Only 100 pages to read. I can do that before class tomorrow right? It's only 10pm, I don't have class for 12 hours. This is what happens when you stop doing everything else to study for all your exams... I am now caught up on my physics HW (2 hours), got the oil changed in my car, vacuumed up the worse of the mess in my house, collected the eggs, got the mail for the first time in days... now I just have to read for my English class. And then start studying for my ES exam next week. This feels like a preview of vet school... I spend all my "free" time doing example problems, memorizing things, and quizzing myself. Yay! Didn't even make it to the vet hospital this week because I just didn't have time.
Got a 92% on my first physics lab. Not as good as I wanted, but for the first lab that's not too shabby. All these lab notebooks I have to write for Bio and Chem over the years seems to have paid off. Physics exam was last Friday- I felt awesome about it, but we will see. Again, the same with orgo this morning. It felt really good... but that is not always a good sign. I also finished fifteen minutes before everyone else, even after checking over my answers multiple times. Hoping and praying.
Wish me luck. And sleep, lots of sleep.
Melissa
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Jazz and the Blues
The swing dance was last night! I had a pretty good time at it, and I was able to learn a basic swing dance step after an hour or so of practice. : P Jared had to work, but I hung out with my marching band girls for most of the night. I dressed up to the nines in my thrift-store bought dress and really enjoyed myself. I missed Jared, even though he always refuses to dance at these things. Still, even a non-dancing Jared is still better than no Jared. The swing-dance features a live "Big Band" jazz band, including pianist and singers, so it's pretty darn cool. There wasn't as good of a turnout this year as normal, but the ballroom was still fairly full.
Anyway, since I was staying up there, my friends wanted to take me "out" after the dance. By that I mean out to the fraternity houses. I hadn't gone since freshman year, where I only went twice and didn't enjoy myself. It's not exactly my scene- I don't drink, I don't want to dance with gross sweaty people, I get fairly disgusted with some of the dance floor and back corner antics, and both the loudness and crowd overwhelms me fairly quickly.
But I went out, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and daring them to deny me entrance. Most girls who go out wear the extravagantly short mini skirts and dresses, high heels and whatever they think will get them picked out of a crowd by men. So basically you have a crowd of identical-looking scantily clad people. I'm not saying everyone is like this- many people dress up and go out just because they find it fun to do so. We went to one of the tamer fraternities on campus, one that is known as the music frat, since almost all the brothers are music majors. It's a much nicer environment than many of the others, the guys are generally not jerks, and they actually mark your hand if you are 21 (though of course that doesn't stop anyone from drinking, just keeps the brothers from getting in trouble). Regardless, I only lasted half an hour before the ribald drunkenness, dirty, wet floor, smelly room, screaming and music got to be too much for me. Maybe you have to be drunk to fully enjoy that sort of thing... I don't really understand it, nor do I wish to. It was definitely better than freshman year, since I knew at least 3/4 of the people in the room from various things, but still. I went home and crashed after a long day on my feet, fairly wishing that I had just stayed home for the evening.
This morning I headed home, intent on getting things done. So me and Jared bathed the dog, picked and hung a ton of our home-grown herbs for the winter months, cleaned out the chicken coop, and headed to the grocery store to pick up taco fixings for dinner. I got some of my homework done, though I have a bit more to do still. We are going to check out a movie tonight, as it is our 2 years, 10 months and since it is actually on a weekend we are going to try to celebrate. We seem to miss all of our anniversaries, even the big ones, so we might as well celebrate when we do remember!
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| Definitely not the best picture of me, but the only one taken last night. Teal was apparently the color of choice last night- a whole pile of the MB girls were wearing it without any sort of planning! And then there was Hannah in her gorgeous flowery dress. |
Anyway, since I was staying up there, my friends wanted to take me "out" after the dance. By that I mean out to the fraternity houses. I hadn't gone since freshman year, where I only went twice and didn't enjoy myself. It's not exactly my scene- I don't drink, I don't want to dance with gross sweaty people, I get fairly disgusted with some of the dance floor and back corner antics, and both the loudness and crowd overwhelms me fairly quickly.
