Break!!!

I had a wonderful 2 week vacation!  Enjoyed spending some much needed quality time with my beer on the beaches of St. Kitts with some awesome friends.  We spend one of the days of break taking a catamaran over to the sister island of Nevis.  Went snorkeling and enjoyed some of their special drink called the "Killer Bee."  It doesn't have the horrible sharpness you sometimes taste with straight alcohol... but you can definitely tell that it is made with JUST ALCOHOL.  One drink and you're good.  Two drinks and you're gone.  Spent the rest of my first week basically just enjoying doing absolutely nothing.

My mom came into town during the second week to take a much needed vacation and also to see this amazing island nation that I've decided to spend the next 2 years of my life on.  Spent a lot of time at the casino as well as going out to the bars to hang out with the ever increasing group of returners to the island from break.  We also took an amazing island tour taking us to Caribelle Batik and botanical gardens as well as Brimstone Fortress, two of the very big "touristy" places to go on the island.

Every flower was in bloom and looked extremely vibrant.

One of the many beautiful views you can see at the botanical gardens.

Heading up the hill to one of the many bastions on the fortress property.

Prince of Wales bastion at the fortress.

  We also took a day trip out to Reggae beach to see the famous island boar Wilbur, luckily just days before he unfortunately passed away from old age.

RIP Wilbur.  You brought a lot of happiness to a lot of people.

Reggae beach bar adopted some local abandoned monkeys and spoils them rotten.  Wish I was a monkey staying at the Reggae monkey resort ;-)

Reggae beach on the Caribbean side of the island.

Saw the little bird perched on the beer bottle for the longest time.  Good thing he waited for me to take a picture before flying away.

I'm writing this in the middle of a study break.  That's right, I started back Monday to classes for 2nd semester so I will hopefully be finished writing/editing my post for that soon.  Until then...

Move out, Don't mess around!

Just as soon as finals is finished, there is no break for the 1sties.  Whatever time was spent studying after finals was instead replaced with packing and cleaning.

1st semester students that apply to Ross enough in advance live in the residences that they have on campus.  This helps them with the transition into vet school without having to deal with much of the hassles that can accompany "island life".  However, that's only for the first 4 months on the island.  After that they move out for the next 1st semester class to enter.  So guess what I did over the past 2 days?!  That's right, clean, pack, move, unpack.  Moved from campus to a little place about 15min away in an area of the island called Half Moon Bay.  It's a nice little 2 bedroom place with which I share with my roommate Ryan.  Because we're on the Atlantic side we get a wonderful breeze that blows through the place when we open the front and back doors.

Our place in on the bottom left corner of this picture.

One of my favorite parts of the new place compared to my old one... it's got a real over and stove top!!! That means I can do some real cooking/baking.

Oh! And a full sized fridge.  I can buy bulk sized things now instead of going grocery shopping every 2 to three days, which can really eat into your studying time.

My room is a good size.  Not too big that it costs a ton of cool it, not too small that I can't live in it.

My bed to the right with a wall length window.  My closet ahead with my desk on the right.

And how did I get all my things to my new place you ask?  Why I bought an island mobile!

Got myself a '95 Honda Civic!  It is an island car.  For those of you that don't know what that is... let me enlighten you.  It is extremely expensive to import cars to the island.  So many of the cars on the island are older frankensteins(older shells with newer parts on the inside).  As Ross students leave their 7th and last semester on the island, they need to sell their cars.  Therefore these cars get passed down every few years to another student.  So a '95 like mine could have a little as 5 owners up to this point in time.  Now they aren't the nicest cars, but they get you from point A->B in one piece, and you can usually sell them for around the same price as you bought them for(technically selling an appreciated automobile).  So it's a pretty good deal.

Now that classes are over and I'm almost done unpacking, I'm finding it difficult getting into a "relaxed" state of mind after running 110% over the past 4 months.  Hopefully I'll find that state before my 2 week break is up and I have to start back in 2nd semester.  Monday I will be going on a catamaran trip with some students who are also staying over break and then my Mom will be coming into town next week.  Hope to show her all the awesome and beautiful parts that make this island one amazing paradise...when not sitting as a desk studying.

Round 1 Completed!!!

About three weeks ago I was finishing my last set of midterms and starting the long haul to finals.  I didn't think studying for finals would take all that time... but it did.  In this past 4 months I have studied about 10 times more than the entirety of my undergraduate career.  And it paid off!!!  I will be joining our Blue class as it makes its journey into 2nd semester.

Finals was a very weird time for me.  Spent copious amounts of time studying, very little time eating, and an even smaller time sleeping.  I did get plenty of rest up until the week of finals.  Then, when I did get to sleep, my "dreaming" consisted of canine and equine muscle groups being pulled away from bone with exposed vasculature.  Or mixing of the feed of a dairy herd making sure that the right proportions of nutrients went in to make sure they all didn't get rumen acidosis(too much acid produced in the rumen during digestion).

