Hi there; Birdie here!
So, what happened last week before symposium? Not too much. I went to the Happy's run on Tuesday, after which there was an extended happy hour special for us vet students. 3 of my Pathfinder group members showed up, too, and I would have loved to stay...but unfortunately since I was leaving Thursday and knew I would be too busy to study over the weekend, I had to go home and study. I also had a bird to feed last week; I had to switch with the undergrad student who was feeding earlier since I was scheduled to feed over the weekend when I was at symposium. So instead, my shift was now Monday through Thursday. My bird this time was Lucy, a Mississippi kite, which is a really pretty blue-gray bird. She was really good, too--very nervous, but she fisted well for me every time. One morning I even had to walk across the room with her on my arm to put her in a travel cage so I could clean her cage, and she was not as bad as I feared. I hope I get to feed her more (and more than Sydney who tried to attack me!).
Symposium itself was pretty good. I'm pretty sure I want to go again next year, although I'll definitely try to register earlier so I can 1) be in the same hotel it's in and 2) get actually wet wetlabs. The only wetlab I got this time was a client communication one that was basically just two lectures that I had to travel to CSU's campus for. It turned out pretty well, though--the vet who gave one of those talks also gave a talk on the last day, and I went up and talked to him afterwards. Gave him my card, said thanks for doing communication stuff, told him how my thesis was on that, and he offered to introduce me to Dr. Shaw, who does a lot of research in this area. Which reminds me, I still need to email him...
Besides that wetlab, I went to a bunch of lectures: business-type things, secure hemostasis, virology, Parvo research... all sorts of stuff. And the nights were for social activities. The first night I intended to get there in time for the opening ceremony, but the shuttle from the airport started later and took longer than I expected. According to my classmates who did go, I didn't miss much. Then there was a bar crawl thing--we each got a "passport to Fort Collins" detailing certain deals that some places downtown had for us as well as a $15 gift card good for most places downtown. First place I went (with a couple of fellow LSU-ers and another SAVMA delegate the two of them knew) was a bar called the Drunken Monkey, which had swings instead of bar stools! It was cool, especially since we went there at like 7 and it wasn't crowded. Then we went to get food, and that was very much no longer the case. The first place we went for a burger deal, there were so many people that we tried somewhere else. Which turned out to be a poor choice; it was just about as crowded AND apparently the workers didn't know there was going to be this symposium. It was CSU's spring break, and they were short-staffed, which was VERY short-staffed with how many people we were (symposium had ~1600 attendees, though I'm not sure how many attended that event). Also, it was an Irish pub, so I was really disappointed when my "What kind of cider do you have?" was answered with "Woodchuck." That's it. In actual Ireland, they had at least 3 varieties of cider that weren't even apple (I got a blackcurrant one for my 21st birthday). We had to wait an hour for food, and eventually it was so crowded and I was so uncomfortable that I just left, leaving my gift card on the table to cover my stuff. I only drank like 3 sips of my Woodchuck, too (not a fan). I wish we'd gone to the Melting Pot for the $15 chocolate, cheese, and drink special instead... I wound up leaving at 9 and just went to bed.
That was Thursday. Friday night was much better. There was a casino night at some theater place. I learned how to play craps, and won 16 imaginary dollars. They gave us each $500 to gamble with so that we didn't have to use our own money. Craps was really fun! Our dealer introduced himself as Bruce, but his nametag said DJ Bruce so we called him DJ all night. He was a lot of fun, teaching us how to play the game and joking with us. I gave him a high five when we cashed out. Saturday night was the closing ceremony, which had really nice food (although I didn't eat much because the beef was really rare for me). Some people went out afterwards, but I wasn't feeling it, especially since I had to wake up for a 6:40 shuttle to the airport.
Oh, btw, I got an email: I didn't get the summer NASA program. I'm pretty much okay with that, though. It was my least favorite since I'd have to find housing in Houston. Plus it has set start and end dates, and now I get to pick my start dates, which means I get to go to Hawaii with my family at the beginning of summer!
So I finally got my car fixed yesterday. The maintainance light was on, so I got an oil change and my tires rotated, and I finally got my cracked windshield replaced. And it didn't lose me my 2-year brake tag that I just got last summer! This week so far I've been studying anatomy really hard, but I really need to work on bacteriology since we have our first exam Friday. We also started Pathology this week. I really liked the first lecture, but today I was having trouble paying attention. How much repetition there was from yesterday didn't really help. I still need to watch a bacteriology lecture and an anatomy lecture that I missed for symposium. Oh, and today I'm finally doing something for Josh Project (despite being a committee member...)--today I'm going to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital to deliver some kits!