But I went out, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and daring them to deny me entrance. Most girls who go out wear the extravagantly short mini skirts and dresses, high heels and whatever they think will get them picked out of a crowd by men. So basically you have a crowd of identical-looking scantily clad people. I'm not saying everyone is like this- many people dress up and go out just because they find it fun to do so. We went to one of the tamer fraternities on campus, one that is known as the music frat, since almost all the brothers are music majors. It's a much nicer environment than many of the others, the guys are generally not jerks, and they actually mark your hand if you are 21 (though of course that doesn't stop anyone from drinking, just keeps the brothers from getting in trouble). Regardless, I only lasted half an hour before the ribald drunkenness, dirty, wet floor, smelly room, screaming and music got to be too much for me. Maybe you have to be drunk to fully enjoy that sort of thing... I don't really understand it, nor do I wish to. It was definitely better than freshman year, since I knew at least 3/4 of the people in the room from various things, but still. I went home and crashed after a long day on my feet, fairly wishing that I had just stayed home for the evening.
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| My clean Rem-monster on the newly-painted porch (which she has clearly mudded up already) |
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| Our herbs from the garden- Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Oregano, Basil and Chives |
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| Two of our roosters- Homer (left) and Red (previously Wanda) enjoying the cherry tomato plant. |
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| A closeup on Homer and Red- I wanted to catch his vibrant coloration but didn't do a great job. |
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Sick Cats (Not Mine)
Since we didn't have a marching band show or football game today, I finally had a weekend off. So of course I headed to the animal hospital to get some shadowing hours. There was a relief vet working there today, but she was more than happy to teach me things and have me follow her around. She is recently out of vet school (3 years) and graduated from my home state school. She intended to go into large animal and food animal work but has ended up just going with family and job security and doing small animal. I also found out that she is involved in FFA, specifically with the high school I graduated from (yes, I was in FFA). The teacher who runs it taught the small animal care and management and veterinary medicine classes that I was lucky enough to be able to take in high school. He was a great guy, and probably one of the few teachers who both inspired me and challenged me in HS. It was like a mini trip down memory lane to chat with her about things. I was very impressed that she did so much- works part time at a hospital, is a relief vet for two others, does the FFA bit, and was heading to the Frederick Fair later this evening to help out with things there. Pretty impressive!
Anyway, the day was full of a lot of sick cats... we had cats that threw up, cats that diarrhea'd, chronicly cconstipated cats (talk about an enlarged colon), anemic cats, cats with giant holes in their faces, cats with terrible teeth, cats with cysts, and kittens being tested for Fe-Leuk. (man can they scream). Good thing I love cats! I got to hold a lot more animals than last week, since they know me a little better now and the relief vet (I will refer to her as Dr. R), kept giving me things to do, which I really liked. So I got to count pills, hold animals, interact with clients, check out microscope slides, that sort of thing.
Some other notable events were a euthanasia on a poor old dog who was going through chemo and couldn't handle it anymore (very sad), x-rays on a dog that appeared to have either lymphoma or a sarcoma on the spleen, and a puppy that had contracted distemper and been treated for it awhile ago. The puppy was an abnormality- usually animals that contract distemper are put down, as it is a virus that affects the brain and causes severe, life-long side affects (as well as being extremely infectious). This pup had been treated instead, but the owner was worried because it now had visible, constant attention tremors, and was having daily seizures. These will last for the rest of it's life, and possibly get worse with age. The puppy was also rather deformed (it's mother was a rescue), and just looked very pathetic... it walked with almost all of its "ankles" on the ground, as if the ligaments had never strengthened, and it's back legs were very crooked. It's spine also appeared to be somewhat misshapen. They put it on some seizure medicine, but it was quite a sad case, especially since the disease can be so easily prevented with the vaccine.
On academic notes, I took my first physics exam yesterday, and I feel like I rocked it. I also turned in my first paper for my English class, and this coming week I have my first organic chemistry exam (Wednesday), so I have become a study-holic. Tonight I have to head up to see a play for one of my classes, and then I am taking the night off and going to the school Swing Dance. Jer is going to come up and watch the animals tonight so I can stay up at school and not have to worry (very nice of him). I probably won't make it to the hospital but for a few hours next week (if that), just because of a very busy schedule and a ton of meetings.
