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...