One other very difficult part of finals is that they do not release your grades until all exams have been taken.  The reason for this of course is to keep you from not performing well on one exam because you already found out you failed another one.  It still is very stressful.  You definitely learn how to compartmentalize your emotions and thoughts about other classes to try and focus on what's in front of you.

Grades are supposed to be posted my noon on the Saturday after exams... that would be today.  We found out yesterday our class grades.  The website to find these grades however, is a little confusing.  At first I didn't know what unofficial transcript I was looking at (pre or post final exams).  But it ended up being post, and I ended up passing.  I also ended up passing with a 3.5, which made me eligible for the deans list!!! A few friends of mine made it on the President's list which is 4.0.  A very large accomplishment considering the stress and copious amounts of material needed to absorb in the short amount of time available.

I just moved out of the dorms on campus into my new place which I will talk about soon once I finish unpacking and getting pictures uploaded.  Bye for now!

"Insert witty title with veterinary pun here"

So it's been just over a month since my last post.  So much for that post a week nonsense I was talking about when I started this. :-)  I didn't really think I would be as busy as I have been over the past 5 weeks.

So I have had 1-2 exams/quizzes every week for the past 5 weeks which has kept the majority of my awake time busy with studying.  It has even cut into the sleeping time as well.  I cannot remember the last time I had a dream that didn't involve some subject in vet school.  It's actually kind of funny.  You just can't escape this stuff, even in your dreams!

Grade-wise I am doing well.  The consensus here seems to be: study for exams but never feel truly prepared, take the exam, leave the exam room feeling like you failed the exam, get your grade back a few days passing said exam.  It's definitely a different feeling than from undergrad.  And the most interesting part of that whole process is, most of that information actually stays in my brain... at least for now it does.  Ask me again 10 months from now which epithelial layer lines the bladder and I'm not sure if I'll be able to tell you ;-)

Even will all the "complaining" it's amazing things we are learning and I still can't believe I'm on this amazing tropical paradise!  I will probably never truly believe it until I leave.

After my last midterm Wednesday, I have two weeks off then a week of final exams.  At that point I will be packing up my things here and moving off-campus.  My hope is to have an entire post related to that milestone: talking about finding the place, getting a car, island license, etc.

Until then, Same island time, Same island channel!

Starting vet school out with a bAng!

Wow have I been busy!  This post may seem like a stream of consciousness, because it is.  I'm taking a "mental break" from studying neurotransmitter receptors to write this down.

So just took my first exam of veterinary school monday...histology.  I got an A!  Not a bad way to start vet school off.  Only a few weeks in and I've got myself into a nice little schedule.  Class, study, eating, and sleeping like clockwork.  Now just need to find the energy for 10 more weeks.  I'm hoping great friends and Friday night beach time will help.

I can't believe I've already been here over a month!  I have a feeling the next 10 weeks is going to fly by, and probably most of vet school when I look back on this in a few years.

I have two exams next week, physiology and gross anatomy.  Not too worried about my physiology exam.  I have found most of it to be review and in less detail than undergrad physiology classes, thank you undergrad neuro and physio professors for your awesome teaching skills! You know who you are.

Anatomy on the other hand I'm starting to freak out a little bit.  There's just sooooooooooooo much information to pack into such a short amount of time.  The names of all of the bony protuberances on the fore limb bones and hind limb bones.  As well as the names, attachments, and actions of each of the muscles in each of those two limbs.  Plus, all of the ligaments of those two limbs.  Ok so get all of that done for the canine limbs, now learn about the differences in the equine(horse) as well as bovine(cow) limb for which there are a few.  One interesting thing I learned is that horses basically walk on the "tippy toes" of their middle fingers.  Yes, horses are constantly flipping you off as they walk.  Cattle walk on their "middle and ring" finger tips similarly.  Just one of the many many many differences between difference animal species.

I'm understanding the thought process now behind the statement used here on the island, "Real Doctors work on multiple species."  Although I really don't like this statement as human doctors are pretty awesome and if I had the choice between a veterinarian and a human doctor, I will probably would want a human doctor...most of the time.

My take on the first few weeks of vet school

So after the nice week long vacation is over(orientation week), I guess I need to get down to the reason I'm here in the first place... studying.  Professional school is definitely very different than other programs of study.  All of your classes, although how different they may seem, are all interconnected.  Vet school, at least my very limited take on it within the past couple weeks, is more about learning how to connect ideas from multiple disciplines towards some goal(such as determining a disease).  It also seems that the 40 months spent here is about building confidence in your own life long learning abilities so that when you're out there on "your own," you will trust the information gathered even if you've never seen that particular case before.  This of course is a very different take than undergrad which seemed more like getting fundamentals down than confidence building in your own critical thinking abilities.

