more important thing: seat picking. The classroom doors open at 5 today, but I'm going to get there rather earlier--partly because other people are already going to be lining up, and partly because we can pick up what we ordered from the bookstore starting at 3.
Bonus: all the groups and their boat names, since some of them were pretty great
- Horses: Seabiscuit
- Snakes: SS Cobra
- Cows: Cirrhosis of the River
- Chickens: The Mother Clucker
- Puppies: SS Doggy Paddle
- T-Rexes: Jurassic Ark
- Pigs: Miss Piggy
- Monkeys: SS Monkey
Friday, August 16, 2013
Welcome to my blog
Hi there; Birdie here.
If you're reading this, you might want to know a little bit about me. Well, I'm a c/o 2017-er at LSU Vet School...at least, if I don't fail out first.
What the adcoms know about me (aka what was in my personal statement) is that I spent last summer in Ireland at an equine hospital, I've loved horses and riding since I was young, and I'm really interested in learning how to make sense of the diagnostic tools veterinarians use. Oh, and I'm also skilled at helping other people edit their essays--as evidenced by my position in the writing center at my undergrad in upstate NY (yes, New York state, even though I'm a Louisiana resident).
What they don't know about me includes the fact that I have three Giant Microbes in my room (African sleeping sickness, rhinovirus, and red blood cell), I love anime and comics, and I really wish I could find a D&D group around here. In other words, I'm a giant nerd. I'm not sure how much of that will come out in my blogging, but I want you to be prepared, dear readers.
Between all the bloggers on my forum and the book I'm currently reading (If Wishers Were Horses by Dr. Loretta Gage, DVM), I thought it would be a good idea to keep track of what's going on in vet school both for myself/future reference and for any potential vet students who want to know what they're getting themselves into.
I'm not 100% sure what I'm getting myself into right now, but I'm in it to win it, with "it" referring to a DVM degree. Despite what you may think, I'm not going for an exotics or avian focus. I'm thinking I'll do companion animal GP, but I'm keeping my options open. There's a lot I haven't really been exposed to yet, and I'm both excited and horribly nervous to start.
Look forward to more posts about my application process, moving in, orientation, and my attempts at staying sane in the craziness I'm sure vet school will be.
If you're reading this, you might want to know a little bit about me. Well, I'm a c/o 2017-er at LSU Vet School...at least, if I don't fail out first.
What the adcoms know about me (aka what was in my personal statement) is that I spent last summer in Ireland at an equine hospital, I've loved horses and riding since I was young, and I'm really interested in learning how to make sense of the diagnostic tools veterinarians use. Oh, and I'm also skilled at helping other people edit their essays--as evidenced by my position in the writing center at my undergrad in upstate NY (yes, New York state, even though I'm a Louisiana resident).
What they don't know about me includes the fact that I have three Giant Microbes in my room (African sleeping sickness, rhinovirus, and red blood cell), I love anime and comics, and I really wish I could find a D&D group around here. In other words, I'm a giant nerd. I'm not sure how much of that will come out in my blogging, but I want you to be prepared, dear readers.
Between all the bloggers on my forum and the book I'm currently reading (If Wishers Were Horses by Dr. Loretta Gage, DVM), I thought it would be a good idea to keep track of what's going on in vet school both for myself/future reference and for any potential vet students who want to know what they're getting themselves into.
I'm not 100% sure what I'm getting myself into right now, but I'm in it to win it, with "it" referring to a DVM degree. Despite what you may think, I'm not going for an exotics or avian focus. I'm thinking I'll do companion animal GP, but I'm keeping my options open. There's a lot I haven't really been exposed to yet, and I'm both excited and horribly nervous to start.
Look forward to more posts about my application process, moving in, orientation, and my attempts at staying sane in the craziness I'm sure vet school will be.
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