By the way, my Pathfinder group did play without me. Apparently it was like a sidequest, and the DM has an idea for what my character was doing during it. I'm still looking forward to this weekend! I might also be doing a scout's day with VOICE (diversity club) on Saturday and Spay Day on Sunday, but since it's the weekend before our anatomy final (Final EVER!) I haven't decided yet.
Showing posts with label car troubles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label car troubles. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Time flies when you're studying like crazy
Hi there; Birdie here!
Once again it's Monday and time for me to blog about last week. Neuro test worked out great, and I made a good grade in diagnostic imaging, too. Next up is our physiology final, focusing on renal phys. I studied a bunch over the weekend but I'm still not sure I'm ready...luckily I still have today to work on it. I had a little more relaxed weekend than the last one and managed to go for a run Sunday morning and watch several episodes of How I Met Your Mother besides my study time. Pathfinder this week was kind of awkward, for in-character reasons...I don't really want to go into it. I'm definitely looking forward to next session, though, and I hope they don't have it without me.
See, this weekend is when I'm going back to Colorado, this time to Fort Collins for SAVMA symposium. I still haven't figured out my shuttle from the airport to the hotel, so I'm planning on doing that this afternoon (or maybe this morning since we don't have class until 10). Luckily it looks like there's a discount code for SAVMA...I'm still annoyed that they didn't do anything to help me out when I'd been led to believe they had a shuttle included with my room rate and it turned out they "never had a shuttle." Symposium should be pretty cool, even if I only get to do one wetlab and afaik it doesn't actually involve live animals or procedures (it's a communication thing). Apparently there's a semi-formal one night so I need to bring a dress...luckily I've got the one I want to bring here in BR with me. A bunch of my classmates are actually leaving for it much earlier than I am...from what I saw, there's an opening reception at 5:30 on Thursday so that's when I tried to be there. I know some people are delegates and have to be there Wednesday for a meeting, but apparently there's also some stuff earlier on Thursday and maybe even before that. I've decided I'm okay with missing that though...if I love symposium and am going to go next year, maybe I can try to go earlier. For now though I'm pretty happy to not be missing any bacteriology lab time (if my calculations are correct). I'll definitely be blogging about the symposium once I've experienced it!
Unfortunately I won't be able to drop off my car at the dealership near the airport like I was planning since I'm getting in on Sunday and they're closed so I couldn't pick it up then. The "maintenance required" light is on, and I was planning to finally get the windshield replaced too (since it still has the crack from when I was driving back from Covington). Since I can't do it then I don't know when I will be able to...
Saturday morning before Pathfinder I also got to do a wetlab. It was with AAHA, and let us practice small animal endoscopy. I've seen a bunch of endoscopy on horses, but now I've actually done one on a dog! They also had a couple of models for us to practice on (which my group did before the live dog): a plastic tubing "colonoscopy" with an apple half in the "ileum" to practice taking biopsies, and a plush tiger with a jar of tootsie rolls in it's "stomach" for foreign body extraction. A couple of the guys in my group wanted to unwrap one of the tootsie rolls with endoscopes, but as far as I know they never did. It was really cool to do the actual dog: I saw its larynx, esophageal mucosa, stomach with rugal folds, pyloric antrum, and even the duodenum! I personally didn't get a good view of the duodenal papilla, but other people did. Getting through the pylorus I was pretty much blind, but the clinician helping me said to keep going so I did and eventually I made it through! And other than that part I pretty much did it myself. That was a lot of fun!
Last week we also had our first path wetlab. There were a few cases: a couple of dogs, couple of cats, and a sample from a snake's mouth! I learned about pyogranulomatous inflammation, which then became relevant to our next bacteriology/mycology class, and I learned that cat eosinophils have rod-shaped granules that look like bacteria. I love doing the clin path wetlabs--since I'm a first year and don't know approximately anything, I feel pretty free to ask questions, so I learn a lot. Unfortunately the rest of our diagnostic imaging club wetlabs (including the abdominal one we were supposed to have Friday) got cancelled due to the lack of participation at the first one. I guess people prefer to come to wetlabs involving actual animals...