Sorry not to have posted too much lately, but I figure not many people want to hear about my hours of studying and doing homework, or scrambling to keep up with things around the house amidst my constant running. I'm surviving, but things have felt somewhat overwhelming these last two weeks. I'm sure it's only going to get worse... this week I am also farm sitting for 5 horses and 2 dogs, and this coming weekend I have both a competition in Allentown, PA (which will take all day), and a football game. I have to come home in between/around events so I can take care of all the animals! But I am making some money, which is fantastic and needed, especially since once again my job hasn't paid me for two months. Such is life.
~Melissa
Anyway, the day was full of a lot of sick cats... we had cats that threw up, cats that diarrhea'd, chronicly cconstipated cats (talk about an enlarged colon), anemic cats, cats with giant holes in their faces, cats with terrible teeth, cats with cysts, and kittens being tested for Fe-Leuk. (man can they scream). Good thing I love cats! I got to hold a lot more animals than last week, since they know me a little better now and the relief vet (I will refer to her as Dr. R), kept giving me things to do, which I really liked. So I got to count pills, hold animals, interact with clients, check out microscope slides, that sort of thing.
Some other notable events were a euthanasia on a poor old dog who was going through chemo and couldn't handle it anymore (very sad), x-rays on a dog that appeared to have either lymphoma or a sarcoma on the spleen, and a puppy that had contracted distemper and been treated for it awhile ago. The puppy was an abnormality- usually animals that contract distemper are put down, as it is a virus that affects the brain and causes severe, life-long side affects (as well as being extremely infectious). This pup had been treated instead, but the owner was worried because it now had visible, constant attention tremors, and was having daily seizures. These will last for the rest of it's life, and possibly get worse with age. The puppy was also rather deformed (it's mother was a rescue), and just looked very pathetic... it walked with almost all of its "ankles" on the ground, as if the ligaments had never strengthened, and it's back legs were very crooked. It's spine also appeared to be somewhat misshapen. They put it on some seizure medicine, but it was quite a sad case, especially since the disease can be so easily prevented with the vaccine.
On academic notes, I took my first physics exam yesterday, and I feel like I rocked it. I also turned in my first paper for my English class, and this coming week I have my first organic chemistry exam (Wednesday), so I have become a study-holic. Tonight I have to head up to see a play for one of my classes, and then I am taking the night off and going to the school Swing Dance. Jer is going to come up and watch the animals tonight so I can stay up at school and not have to worry (very nice of him). I probably won't make it to the hospital but for a few hours next week (if that), just because of a very busy schedule and a ton of meetings.
Sorry not to have posted too much lately, but I figure not many people want to hear about my hours of studying and doing homework, or scrambling to keep up with things around the house amidst my constant running. I'm surviving, but things have felt somewhat overwhelming these last two weeks. I'm sure it's only going to get worse... this week I am also farm sitting for 5 horses and 2 dogs, and this coming weekend I have both a competition in Allentown, PA (which will take all day), and a football game. I have to come home in between/around events so I can take care of all the animals! But I am making some money, which is fantastic and needed, especially since once again my job hasn't paid me for two months. Such is life.
~Melissa
Friday, September 14, 2012
Blessings
I woke up this morning to the sun spreading through my house, and the call of my roosters drifting through the damp morning air. My cats greeted me effusively, twining themselves around my legs, purring and meowing with their eyes bright, waiting for me to let the mutt out so I can feed them.Remi thumped her tail as I opened her door to let her outside. She gave my hand a passing lick and darted out to see what had happened in her backyard territory since the night before.Her reek lingered behind her, reminding me that she is due for a bath.
I fed my chickens fridge leftovers by hand- bread and vegetables. I collected their eggs, given freely from hens with a good life. For once this morning, Homer must have been too charmed by the free food to attack me as I left the coop.
My house was that slightly chilly temperature that tells you winter has been creeping slowly in on the soft feet of foxes, in the gathering nut hoards of squirrels. The cherry and pear tree in the backyard have shed their leaves, bare arms waiting with bated breath for the storms that I know are coming this year.
The animals know as well. The shedding of fur has been overwhelming. The squirrels and birds are frantic. Winter is coming- and I am blessed to wait it out here, in a sprawling house where every room pours into the next, where the wood that nature has donated through storm-felled trees will warm the house, and my furry mammals will warm my feet, my lap and my heart.
I fed my chickens fridge leftovers by hand- bread and vegetables. I collected their eggs, given freely from hens with a good life. For once this morning, Homer must have been too charmed by the free food to attack me as I left the coop.
