Everything is Awesome

Hi there; Birdie here!

All in all, this has been a great week, and it's about to get better! In about an hour, I'm leaving for my flight to Colorado for skiing with my family over Mardi Gras break. I'm really excited about the snow (which I don't have to drive in :D) and about spending time with my family, especially my little brother. He's going to see snow for the first time, which will be super adorable, and we're going to start reading the Percy Jackson series together. ^-^ I will need to study a bit for neuro since that final will be Friday after break, but it shouldn't be too bad, and I'm looking forward to quite a bit of not-studying as well.

The week didn't start out so great, though. Although I really, really appreciate my study group--both at a friend's house and in lab, I spent 8 or 9 hours studying both Sunday and Monday, and being with my classmates made it more productive and also more enjoyable. Then Tuesday was the practical. It started out fine, but about halfway through it got bad. There were about 3 things where I hadn't studied anything in that area, and it really didn't help that I started physically not feeling very good (not eating much lunch + formalin isn't really a great combination and I try to avoid it, but it was a catered lunch that I wound up not liking). I left that exam feeling awful about it. The written on Wednesday felt a little better, but not by much--there were a lot I wasn't really sure about. I pretty much kissed my chances of an A in that class goodbye. We have our grades now, though, and actually I did REALLY well! I got A's on both parts, and not just 91.5 barely-an-A-on-our-grading-scale. Actual, solid A's. The study group clearly helped a lot, and I have hopes of pulling off a 4.0 for the semester!

As for other classes, nothing super exciting. Finished the last of our neuro lectures, did well on my phys exam, started diagnostic imaging class. I actually had my lab yesterday, and it was a lot better than last semester's lab. Half of it was spent explaining DLPMO/DMPLO views of the equine carpus, which was necessary and a lot clearer than the lecture. The other half was much more fun, though. One of the radiologists went through a couple of cases with us, pointing out what area we should look at in the radiographs and showing some ultrasound images, and asking us about differentials. We didn't really know much, and it was at the end of a long day so we weren't as interactive as we could have been. But if all diagnostic imaging labs were like that, I wouldn't really mind having two or three extra lab sessions like the course coordinator is threatening to do for next year (she has problems with people switching lab times, which is a whole different issue).

Also on Wednesday, between classes ending and diagnostic imaging lab, I went and met with one of the clinicians. He went to the same (small, upstate NY) undergrad that I did, and I actually emailed him a bit before making my final decision to attend LSU. We chatted a bit, and he offered to help me find a research position for next summer, or for this summer if the things I applied to don't work out, which was really nice of him.

This week I also got to go to one of my potlucks. I made a cheesy garlic bread with a cauliflower base instead of a bread base, and (other than being slightly over-broiled and brown on top), it turned out wonderful. I love that I get to cook and try out new recipes for these things--I used to cook and bake all the time, but I don't have too much time for that now. And it's a lot better when I get to share it with friends. :) The guy who cooks made delicious pasta alfredo and pesto, and I got to talk with a bunch of third years about how their clinics are going.

Then after I got home from that, I got to talk to several of my undergrad friends for the first time since graduation! Definitely one of the best things to happen all week. We did it through google hangouts and basically had a massive video chat (I think there were 6 or 7 of us). We just talked for a while, and I did my nails (Mardi Gras colors: alternating purple and green with gold spots) just like old times. I haven't been anything like as social in vet school as I was in undergrad, so it felt really nice to be the way I am with my friends. Gosh, I've missed them. I'm sure we'll do it again sometime soonish, too, especially since one person who really wanted to set it up wasn't able to make that time.

Today at lunch I went to a Surgery Club meeting, which was great. A local practitioner came and talked to us--the same doctor who I work with at the Dream Clinic! He showed us some really interesting cases and even some video of a couple of the surgeries. Plus he showed some pictures from international trips he's done, and generally made me really excited to be a veterinarian. I'm signed up for the Dream Center next weekend, and I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, and we've got 3 clin path multihead microscope wetlab dates set up, and Feline Club wants to work with us in Pathology Club for a cat necropsy wetlab, so that's awesome. I love that the club I'm part of running is going to actually be doing things!