Also, I think I mentioned the live Night Vale show in my last post? That was great. I got to have dinner with my sister beforehand, and then went to the show. As I was walking in, there was a guy in a "All Hail the Glow Cloud" shirt (it's a reference), which made me sure I was in the right place even as other people talked about coming for some band (I think they were the weather--by which I mean part of the Night Vale show--but it confused me at first). I wound up walking out right behind him and the girl he was with, too--just a random coincidence, but it was something I noticed. There were a few cosplayers: I think I saw 2 Carloses and one Cecil. Cecil himself in the show (who, btw, was not dressed up as the character Cecil) had a lot of fun with us. When he was reading horoscopes, people would scream for their signs and he basically picked a person to talk directly to for each one (I was not the chosen Cancer). Even as he read his script he was still reacting to the audience (the way he said "There's nothing there!" when someone in the audience screamed--I'm sure it was part of the script but the way he said it sounded like a response). Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I've got the poster on my wall now.
Once again it's Monday and time for me to blog about last week. Neuro test worked out great, and I made a good grade in diagnostic imaging, too. Next up is our physiology final, focusing on renal phys. I studied a bunch over the weekend but I'm still not sure I'm ready...luckily I still have today to work on it. I had a little more relaxed weekend than the last one and managed to go for a run Sunday morning and watch several episodes of How I Met Your Mother besides my study time. Pathfinder this week was kind of awkward, for in-character reasons...I don't really want to go into it. I'm definitely looking forward to next session, though, and I hope they don't have it without me.
See, this weekend is when I'm going back to Colorado, this time to Fort Collins for SAVMA symposium. I still haven't figured out my shuttle from the airport to the hotel, so I'm planning on doing that this afternoon (or maybe this morning since we don't have class until 10). Luckily it looks like there's a discount code for SAVMA...I'm still annoyed that they didn't do anything to help me out when I'd been led to believe they had a shuttle included with my room rate and it turned out they "never had a shuttle." Symposium should be pretty cool, even if I only get to do one wetlab and afaik it doesn't actually involve live animals or procedures (it's a communication thing). Apparently there's a semi-formal one night so I need to bring a dress...luckily I've got the one I want to bring here in BR with me. A bunch of my classmates are actually leaving for it much earlier than I am...from what I saw, there's an opening reception at 5:30 on Thursday so that's when I tried to be there. I know some people are delegates and have to be there Wednesday for a meeting, but apparently there's also some stuff earlier on Thursday and maybe even before that. I've decided I'm okay with missing that though...if I love symposium and am going to go next year, maybe I can try to go earlier. For now though I'm pretty happy to not be missing any bacteriology lab time (if my calculations are correct). I'll definitely be blogging about the symposium once I've experienced it!
Unfortunately I won't be able to drop off my car at the dealership near the airport like I was planning since I'm getting in on Sunday and they're closed so I couldn't pick it up then. The "maintenance required" light is on, and I was planning to finally get the windshield replaced too (since it still has the crack from when I was driving back from Covington). Since I can't do it then I don't know when I will be able to...
Saturday morning before Pathfinder I also got to do a wetlab. It was with AAHA, and let us practice small animal endoscopy. I've seen a bunch of endoscopy on horses, but now I've actually done one on a dog! They also had a couple of models for us to practice on (which my group did before the live dog): a plastic tubing "colonoscopy" with an apple half in the "ileum" to practice taking biopsies, and a plush tiger with a jar of tootsie rolls in it's "stomach" for foreign body extraction. A couple of the guys in my group wanted to unwrap one of the tootsie rolls with endoscopes, but as far as I know they never did. It was really cool to do the actual dog: I saw its larynx, esophageal mucosa, stomach with rugal folds, pyloric antrum, and even the duodenum! I personally didn't get a good view of the duodenal papilla, but other people did. Getting through the pylorus I was pretty much blind, but the clinician helping me said to keep going so I did and eventually I made it through! And other than that part I pretty much did it myself. That was a lot of fun!