My house was that slightly chilly temperature that tells you winter has been creeping slowly in on the soft feet of foxes, in the gathering nut hoards of squirrels. The cherry and pear tree in the backyard have shed their leaves, bare arms waiting with bated breath for the storms that I know are coming this year.
The animals know as well. The shedding of fur has been overwhelming. The squirrels and birds are frantic. Winter is coming- and I am blessed to wait it out here, in a sprawling house where every room pours into the next, where the wood that nature has donated through storm-felled trees will warm the house, and my furry mammals will warm my feet, my lap and my heart.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Mastiff Mania
I promised myself that after I finished organic and physics homework I would let myself blog. I technically haven't got permission from the clinic to blog about my time there yet, so I am going to be quite brief and sketchy with what I say until I get a chance to talk to the Dr.'s about it... it's kind of an awkward thing to bring up, and I always feel like they probably think I'm nuts- but oh well!
I walk in the back today and all I see is a mastiff on a surgery table- I walked in just in time to watch. In fact, within my first five minutes of being there I was assisting (and by that, I mean I got to hold the instrument to hold the skin flap back). It was a really neat (and nasty) deep muscle tear, and you could practically put your hand inside the hole in the dogs shoulder. His muscles looked like hamburger meat because of how shredded they were. I watched as they intubated the dog, flushed the pocket out, tried to drain some of the fluid, numbed it, etc. Then Dr. J started to stitch the deep muscle tissue, and I was standing there holding back the skin flaps for her. I was totally geeking out with being able to do this on day one there... and then I embarrassed myself. My fingers started to tingle, my vision started to go white, I stood there blind for a little bit, and then realized that it wasn't going away. So I did the sensible thing, asked someone to hold the instruments, backed away from the table and attempted to crouch down. Of course, once I started to crouch down, not being able to see, and my ears having started to pop to tunnel-like quality, my balance was gone and I ended up plopping rather ungracefully on my backside. Well the tech that was helping and Dr. J weren't too concerned about me, finding my abrupt non-graceful 'kerplop' rather funny, and though I was quite frustrated at myself, I laughed it off.
It's funny- half the time I watch surgeries- castrations, eye sutures, lacerations, spays/neuters, dental extractions, tumor removals, I have no problem whatsoever, whether I am observing or assisting. The other half I have this happen to me- it's almost as if it depends on the day. I never fully pass out, and sometimes my vision will just go white, but then it will clear and I will feel fine. Whether today was due to nerves alone, I'm not sure. Perhaps it is that I lock my knees or stop breathing because I'm trying so hard not to pass out. Maybe it is all in my head- I worry that I'm going to have the weird effect and so I do- low blood pressure, heart murmur issues exasperated by accelerated heart rate- I have no idea. But it is quite frustrating. I never get nauseous or think things are gross- spurting blood doesn't affect me, nor do nasty looking things, or gross smells. I just have this weird white-out issue that sporadically occurs. If it doesn't clear on it's own within the first couple of minutes, then as soon as I sit (even if it is just in a chair) it goes away completely, unless I try to stand up again too quickly. I can watch surgery seated without a problem. I can watch surgeries on youtube or TV standing without a problem. Half the time (or even over that) I can watch and help with surgeries without a problem. Makes no sense to me.
Dr. J. told me it was fine, and that she normally tried to slowly get people into helping with surgery- I just happened to be right there and (very) willing. I did the right thing by knowing when it was time to give up the battle and sit it out (and not passing out onto the dog). Enough times and I am certainly hoping I will get over it- this is what I'm told by all who are vets or vet techs (besides those who are lucky enough to have no reaction at all). I am determined not to let my bodily response stop me from doing what I want though- I will get over this somehow.
There were a few other interesting appointments (including 2 more mastiffs), but I'm not going to go into them right now- I have a paper to finish writing!
