Inspiration

Another "blogger"* friend of mine just posted after a bit of a hiatus, so I was inspired to update as well, if only to get down some perspectives on the second year of vet school.

For those of you keeping track, there are four years of vet school total. I am currently 25% veterinarian. At the end of this year, I'll be 50% veterinarian and next year (God willing) I'll be performing surgeries (under strict supervision, of course.)

Holy. Stinking. Crap.

This year has started off completely differently than the last. I'm four weeks in and I just feel like I have a better outlook overall. I think I spent a lot of last year overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of material that I was supposed to cram into my brain. Overwhelmed because my brain hadn't had to work really hard in... oh... ever. Overwhelmed because, "what is this "study" thing of which you speak?" Overwhelmed because vet school is so very much like high school and I promised myself after I left my first "real" job that I would never ever go back to that sort of situation. Overwhelmed because I missed my friends. Overwhelmed because I had been in the "real world" for over 10 years, and this? was anything but. 

This year I've been more proactive. I find the material a bit more interesting, so I'm more engaged. I'm keeping up on studying (and totally impressing the boy with my diligence) and making sure to make flashcards so that my old brain gets the repetition that it needs. I've got my friends in vet school, and while it's still like high school, I'm now comfortable navigating the parts I like and completely avoiding the parts I don't.

And, as a side note, after a brief stint in the hospital last semester and the amazing support and assistance that I received from the faculty, I feel like I have friends in the school that are rooting for me and supporting me through every step. That feeling can't really be discounted, you know?

We haven't had our first test yet, so you might want to check back in with me after September 26th. But this year? I feel like I've found my groove. To clarify, "groove" does not mean "Emily will be on the Dean's list." "Groove" means that I'll be able to balance my life and school without living in constant stress and misery like last year.

Keep your fingers crossed :-)

*I use the term loosely (but with love.)

Blue

I love this picture. Love it. This picture is why the curtains in my house are also blue. And the recliner matches too! Funny enough, the color of the recliner was an accident. I fought for it without knowing exactly why I loved it so much. Apparently it was because I knew that five years later, it would match my home decor perfectly.

Inside my Closet

I know that from this angle, it LOOKS like I have a lot of clothes. But really, I have nothing to wear. And my closet is tiny. So it looks like there's a lot. Besides, I'm not embarrassed to show you my clothes. Because there really aren't many. You don't see me showing you where I keep my SHOES, now, do you?

Makes Me Happy

So... There has been quite a bit going on in the life of Emily besides school lately. Apparently both of my animals have gone insane with very expensive health problems and I had no idea until everything exploded in a mess of stress and animal problems that needed to be solved IMMEDIATELY.

That said, Laney was eventually diagnosed with feline idiopathic cystitis. This literally means that Laney has an inflammation of her urinary tract/bladder of unknown origin. So she's feeling bad and peeing inappropriately (which is AWFUL just in case you've never smelled cat pee in your life) and we're not sure why.

The veterinarians kept asking me if I had any major upheaval in my life lately. Anything that would stress my cat out? Anything at all? I could think of nothing. The vet mentioned that even something as minor as moving furniture so that the cat could no longer see out the window could be a cause. Because the cat could be stressed, and that is what is manifesting itself into a bladder infection.

I could think of nothing at the vet's office. Then I went home and had the sudden memory that I had moved my bookcase away from the window and over to the opposite wall so that A) I could fit a new piece of furniture in my house and B) I would no longer run into my bookcase when I scooted my chair too far back from my desk. Both good reasons, but the end result was that Laney could no longer see out the windows.

So I did what any self-respecting, independent, thirty-something girl would do. I called my father and asked him to build a window seat for my cat. He did, it was shipped, I was grateful, and the cat is no longer peeing inappropriately.

There was a little bit of uncertainty about whether or not the cat would use the new window seat. Cats are finicky in case you didn't know. But the first day after the new seat was installed, I drove home from school and saw the cat in the window. WOOO HOOOO!!



So now I run my chair into a cat window seat when I scoot too far back from my desk. I think the cat still rules all.

Self Portrait

The day to take a self-portrait was fitting. It was after two very difficult back-to-back tests. So this is how I spent my exciting Friday evening.