Last week we also had our first path wetlab. There were a few cases: a couple of dogs, couple of cats, and a sample from a snake's mouth! I learned about pyogranulomatous inflammation, which then became relevant to our next bacteriology/mycology class, and I learned that cat eosinophils have rod-shaped granules that look like bacteria. I love doing the clin path wetlabs--since I'm a first year and don't know approximately anything, I feel pretty free to ask questions, so I learn a lot. Unfortunately the rest of our diagnostic imaging club wetlabs (including the abdominal one we were supposed to have Friday) got cancelled due to the lack of participation at the first one. I guess people prefer to come to wetlabs involving actual animals...
Also, I think I mentioned the live Night Vale show in my last post? That was great. I got to have dinner with my sister beforehand, and then went to the show. As I was walking in, there was a guy in a "All Hail the Glow Cloud" shirt (it's a reference), which made me sure I was in the right place even as other people talked about coming for some band (I think they were the weather--by which I mean part of the Night Vale show--but it confused me at first). I wound up walking out right behind him and the girl he was with, too--just a random coincidence, but it was something I noticed. There were a few cosplayers: I think I saw 2 Carloses and one Cecil. Cecil himself in the show (who, btw, was not dressed up as the character Cecil) had a lot of fun with us. When he was reading horoscopes, people would scream for their signs and he basically picked a person to talk directly to for each one (I was not the chosen Cancer). Even as he read his script he was still reacting to the audience (the way he said "There's nothing there!" when someone in the audience screamed--I'm sure it was part of the script but the way he said it sounded like a response). Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I've got the poster on my wall now.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Three day weekend!
Hi there; Birdie here!
Sorry I didn't write last week. It wasn't even that I was busy, I just sort of got out of the habit of blog writing and didn't feel like it. Not to worry, though--here I am!
I've really enjoyed our PBL class. Last week's clinical lab, I did get to use my stethoscope! The hypothetical dog had a PDA, so the clinical lab was split into EKG, echocardiography, and auscultation. Unfortunately, since there were three stations and three groups at a time, we only had 15 minutes at each station. Which wasn't too bad for the echo and EKG where we were just watching/learning about it, but it wasn't enough time for us to really learn how to listen for the heart when we had to worry about leaving time for the next seven people in our group. We also had an anatomy lab last Friday, which I don't entirely understand the point of...it was mostly just a review of the heart, which we just had last semester. We did see how the valves lined up with the rib spaces where we auscultate, I guess, but I'm not sure that's worth the hours of lab time.
This week's case was a sheep, and the sheep clinical day was FUN! I tipped a sheep (with help), auscultated the heart and rumen, and drew blood from the jugular. It was my first ever attempt at a blood draw, and they said that if you can get a jug on a sheep (where it's a blind stick), you can do anything, so that made me really happy! Plus I was working on the same sheep as my friend, which made it better. For this case, though, there was a lot more time wasting while we waiting for results and the coordinator tried to drag it out all week. The thing is, the proper diagnosis (pregnancy toxemia w/ hypocalcemia) was the one thing we all already knew about sheep because we had a whole lecture on it in physio I. So we knew what it was by the first or second day, and they didn't seem to be expecting that. Yesterday we literally just hung out all day, not getting any results, which was rather annoying. But when we sent in our final plan of action, the last email we got was what would have been the "perfect ending" if this was a video game--both the sheep that was our patient and the twin lambs she was carrying survived! Other groups who did C-sections had one or both of the lambs die, so it really made us feel awesome that we had a 100% survival rate (even though one of the lambs' heartbeats wasn't found on ultrasound, which I'm still a little confused about. We thought that one was already dead).
Last weekend I went to the Dream Center clinic in New Orleans again. I brought my stethoscope, though I only wound up listening to one heart. We had a bunch of dogs where we had to clip their nails and they didn't care for it, but it was fun. I was with a classmate, and we took turns examining, giving vaccines/dewormer, etc., and holding for the other one to do all that. I think I was pretty good with the vaccines--I only had to restick once. There was way too much excitement at the end, though--when we went to take our picture at the end, the police officer who had the camera-phone went to back up, tripped over a pile of bricks behind him, and hit his head on the metal wall behind that! At first I thought he would just get up and be fine, but he had a concussion and his head wound was bleeding like a head wound, which is to say, a lot. Then my friend (the one who I worked on the sheep with, and who I had ridden to the clinic with) had come with her boyfriend as well, and he showed up when that happened, and literally passed out at the sight of the blood (I hadn't really thought that actually happened!). So then she freaked out and had to be brought away and go sit down. Both of them were fine afterwards, but I wound up driving them home. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing pokemon together, which was nice.