~Melissa
I walk in the back today and all I see is a mastiff on a surgery table- I walked in just in time to watch. In fact, within my first five minutes of being there I was assisting (and by that, I mean I got to hold the instrument to hold the skin flap back). It was a really neat (and nasty) deep muscle tear, and you could practically put your hand inside the hole in the dogs shoulder. His muscles looked like hamburger meat because of how shredded they were. I watched as they intubated the dog, flushed the pocket out, tried to drain some of the fluid, numbed it, etc. Then Dr. J started to stitch the deep muscle tissue, and I was standing there holding back the skin flaps for her. I was totally geeking out with being able to do this on day one there... and then I embarrassed myself. My fingers started to tingle, my vision started to go white, I stood there blind for a little bit, and then realized that it wasn't going away. So I did the sensible thing, asked someone to hold the instruments, backed away from the table and attempted to crouch down. Of course, once I started to crouch down, not being able to see, and my ears having started to pop to tunnel-like quality, my balance was gone and I ended up plopping rather ungracefully on my backside. Well the tech that was helping and Dr. J weren't too concerned about me, finding my abrupt non-graceful 'kerplop' rather funny, and though I was quite frustrated at myself, I laughed it off.
It's funny- half the time I watch surgeries- castrations, eye sutures, lacerations, spays/neuters, dental extractions, tumor removals, I have no problem whatsoever, whether I am observing or assisting. The other half I have this happen to me- it's almost as if it depends on the day. I never fully pass out, and sometimes my vision will just go white, but then it will clear and I will feel fine. Whether today was due to nerves alone, I'm not sure. Perhaps it is that I lock my knees or stop breathing because I'm trying so hard not to pass out. Maybe it is all in my head- I worry that I'm going to have the weird effect and so I do- low blood pressure, heart murmur issues exasperated by accelerated heart rate- I have no idea. But it is quite frustrating. I never get nauseous or think things are gross- spurting blood doesn't affect me, nor do nasty looking things, or gross smells. I just have this weird white-out issue that sporadically occurs. If it doesn't clear on it's own within the first couple of minutes, then as soon as I sit (even if it is just in a chair) it goes away completely, unless I try to stand up again too quickly. I can watch surgery seated without a problem. I can watch surgeries on youtube or TV standing without a problem. Half the time (or even over that) I can watch and help with surgeries without a problem. Makes no sense to me.
Dr. J. told me it was fine, and that she normally tried to slowly get people into helping with surgery- I just happened to be right there and (very) willing. I did the right thing by knowing when it was time to give up the battle and sit it out (and not passing out onto the dog). Enough times and I am certainly hoping I will get over it- this is what I'm told by all who are vets or vet techs (besides those who are lucky enough to have no reaction at all). I am determined not to let my bodily response stop me from doing what I want though- I will get over this somehow.
There were a few other interesting appointments (including 2 more mastiffs), but I'm not going to go into them right now- I have a paper to finish writing!
~Melissa
Monday, September 10, 2012
Short Work for the Long Haul
Today was quite successful- I am overjoyed to say that we now have a pre-vet advisor for all members of the student body, who is officially part of the pre-health committee, will attend advisory meetings and begin the process of fully learning about vet school and the application process. Everyone from the provost's office down through the departments are in agreement that it is needed and how it has come about is a good way of setting it up- I couldn't have done it without the diplomacy of the professor involved, the help of fellow students (specifically Laura, our VP last year), and a wonderful lady in the provost's office who was our dogged supporter. Even President JMR got in on it at one point. It has been about 6 months since we started our campaign to make this happen, and getting a whole pile of emails from people today with confirmation was overwhelmingly satisfying.
There will now be someone to help the pre-vetters, both while I am here and when I am gone, and not only those who are in the club, but any who think they might want to be a vet.
Plus, we learned the drill and the work for our second-to-last song in Marching Band this evening. So, overall, I think the day was quite fantastic :) I hope my semester continues on this note it has been following, or at least stays this way for as long as possible!
~Melissa
There will now be someone to help the pre-vetters, both while I am here and when I am gone, and not only those who are in the club, but any who think they might want to be a vet.
Plus, we learned the drill and the work for our second-to-last song in Marching Band this evening. So, overall, I think the day was quite fantastic :) I hope my semester continues on this note it has been following, or at least stays this way for as long as possible!
~Melissa
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Pre-Vet Meeting #2
Our second interest meeting was tonight, and I am just as excited about this group as the last! We even had one of the student's from Monday stop by and end up staying for the presentation today again. I particularly like her, though I have forgotten her name twice now (it's Taylor for the record)! She seems to have a good sense of humor, and I hope she will continue to be involved in the club (as I do with all of them). Everyone today was just as reactive, and they all again stayed after to ask me questions- I guess that means I'm approachable :) Mission complete! I always stress that they will find me weird or strangely enthusiastic and not come to meetings, but I overly stress about everything.
