Just A Little Hectic

These first few weeks are always a bit of a mess. It takes time to get back into studying habits and time-balance, and it seems like the meetings and planning for other things never stops. I have really been enjoying my classes though. A friend who is in vet school suggested I take A&P, and even though it is the human version, I find it very fascinating and extremely applicable. I have a whole ton of printouts of other animals and their systems which I have been using for species comparison. It makes lots of things that I have seen or just learned on the surface make a whole lot more sense. Since it is not a Biology class, the bio they teach you is rather shallow, but that in itself makes me appreciate Cell Biology last semester even more.

I applied and was chosen to lead an alternate Spring break in TN this year, so I have been going through training for that as well. Between the initial pre-vet club meting and training, I haven't been getting home before 7 each night. It makes things a little rough; especially when I need to still make and eat dinner, as well as do homework and take care of the animals/house. Jared is very helpful, but there are many nights where he gets home just as late.

It will work itself out though....

The PVC schedule this semester I think is pretty good... hopefully others think so too! We are starting with a "wet lab" where we will be setting up a dermestid colony. The club will be maintaining it and once it is mature, putting in specimens for cleaning. Then next semester we will have a lab where we will put the skeletons back together, identifying the bones and the specimens as we go. We are taking a trip out to my farm to give everyone some experience with sheep, poultry and hogs, as well as going to a variety of animal shows and rescues in the area. Speaker-wise we have in the works a small animal vet who does some alternative medicine (acupuncture, muscle maneuvering), a board-certified surgeon, an advisor for Penn Vet program and a current vet student. We are also doing a wet lab with tumors (fixing, staining, ID) and a dissection of some deer parts (we do hardly any dissections at my college).

We have about 15 first-years interested in the club, probably 7 of which are seriously interested in veterinary medicine. I am hoping many of our past members return as well... but we will see!

~Melissa