The final weeks of my undergraduate career are winding down. This is my last week of classes, then a week of finals, followed by "senior week" and graduation on the 18th. It has gone so quickly! I am certainly feeling nostalgic and melancholy these days.
A bust of excitement came this evening when I got an email that said I could register for my vet school courses! I will be taking:
Anatomy
Physiology
Immunology
Histology
Biochemistry
LA Husbandry
Professional Foundations
Ethology
And have the choice of two electives: Animal Domestication and Developmental Embryology.
I am a little on the fence about developmental embryology, since I really don't like development (probably my least favorite subject that I have had to learn about). I will definitely be taking Domestication though, since it is pass/fail and seems pretty interesting!
While it will be a lot (as I well recognize) I cannot help but be excited. I get to learn about these subjects as they specifically relate to veterinary medicine. All those questions I constantly pestered all my professors with at G-burg (especially in my human A&P class) will hopefully begin to be answered! I also pleasantly discovered that vet school only has one hour long labs, rather than the four hour labs that I am used to. That should be a nice change!
Back to studying ;-)
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Up to Things
What have I been up to lately?
Well, besides celebrating ( I'M GOING TO VET SCHOOL IN CASE YOU MISSED IT) I have been doing normal things, including studying for three exams (vert zoo on Thursday, A&P on Friday (past) and Microbio tomorrow), keeping up with the house and animals, farm sitting for my neighbor, leading meetings for my Spring break trip to TN, organizing pre-vet things, searching for vet school scholarships, working, and spending what little time is left with my sun and stars.
We celebrated V-day on Friday by having dinner together. I made sirloin and flank steak from the farm, organic mac and cheese (Annie's... try it!!), and steamed broccoli, then topped it off with homemade banana nut bread. We ended the night by dipping chocolate covered strawberries; something we have done every year since we first started dating. J had just worked a double, so he was pretty much exhausted and went to bed at 6:30, so I finished off my night by studying the properties and metabolism of microbial beings in front of the fireplace.
We have had a ton of snow (for MD) over the past few weeks, accumulating to a grand total of about 2.5 feet. There was some ice thrown in there too, which has really made things a mess. While we had lost power for four days amidst the storms, we got lucky in that we didn't lose anything in the fridge/freezer, and were able to provide at least some heat via the large wood stove in the basement. I took showers at school in my friend's apartments prior to classes, and J took them down at my grandparent's house (they have a small generator). All in all it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.
I am still waiting to hear from Wisconsin (not that I am going to go there, I just kinda want to know). I am still kind of torn between VA-MD and Mizzou, but I have been leaning toward VMR. The proximity to home is a huge thing for me, and by all accounts the programs are really awesome. While I really loved Mizzou's program and the environment/sense of community, I don't know that my overall happiness level there would be as high. At least if I go to VMR there is the possibility of visits from family and friends, and my support network is only 5 hours away. If I feel the need to go home for an emergency or just really need to see J, I can drive it in a night, or an early morning. I don't think either one is a bad choice; in fact they are both extremely GREAT choices which is the problem! It ended up being only a $10000 difference between the two (which seems like a lot but when compared to the total $150k really isn't THAT much). There are perks and downfalls to both, and I know that with the way I am I will get as much experience as I can no matter where I go. I just need to make a decision, and fairly quickly, so that I can start applying for the few scholarship programs that I found. But like I said, I am heavily leaning toward VMR, so that is probably where I will end up.
Alright, back to microbial metabolism..
~Melissa
Well, besides celebrating ( I'M GOING TO VET SCHOOL IN CASE YOU MISSED IT) I have been doing normal things, including studying for three exams (vert zoo on Thursday, A&P on Friday (past) and Microbio tomorrow), keeping up with the house and animals, farm sitting for my neighbor, leading meetings for my Spring break trip to TN, organizing pre-vet things, searching for vet school scholarships, working, and spending what little time is left with my sun and stars.
We celebrated V-day on Friday by having dinner together. I made sirloin and flank steak from the farm, organic mac and cheese (Annie's... try it!!), and steamed broccoli, then topped it off with homemade banana nut bread. We ended the night by dipping chocolate covered strawberries; something we have done every year since we first started dating. J had just worked a double, so he was pretty much exhausted and went to bed at 6:30, so I finished off my night by studying the properties and metabolism of microbial beings in front of the fireplace.