Like I said in the title, this is a three-day weekend. I'm going home, and hoping to see at least one movie between Saving Mr. Banks and August Osage County (which I had been going to see last weekend with my mom, but she got sick, so I went to see Catching Fire by myself instead). Our breaks are spaced much more nicely this semester. Instead of having two breaks within a couple weeks at the very end of the semester, we have two days off after the weekend for Mardi Gras (which I think I'll be spending skiing with my family) and a week for spring break the week that ends with Good Friday. The one negative about that is I think most spring breaks come after Easter, not before, so it might be hard to do, say, a road trip with my cousin like I wanted. But I think my sister might be out at the same time, so who knows.
I've got quite a lot on my plate this semester. First, officerships: I'm on the committee in charge of organizing fundraisers for Josh Project, I'm historian for Diagnostic Imaging Club, and I'm acting president for Pathology Club. I'm still working on how to get people to come to Path Club, since I wound up VP by being the only non-3rd year to show up to elections. So I have a bunch to plan for that meeting/this semester. I've also signed up to feed birds again, but day birds this time. I probably won't do it next year, but I wanted to get experience with all the birds. I'm also going to SAVMA Symposium in Colorado in March, and probably going to at least a bit of the LVMA conference (Lousiana vet association) and the diversity symposium around spring break, if I can manage it. And of course I'm going to the CDC veterinary day the week after next, and I'm not entirely sure what's going on with that. There's a Spay Day that weekend that I signed up for, but I'm not sure when we're leaving and so if I'll be able to make it.
Of course I have a ton to do for open house, too, which is rather upsetting because that weekend I was planning to go home and also go to New Orleans Comic Con, which happens to be that weekend and which Matt Smith will be at. I'm still going home on Friday--my whole family is really excited about the Lego Movie and we're all going to see it together the day it comes out. But I'll probably have to drive back here early Saturday. First years are in charge of a lot of open house, and it's mandatory for all of us to be there. Plus Path Club will have a booth, which I'll probably need to man, and my other clubs (which is a lot if you count the ones I'm not an officer in too) will probably want me to do stuff as well, so obviously I can't do it all.
I've nearly finished applying for all my summer stuff now. The NASA program confirmed they got my application, and the Banfield one confirmed that AND set up an interview (February 3rd). I'm still waiting on my last recommendation before I can send off the Tulane Primate Center one, though, and that's my first choice since it's close to my parents' house and has a lot more variety than the other two. I won't hear about that one or the NASA one until March, so I really hope Banfield is a bit like vet schools in that they'll do interviews and then talk amongst themselves and not send out decisions for a while. I'm not sure what I'd do if Banfield offered me a spot before I heard back from the other two--say yes, I guess, if I had to decide right then, but I'd rather hear back from all three before deciding.
Oh, one more random little thing: changing tires is a lot easier than I remember. When I was driving home the other day, my front right wheel went right into a big square pot hole, and when I took the turn I knew it had ruined my tire. Luckily my 3rd year roommate was driving by and stopped to help me. She took me to the tire place, but then we were told/I remembered that you need to have the rim and can't just buy a tire, so we went back and put the spare on together. We knew perfectly how to change a tire between the two of us, and it was a lot easier than I remembered from the last time I changed a tire on my old car. We took it into the shop and I had it back in a few hours, so it wasn't actually that bad, but it was quite stressful when it happened. I got insurance on that tire so if that happens again (which it might--that road is stupid, and if cars are coming the other way it's hard to avoid those pot holes) I won't have to pay quite as much for a new tire.
Sorry I didn't write last week. It wasn't even that I was busy, I just sort of got out of the habit of blog writing and didn't feel like it. Not to worry, though--here I am!
I've really enjoyed our PBL class. Last week's clinical lab, I did get to use my stethoscope! The hypothetical dog had a PDA, so the clinical lab was split into EKG, echocardiography, and auscultation. Unfortunately, since there were three stations and three groups at a time, we only had 15 minutes at each station. Which wasn't too bad for the echo and EKG where we were just watching/learning about it, but it wasn't enough time for us to really learn how to listen for the heart when we had to worry about leaving time for the next seven people in our group. We also had an anatomy lab last Friday, which I don't entirely understand the point of...it was mostly just a review of the heart, which we just had last semester. We did see how the valves lined up with the rib spaces where we auscultate, I guess, but I'm not sure that's worth the hours of lab time.