Front Door

I was going to post a picture of the front door of the vet school. But which makes me more happy? Going into school or going into my house? That's an easy question to answer. (Unlike any on vet school exams, FYI.)

Sun

There was no sun on February 8th. There hadn't been sun in DAYS. So I really had no idea how to interpret this one. But I had a big test on Thursday. So I was studying and had my iTunes on shuffle. And then this song came on. Voila! The Beatles solve everything.

Button

So, I am late. Again. But I did take this picture on time. Does that count?

This is the skeleton of a horse. Do you see that hind leg? The lower portion? Just above the hoof? Do you see those tiny side bones and how they sort of fuse into the larger center bone? (If you would like me to use the anatomically correct terms for these bones, please don't hesitate to send me a message* :-) Well, where those side bones fuse into the center bone - that's called a button. The same is true for the front leg.

True story. That's the new thing you learned today.


*They are metatarsals, btw. The ones that fuse on the sides are II and IV, and the main one is III.

Dinner

Technically, this is me making dinner. I would have taken a picture of the finished product, but about 2 minutes prior to this picture being taken, the smoke alarm was going off, the cat was bolting, the green beans and tomatoes were about to boil over, and the browning of the gnocchi (on high heat as directed by the recipe) was not going well at all. Frankly, after all of that, I just wanted to take the simplest picture possible.

10:00 am

Someone doesn't want to get out of bed and join mom in the living room because she knows that mom will just be sitting at the computer doing that boring studying thing. Someone also knows that once we get out of bed in the morning, we are not allowed back on it until mom is in bed first. So someone is pretending that she is invisible.

Stranger(s) Two-fer

Today's topic is 'a stranger.' I wasn't sure how to interpret this, and then I realized that I got to do something new today. I got to milk a cow. I've never met the cow before, so technically, the cow was a stranger.



Although I'm pretty sure, now that I've touched her udders, we are no longer strangers.

Not satisfied with just one picture? Me neither. After milking the momma cow, I got to bottle feed the calf. So technically, he was a stranger too.



He is so cute!!! Today was a fun photo op. Though I'm pretty sure that tomorrow's pictures won't be nearly as interesting...

Hands

Yes, I realize that the subject for today is 'hands' plural. However, I wanted to take a picture of this specific subject matter, and it turned out that I needed one hand to hold the camera.*

We had an anatomy lab exam this morning (as part of our three exam day referenced earlier.) In an anatomy lab exam, the lab is set up with 50 stations. You get a piece of paper with 50 blanks to fill in and 30 seconds at each station. The station could be a bone with a chalk marked protrusion that you must name, a radiograph where you must identify the joint, species, and which side is medial/lateral, or it could be a cadaver with a string tied around an artery/vein/nerve/muscle and a note that says, "Name this structure." We are allowed a pencil to write our answers and a probe to be able to separate the cadaver structures from surrounding tissues. We also wear gloves because, you know, dead things.

Fun peek into vet school, yes?


*I originally wanted several vet students to contribute their hands to this picture, but we ran out of time. Maybe next time.

Words

Note: I'm sorry this is going up late. We had three exams today, so I didn't do anything last night but study.

A couple of statements about this picture.

First: This is how dark it is when I get to school in the mornings. I could probably take a similar picture when I leave.

Second: We recently changed our name from 'Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine' to 'Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine.' This was to eliminate any confusion as we have always been a stand-alone entity, but under the previous name it was easy to think that we fell under another college (such as the College of Agriculture.)

This name change occurred in December. Since then, I've been wondering when they were going to update this sign. It wasn't until this morning, when I took this picture, that I realized that the sign lights up. I now realize the delay. This is going to be an expensive endeavor. My immediate thought is, "Please don't raise my tuition."

My View Today

This is what I see three times a week in Histology. My professor doesn't use Power Point presentations or any sort of formal notes. He just lectures and draws on the board with colored chalk. Old school.

Since I apparently don't have time to blog...

...maybe I'll be able to do this? It would most definitely center around my life, and since my life these days is school, maybe it would be an interesting look into the daily grind of vet school. Hmmm. I make no promises, but I'll do my best.


Also? I am not a photographer. All pictures will be taken with my cell phone, so don't judge.