We found a meeting time that seemed to work really well for everyone who gave me input, and that was very exciting. I hope that those who indicated they didn't think they could make it to that time (only one or two), will be able to make it to our other events on Tuesday mornings and lunches. I really want everyone to have the opportunity to be involved if they want to be- a club is nothing without it's members.
And we have seventeen people signed up to go to the horse rescue on Saturday! I am very happy that that many people were interested and are going to check it out. I hope the owner and I can work out a schedule that benefits both the farm and the students. I also got the good news today that the shelter is most likely going to let us send students out on Tuesday or Monday mornings to observe surgeries and spay/neuters. I have to call tomorrow to finalize things, but it looks like we may have a permanent set up with them. This is just the sort of thing I was looking to accomplish this semester. Looks like things are falling into place :)
I bought some scrubs! Would you believe that XS is too big on me? My pants are XS and my top is XS and hangs off of me. They aren't gorgeous or particularly "me" style and color-wise, but they will work. I look incredibly grown up in them (in my opinion). I only bought one pair because they are pretty pricey and I am pretty broke. But this is one thing I really don't want to get at Goodwill... you never know where they came from.
~Melissa
We found a meeting time that seemed to work really well for everyone who gave me input, and that was very exciting. I hope that those who indicated they didn't think they could make it to that time (only one or two), will be able to make it to our other events on Tuesday mornings and lunches. I really want everyone to have the opportunity to be involved if they want to be- a club is nothing without it's members.
And we have seventeen people signed up to go to the horse rescue on Saturday! I am very happy that that many people were interested and are going to check it out. I hope the owner and I can work out a schedule that benefits both the farm and the students. I also got the good news today that the shelter is most likely going to let us send students out on Tuesday or Monday mornings to observe surgeries and spay/neuters. I have to call tomorrow to finalize things, but it looks like we may have a permanent set up with them. This is just the sort of thing I was looking to accomplish this semester. Looks like things are falling into place :)
I bought some scrubs! Would you believe that XS is too big on me? My pants are XS and my top is XS and hangs off of me. They aren't gorgeous or particularly "me" style and color-wise, but they will work. I look incredibly grown up in them (in my opinion). I only bought one pair because they are pretty pricey and I am pretty broke. But this is one thing I really don't want to get at Goodwill... you never know where they came from.
~Melissa
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
I Finally Did It!
After promising myself all Summer that I would try my darndest to get my small animal hours during the semester this year, I finally actually tried. There is a vet hospital that opened up about 2 or 3 years ago in the next town down (Littlestown). It is in the middle of my commute everyday, and I love the building. At the end of last semester I took the club there for a tour and to meet the vets, and I fell in love with the place. It's in a renovated barn from the 1800's, and has been outfitted with a couple small exam rooms, a huge wide room for the main work of the techs in the back,and beautiful office space for the two vets lined with windows and bookshelves, with glass walls peeking into the heart of the hospital. My favorite room when we visited was the surgery suite, which is wood-paneled with two huge bay windows looking out on farmland. For a surgery room, it is pretty sweet. They also do almost all procedures with lasers, which I also find intriguing. I have been ogling over the place for awhile, and both vets impressed me with the fervor they have for their profession. Plus, every room is outfitted with great artwork, and the place runs on solar power.
So today I put on a nice blouse, wrote a cover letter, printed out my resume and stopped by once classes were over. My heart was pounding, palms sweating. You would have thought I was going to be operated on instead of just dropping by to check out opportunities. I chatted with the receptionist (whose name was also Melissa) and explained why I was there. I was heartened when she heard I was from the college and asked if I had been on the tour... I got to nonchalantly drop that I had arranged the tour : P A little bragging is good when your trying to get an internship! My heart dropped when she said a little hesitantly that they only took one intern a semester... Her tone of voice had me ready to hand over my resume and hope for better luck next semester. But when I asked if they had one already, she brightly added that she didn't think so. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster.