This week's case was a sheep, and the sheep clinical day was FUN! I tipped a sheep (with help), auscultated the heart and rumen, and drew blood from the jugular. It was my first ever attempt at a blood draw, and they said that if you can get a jug on a sheep (where it's a blind stick), you can do anything, so that made me really happy! Plus I was working on the same sheep as my friend, which made it better. For this case, though, there was a lot more time wasting while we waiting for results and the coordinator tried to drag it out all week. The thing is, the proper diagnosis (pregnancy toxemia w/ hypocalcemia) was the one thing we all already knew about sheep because we had a whole lecture on it in physio I. So we knew what it was by the first or second day, and they didn't seem to be expecting that. Yesterday we literally just hung out all day, not getting any results, which was rather annoying. But when we sent in our final plan of action, the last email we got was what would have been the "perfect ending" if this was a video game--both the sheep that was our patient and the twin lambs she was carrying survived! Other groups who did C-sections had one or both of the lambs die, so it really made us feel awesome that we had a 100% survival rate (even though one of the lambs' heartbeats wasn't found on ultrasound, which I'm still a little confused about. We thought that one was already dead).
Last weekend I went to the Dream Center clinic in New Orleans again. I brought my stethoscope, though I only wound up listening to one heart. We had a bunch of dogs where we had to clip their nails and they didn't care for it, but it was fun. I was with a classmate, and we took turns examining, giving vaccines/dewormer, etc., and holding for the other one to do all that. I think I was pretty good with the vaccines--I only had to restick once. There was way too much excitement at the end, though--when we went to take our picture at the end, the police officer who had the camera-phone went to back up, tripped over a pile of bricks behind him, and hit his head on the metal wall behind that! At first I thought he would just get up and be fine, but he had a concussion and his head wound was bleeding like a head wound, which is to say, a lot. Then my friend (the one who I worked on the sheep with, and who I had ridden to the clinic with) had come with her boyfriend as well, and he showed up when that happened, and literally passed out at the sight of the blood (I hadn't really thought that actually happened!). So then she freaked out and had to be brought away and go sit down. Both of them were fine afterwards, but I wound up driving them home. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing pokemon together, which was nice.
Like I said in the title, this is a three-day weekend. I'm going home, and hoping to see at least one movie between Saving Mr. Banks and August Osage County (which I had been going to see last weekend with my mom, but she got sick, so I went to see Catching Fire by myself instead). Our breaks are spaced much more nicely this semester. Instead of having two breaks within a couple weeks at the very end of the semester, we have two days off after the weekend for Mardi Gras (which I think I'll be spending skiing with my family) and a week for spring break the week that ends with Good Friday. The one negative about that is I think most spring breaks come after Easter, not before, so it might be hard to do, say, a road trip with my cousin like I wanted. But I think my sister might be out at the same time, so who knows.
I've got quite a lot on my plate this semester. First, officerships: I'm on the committee in charge of organizing fundraisers for Josh Project, I'm historian for Diagnostic Imaging Club, and I'm acting president for Pathology Club. I'm still working on how to get people to come to Path Club, since I wound up VP by being the only non-3rd year to show up to elections. So I have a bunch to plan for that meeting/this semester. I've also signed up to feed birds again, but day birds this time. I probably won't do it next year, but I wanted to get experience with all the birds. I'm also going to SAVMA Symposium in Colorado in March, and probably going to at least a bit of the LVMA conference (Lousiana vet association) and the diversity symposium around spring break, if I can manage it. And of course I'm going to the CDC veterinary day the week after next, and I'm not entirely sure what's going on with that. There's a Spay Day that weekend that I signed up for, but I'm not sure when we're leaving and so if I'll be able to make it.
Of course I have a ton to do for open house, too, which is rather upsetting because that weekend I was planning to go home and also go to New Orleans Comic Con, which happens to be that weekend and which Matt Smith will be at. I'm still going home on Friday--my whole family is really excited about the Lego Movie and we're all going to see it together the day it comes out. But I'll probably have to drive back here early Saturday. First years are in charge of a lot of open house, and it's mandatory for all of us to be there. Plus Path Club will have a booth, which I'll probably need to man, and my other clubs (which is a lot if you count the ones I'm not an officer in too) will probably want me to do stuff as well, so obviously I can't do it all.