So I've been getting a few questions from people regarding my schedule.  Mainly because I keep telling people I'm busy with classes and then they see a picture like this on Facebook. :-P

We work hard down here, but we also know how to play hard.  I'm very blessed to be able to take a 10 minute break from class and walk down to the beach.  Definitely picked the right school that's for sure.

Anywho...

So this is a pretty typical day for me, at least over the past 2 weeks.

5:30am: Hit the Snooze Button a few times
6:00am: Wake up
              Usually I'll spend this time making breakfast and going over my schedule for the day.  Each class' location can change based on what is being discussed that day.  If I'm doing small animal anatomy I could be out with the dogs.  If I'm doing large, I could be out in the barn working on the horses.  So figuring out if I can wear flip flops to class or not is usually determined during this step. :-P
I also usually spend some time catching up on e-mails/facebook if I have a few minutes while my coffee/tea is brewing.

8:00am: Anatomy Lab/Lecture (2hrs)
             Depending on whichever day it is I can either be in the cadaver lab or the classroom.  The majority of my week however, is spent in the cadaver lab.  This is basically our time to look over preserved and plasticized specimens as opposed to just looking at them in a book.  Definitely makes it easier when trying to remember: the name of a muscle, where it attaches to, and what the muscle actual does.  Our professors are excellent in pointing us in the right direction but really making sure that we are finding the information on our own.  Again we need to be confidant in our own learning abilities.  Usually an hour is spent actually in lab and then a secondary activity is presented to us depending on whichever day it is.  We are usually split up into 1/6th and each head to an activity whether that be, clinical skills, animal palpation, diagnostic imaging, or cadaver lab.  Other groups may just do cadaver lab and have a free hour to study, or catch up on sleep :-).

10:00am: Histology Lab/Lecture (2hrs)
              This part of my day is spent looking at either powerpoint slides of cells or looking in a microscope at them.  This is where we start to connect the idea of microscopic structural anatomy learned in textbooks with how they actually look in the real world.  Sometimes it's not always interesting but it's definitely necessary.

12:00pm: Lunch (1hr)
             This time is spent either at club meetings or running errands, oh and sometimes eating.
1:00pm: Nutrition (1hr)
             One of the highlights of my day.  From what I hear this class can be fairly difficult; however, the material being presented, and of course the presenter of the material, seems to make it fun... of course I will probably be regretting I said that after the first exam hehe.

2:00pm: Physiology or Intro to Veterinary Medicine (1-3hrs)
            Again depending on the day my class or time spent in class changes.  Physiology is basic comparative animal physiology... so glad I took lots of physio classes in undergrad.
Intro to Vet Med is an interesting survey of our field.  It's a mix of learning health professional study skills, communication skills(with clients as well as colleagues), as well as an introduction into professional ethics.  Interesting course it can sometimes just be a bear to get through depending on your current blood caffeine level.

3:00pm-5:00pm
            Try and hit the gym before it gets busy just to burn off any extra anxiety from the day.  Then I try to head back and get a game plan for studying.  I'll also get a hold of a few people and socialize to get out of my head from the day of classes.

5:00pm - 11:00pm
            I then realize at this point that I should probably make some dinner.  I'll then head down to the anatomy lab for a few hours or just stick around and go over flashcards.  I'll try to pick one or two other subjects and spend some time reviewing past weeks material as well as going over a little of whatever was discussed that day.  I try(emphasis on try because by now I'm pretty done) to then briefly look over the material for the next day so I'm sorta prepared.

After all that I try to quiet my mind down and head to sleep.

Overall, looking back on it though, I get a lot done.
The weekends look a little differently (refer to picture above), however I also try to catch up on any straggler material and review anatomy.  Lots of anatomy review. Lots...

Orientation week

Wow, it definitely has been awhile.  Just finished my first official week of classes in Vet School.  I'll post more on that later.  I wanted to first say thank you to all of the family and friends that have contacted me with their well wishes over the past 2 weeks.  It has definitely helped during this transition to island life.

The last 2 weeks have been nonstop, one of the reasons I didn't post last week.  Orientation week was a blast.

I think we lucked out with arriving so early because we had a few extra days to get acclimated to our new home away from home.  Plus our actual orientation group really "clicked" well.

During our orientation we had many classroom sessions going over the "ins-and-outs" of being a vet student, as well as safety and security concerns living away from home on St. Kitts.  It was very informative and laid out extremely well(they definitely have their act together which made us all feel a little more at easy in this new environment).

We also spent the majority of this orientation week getting our apartments situated for the upcoming semester as well as lots and lots of beach time.  We were at the beach almost every day, I had the burns to prove it.

Our taxi driver also took us on a tour of the island one of the days which included a trip to Brimstone Fort which is a UNESCO world heritage site.  Really amazing place as well as a good upper leg workout.

 This "staircase" was about a 40% grade and really long...really really long.

Out in the distance is one of the small dutch islands neighboring St. Kitts.