So she headed to the back to find the vet on call, ushered me into a waiting room, then moved me into another room, said she was finding some paperwork for me to fill out, and I waited for the vet. About five agonizing minutes later, the vet stopped by my room and chatted with me. She remembered me, and was more than happy to have me come shadow. My schedule is flexible and set entirely by me and my work load/school schedule- exactly what I needed. I will be missing most surgeries, as they take place in the mornings and I don't get out of class until around noon every day- but I will still get to see a lot, and can come in if class is ever cancelled, or we are on breaks. The hospital is all of 10 minutes from my house.
I am still hoping to do a night at the emergency hospital in town, but I need to call again and pester someone....
Guess I will be picking up a pair of scrubs this week! The best part was, I realized when I got up to take my leave of the vet that she was wearing barefoot shoes. Definitely my kind of place.
~Melissa
So today I put on a nice blouse, wrote a cover letter, printed out my resume and stopped by once classes were over. My heart was pounding, palms sweating. You would have thought I was going to be operated on instead of just dropping by to check out opportunities. I chatted with the receptionist (whose name was also Melissa) and explained why I was there. I was heartened when she heard I was from the college and asked if I had been on the tour... I got to nonchalantly drop that I had arranged the tour : P A little bragging is good when your trying to get an internship! My heart dropped when she said a little hesitantly that they only took one intern a semester... Her tone of voice had me ready to hand over my resume and hope for better luck next semester. But when I asked if they had one already, she brightly added that she didn't think so. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster.
So she headed to the back to find the vet on call, ushered me into a waiting room, then moved me into another room, said she was finding some paperwork for me to fill out, and I waited for the vet. About five agonizing minutes later, the vet stopped by my room and chatted with me. She remembered me, and was more than happy to have me come shadow. My schedule is flexible and set entirely by me and my work load/school schedule- exactly what I needed. I will be missing most surgeries, as they take place in the mornings and I don't get out of class until around noon every day- but I will still get to see a lot, and can come in if class is ever cancelled, or we are on breaks. The hospital is all of 10 minutes from my house.
I am still hoping to do a night at the emergency hospital in town, but I need to call again and pester someone....
Guess I will be picking up a pair of scrubs this week! The best part was, I realized when I got up to take my leave of the vet that she was wearing barefoot shoes. Definitely my kind of place.
~Melissa
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Club Days
We had a great first meeting with the pre-vet club last night. It was our first of two interest meetings that we will be holding this week- one on Monday and one on Thursday. The premise of this is that while it sucks for the officers, we generally are able to reach a greater number of people than if we had just picked one day. It might not be the most practical thing... but it works. We had about 13 people come to this meeting, and from my correspondence with people, the larger meeting will be on Thursday. That is very exciting! Many of the students think they might want to be vets, but only about two actually one hundred percent knew- as expected their first year. We had some returning members come, and it was wonderful to see some people who hadn't really been involved in the club in the past come out and participate in the meetings.
This weekend we are headed out to a small horse rescue that is about 15 minutes away, and hopefully a lot of people will want to volunteer there- it is a great place, small and family owned, and I know that they could use the help. There are only 11 horses currently, and the owners and really nice people (I helped them bring in hay a couple weeks ago and got to know them a little better). I'm excited for that, and I hope the other students are as well.
After my incredibly awkward talk up in front of the group, I chatted with some of the new members who stayed around to meet other members. And I learned that the pre-health professions advising has been doing their usual misinformation... they apparently told all the potential pre-vetters that they MUST be Biology majors, and maintain a 4.0, or forget it. The students who had gone to that meeting were very confused, wanted clarification and some reassurance that that was not true. This has been a continual source of frustration over the past few years- I remember feeling extremely marginalized at that meeting and being extraordinarily confused. This, amongst some advising errors, is what led me to be a year "behind" in Chemistry, and thus some biology classes that require those chem classes. While the club does a bit of advising, this isn't enough. Not everyone who wants to be a vet chooses to be involved in the club, or has the opportunity to do so, and I understand this. But there is no one that knows about their profession in the school and can help... I have been working on this problem for over 6 months now, in conjunction with the provost's office, in order to find an advisor for pre-vet students. This way we would no longer be considered pre-health professionals advising students (which doesn't help us at all), but would officially be considered pre-vet, and have one person who actually knows what is going on to advise any students thinking of going into the field. Yesterday I finally found that person, and I am dearly hoping that he confirms with me and we can get the process started... He is very diplomatic, and has been an extremely helpful professor for me personally, though I have never had him for a class. Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes smoothly, and that I will be able to help with this transition.