I've nearly finished applying for all my summer stuff now. The NASA program confirmed they got my application, and the Banfield one confirmed that AND set up an interview (February 3rd). I'm still waiting on my last recommendation before I can send off the Tulane Primate Center one, though, and that's my first choice since it's close to my parents' house and has a lot more variety than the other two. I won't hear about that one or the NASA one until March, so I really hope Banfield is a bit like vet schools in that they'll do interviews and then talk amongst themselves and not send out decisions for a while. I'm not sure what I'd do if Banfield offered me a spot before I heard back from the other two--say yes, I guess, if I had to decide right then, but I'd rather hear back from all three before deciding.
Oh, one more random little thing: changing tires is a lot easier than I remember. When I was driving home the other day, my front right wheel went right into a big square pot hole, and when I took the turn I knew it had ruined my tire. Luckily my 3rd year roommate was driving by and stopped to help me. She took me to the tire place, but then we were told/I remembered that you need to have the rim and can't just buy a tire, so we went back and put the spare on together. We knew perfectly how to change a tire between the two of us, and it was a lot easier than I remembered from the last time I changed a tire on my old car. We took it into the shop and I had it back in a few hours, so it wasn't actually that bad, but it was quite stressful when it happened. I got insurance on that tire so if that happens again (which it might--that road is stupid, and if cars are coming the other way it's hard to avoid those pot holes) I won't have to pay quite as much for a new tire.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Just a little more
Hi there; Birdie here!
Two exams down this week, and 2-3 more exams (depending on whether you want to count the anatomy practical and written as separate exams or not) and one week to go! I'm so ready for Christmas break...I'll just have to power through, and on Friday I'll be free!
Both of this week's exams were actually for the same class: a combined grade for Histology and Developmental Anatomy. The histo exams was in three parts: the written, the projected images we usually have for the practical, and a 12-question "identify the organ" practical on our actual microscopes. I did pretty well on the lab portions, though I'll have to see whether he accepts some of my answers. I don't know exactly how well I did on that exam yet. The course coordinator was going to be handing out the exams at 4 today, but I didn't stay (for reasons I'll discuss in the next paragraph). I was really worried about it considering I didn't actually study over Thanksgiving break (though I did finish my novel and win NaNoWriMo again!), but it wasn't actually that bad. Embryology was not as bad as I was expecting, either. I did stay up until 1am last night studying for it though! Next week we have an anatomy quiz Monday, Physio exam Wednesday, and anatomy practical/written Thursday/Friday. Phew!
The reason I didn't stay to pick up my test was because I was hoping to meet a tow truck at my house. See, after I got back after break, my car wouldn't start. Before break it had been flashing a light at me, but it stopped when I used my proximity key physically in the dashboard, and my dad (who owned the car before me) said it was the key's battery. Well, guess what--it's actually the car's battery (well, one of them--it's a hybrid). Turns out it's got less than 1 volt in it, and is too dead to even jump. So I've been without my car all week. A friend has been shuttling me to and from school, but on the first day everyone around (my roommates, and said friend who lives nearby) had left by the time I found my car not starting. I wound up walking halfway to school until my roommate and her friend whom she carpools with saw me and let me ride with them the rest of the way. The tow truck didn't even come today (yay Baton Rouge traffic!), so I'll have to meet it first thing in the morning instead. I seriously hope they can get all the work done tomorrow while my mom is here and can drop me off to pick up the car so I don't have to make my friend drive me there too. On the plus side, my mom is coming up tomorrow--we're gonna go see The Book Thief. I really do miss my car...I don't even like driving, but I really hate relying on/being a burden to my friend this way.
Ooh, exciting news: we get to sign up for our electives for next semester! The list of choices got emailed out yesterday, and I'm really excited about it. At LSU, the graduation requirement is 4 credits of electives, and we can take up to 2 in the spring. Of course I want to take two! In fact, I have a list of like 6 that I'm interested in, heh. I definitely want to take one of the classes with our school's social worker: either Vets in the Community or the Human Animal Bond. See my thesis--this stuff is my bag. For the other one, I'm thinking about doing Integrative Medicine, but it's got limited spots. If it fills up, the procedure is to do a lottery for the spaces. Therefore there's no incentive to sign up early, so I haven't yet--they're giving us a talk on Monday about electives, so I'm going to wait until after that. Plus I want to talk to the social worker about which of her classes I should take. There's so many other interesting choices, too: feline med, large animal behavior, a skin class that's very hands-on (although tbh I don't really want to take that because I'm not a fan of the professor in charge), and an online exotic/emerging diseases class...I hate online classes, but it's a requirement for USDA accreditation. Maybe I can take that in the summer if I want to do that?
I also signed up for the CDC's veterinary day, a Monday in January. Unfortunately, 11 people were interested and there's only 10 spots, so hopefully I get it. I'm a little wary of missing class for it, but I think this will be a valuable experience that's worth the missed lecture (plus the lecture will probably be recorded). Well, if I don't get it, at least I won't miss class.
Two exams down this week, and 2-3 more exams (depending on whether you want to count the anatomy practical and written as separate exams or not) and one week to go! I'm so ready for Christmas break...I'll just have to power through, and on Friday I'll be free!
Both of this week's exams were actually for the same class: a combined grade for Histology and Developmental Anatomy. The histo exams was in three parts: the written, the projected images we usually have for the practical, and a 12-question "identify the organ" practical on our actual microscopes. I did pretty well on the lab portions, though I'll have to see whether he accepts some of my answers. I don't know exactly how well I did on that exam yet. The course coordinator was going to be handing out the exams at 4 today, but I didn't stay (for reasons I'll discuss in the next paragraph). I was really worried about it considering I didn't actually study over Thanksgiving break (though I did finish my novel and win NaNoWriMo again!), but it wasn't actually that bad. Embryology was not as bad as I was expecting, either. I did stay up until 1am last night studying for it though! Next week we have an anatomy quiz Monday, Physio exam Wednesday, and anatomy practical/written Thursday/Friday. Phew!
The reason I didn't stay to pick up my test was because I was hoping to meet a tow truck at my house. See, after I got back after break, my car wouldn't start. Before break it had been flashing a light at me, but it stopped when I used my proximity key physically in the dashboard, and my dad (who owned the car before me) said it was the key's battery. Well, guess what--it's actually the car's battery (well, one of them--it's a hybrid). Turns out it's got less than 1 volt in it, and is too dead to even jump. So I've been without my car all week. A friend has been shuttling me to and from school, but on the first day everyone around (my roommates, and said friend who lives nearby) had left by the time I found my car not starting. I wound up walking halfway to school until my roommate and her friend whom she carpools with saw me and let me ride with them the rest of the way. The tow truck didn't even come today (yay Baton Rouge traffic!), so I'll have to meet it first thing in the morning instead. I seriously hope they can get all the work done tomorrow while my mom is here and can drop me off to pick up the car so I don't have to make my friend drive me there too. On the plus side, my mom is coming up tomorrow--we're gonna go see The Book Thief. I really do miss my car...I don't even like driving, but I really hate relying on/being a burden to my friend this way.
Ooh, exciting news: we get to sign up for our electives for next semester! The list of choices got emailed out yesterday, and I'm really excited about it. At LSU, the graduation requirement is 4 credits of electives, and we can take up to 2 in the spring. Of course I want to take two! In fact, I have a list of like 6 that I'm interested in, heh. I definitely want to take one of the classes with our school's social worker: either Vets in the Community or the Human Animal Bond. See my thesis--this stuff is my bag. For the other one, I'm thinking about doing Integrative Medicine, but it's got limited spots. If it fills up, the procedure is to do a lottery for the spaces. Therefore there's no incentive to sign up early, so I haven't yet--they're giving us a talk on Monday about electives, so I'm going to wait until after that. Plus I want to talk to the social worker about which of her classes I should take. There's so many other interesting choices, too: feline med, large animal behavior, a skin class that's very hands-on (although tbh I don't really want to take that because I'm not a fan of the professor in charge), and an online exotic/emerging diseases class...I hate online classes, but it's a requirement for USDA accreditation. Maybe I can take that in the summer if I want to do that?
I also signed up for the CDC's veterinary day, a Monday in January. Unfortunately, 11 people were interested and there's only 10 spots, so hopefully I get it. I'm a little wary of missing class for it, but I think this will be a valuable experience that's worth the missed lecture (plus the lecture will probably be recorded). Well, if I don't get it, at least I won't miss class.
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