Marching Band practice was rained out so we ended up inside- this was not very productive and I was already exhausted from a long day... I really wanted to go home. And I eventually made it there and passed out surrounded by the fluffy denizens of my house.
~Melissa
PS Mt. Vesuvius is still growing... : /
This weekend we are headed out to a small horse rescue that is about 15 minutes away, and hopefully a lot of people will want to volunteer there- it is a great place, small and family owned, and I know that they could use the help. There are only 11 horses currently, and the owners and really nice people (I helped them bring in hay a couple weeks ago and got to know them a little better). I'm excited for that, and I hope the other students are as well.
After my incredibly awkward talk up in front of the group, I chatted with some of the new members who stayed around to meet other members. And I learned that the pre-health professions advising has been doing their usual misinformation... they apparently told all the potential pre-vetters that they MUST be Biology majors, and maintain a 4.0, or forget it. The students who had gone to that meeting were very confused, wanted clarification and some reassurance that that was not true. This has been a continual source of frustration over the past few years- I remember feeling extremely marginalized at that meeting and being extraordinarily confused. This, amongst some advising errors, is what led me to be a year "behind" in Chemistry, and thus some biology classes that require those chem classes. While the club does a bit of advising, this isn't enough. Not everyone who wants to be a vet chooses to be involved in the club, or has the opportunity to do so, and I understand this. But there is no one that knows about their profession in the school and can help... I have been working on this problem for over 6 months now, in conjunction with the provost's office, in order to find an advisor for pre-vet students. This way we would no longer be considered pre-health professionals advising students (which doesn't help us at all), but would officially be considered pre-vet, and have one person who actually knows what is going on to advise any students thinking of going into the field. Yesterday I finally found that person, and I am dearly hoping that he confirms with me and we can get the process started... He is very diplomatic, and has been an extremely helpful professor for me personally, though I have never had him for a class. Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes smoothly, and that I will be able to help with this transition.
Marching Band practice was rained out so we ended up inside- this was not very productive and I was already exhausted from a long day... I really wanted to go home. And I eventually made it there and passed out surrounded by the fluffy denizens of my house.
~Melissa
PS Mt. Vesuvius is still growing... : /
Monday, September 3, 2012
The Mt. Vesuvius of Pimples
Today will be a busy day... I have classes, meetings, practice and meals and homework stuffed somewhere in between all of those. Most importantly however, I have the firs pre-vet club of the year. As president, I always try to put a little more effort into looking nice on meeting days than I do with my normal jeans and a t-shirt look. We had 23 members sign up at the activities fair on friday, more than has ever shown interest in the club before. Between those that I talked to beforehand/over the Summer, and those at the activities fair, I had the pleasure to add 28 new names to the email alias... wow (I think last year we had 16- about 5 of which actually came to an occasional meeting). I am so excited to meet all of these students, and I am really hoping that many of them will be committed to the club. Maybe I am just being overly optimistic, but I could see this being the year in which the club really takes off. Whether that is due to Gettysburg's reputation, the club's presence on facebook, on the group walls, our website, whatever, it is awesome!
And so, of course, this leads me to the discovery of Mt. Vesuvius on my forehead this morning. Largest pimple I have had in my life. It actually kind of looks like I got whacked in the head by something and have a giant goose egg on my forehead. And if any of you reading this will be at the meeting tonight/see me today, please restrain from snickering-too loudly. No amount of make-up (not that I have the slightest clue how to correctly/skillfully apply it) can cover up swelling, and my normally exuberant facial expressions now produce pain in my eyebrow region.
Maybe I will just hope this makes me more approachable. Everyone gets them, right?
~Melissa~
And so, of course, this leads me to the discovery of Mt. Vesuvius on my forehead this morning. Largest pimple I have had in my life. It actually kind of looks like I got whacked in the head by something and have a giant goose egg on my forehead. And if any of you reading this will be at the meeting tonight/see me today, please restrain from snickering-too loudly. No amount of make-up (not that I have the slightest clue how to correctly/skillfully apply it) can cover up swelling, and my normally exuberant facial expressions now produce pain in my eyebrow region.
Maybe I will just hope this makes me more approachable. Everyone gets them, right?
~Melissa~
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