We have had a ton of snow (for MD) over the past few weeks, accumulating to a grand total of about 2.5 feet. There was some ice thrown in there too, which has really made things a mess. While we had lost power for four days amidst the storms, we got lucky in that we didn't lose anything in the fridge/freezer, and were able to provide at least some heat via the large wood stove in the basement. I took showers at school in my friend's apartments prior to classes, and J took them down at my grandparent's house (they have a small generator). All in all it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been.
I am still waiting to hear from Wisconsin (not that I am going to go there, I just kinda want to know). I am still kind of torn between VA-MD and Mizzou, but I have been leaning toward VMR. The proximity to home is a huge thing for me, and by all accounts the programs are really awesome. While I really loved Mizzou's program and the environment/sense of community, I don't know that my overall happiness level there would be as high. At least if I go to VMR there is the possibility of visits from family and friends, and my support network is only 5 hours away. If I feel the need to go home for an emergency or just really need to see J, I can drive it in a night, or an early morning. I don't think either one is a bad choice; in fact they are both extremely GREAT choices which is the problem! It ended up being only a $10000 difference between the two (which seems like a lot but when compared to the total $150k really isn't THAT much). There are perks and downfalls to both, and I know that with the way I am I will get as much experience as I can no matter where I go. I just need to make a decision, and fairly quickly, so that I can start applying for the few scholarship programs that I found. But like I said, I am heavily leaning toward VMR, so that is probably where I will end up.
Alright, back to microbial metabolism..
~Melissa
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Acceptance #2
I got into VMRCVM! The tricksters told us they would email tomorrow at 5 pm and sent out emails at noon today! I can't believe it!!
Now I have some choices to make... Ah!
Now I have some choices to make... Ah!
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Reblog
I am linking this because it is very well-written and well done. It is one vet student's response to one of the issues in vet med .
http://hoovesandheartbeats.tumblr.com/post/75384527646/the-crisis-in-pet-health-care
http://hoovesandheartbeats.tumblr.com/post/75384527646/the-crisis-in-pet-health-care
Friday, February 7, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Mailed
Missouri mailed decision letters today. Should get here in the next few days!
I have my first big neurobio quiz tomorrow, a huge micro quiz on Monday, and my first vert zoo exam on Thursday (I have to identify and name latin names of 27 different ethanol-soaked fish). Hopefully I will get some good news to boost my confidence!
I decided the other day to sell my old horse showing clothes (beautiful, blingy and barely used) from when I was 13/14 and showed a friend's gelding. It was fun, but not something I think I will ever get into again. So far I think I have interested parties for all my slinkies and show pants, so I am hoping to make a little money... enough to buy a new used saddle. A little consignment shop up the road has three synthetic saddles, all for around $100. One of them has never even been on a horse! My old leather saddle, while great, doesn't seem to fit my horse too well since she actually filled out and I also have neglected it some... the mice have done a good job on chewing it up, and I got too lazy to replace a strap with leather and tied it on with baling twine. All of these that I checked out at the consignment store look pretty nice, and I get a few day trial period to make sure it fits alright. Definitely the cheapest prices I have ever seen on saddles, even non-namebrand ones.
I'm cuddling with my kitties at the moment while studying for micro (or trying to). They are such cuddly little buggers that it makes not petting them rather hard!
~Melissa
I have my first big neurobio quiz tomorrow, a huge micro quiz on Monday, and my first vert zoo exam on Thursday (I have to identify and name latin names of 27 different ethanol-soaked fish). Hopefully I will get some good news to boost my confidence!
I decided the other day to sell my old horse showing clothes (beautiful, blingy and barely used) from when I was 13/14 and showed a friend's gelding. It was fun, but not something I think I will ever get into again. So far I think I have interested parties for all my slinkies and show pants, so I am hoping to make a little money... enough to buy a new used saddle. A little consignment shop up the road has three synthetic saddles, all for around $100. One of them has never even been on a horse! My old leather saddle, while great, doesn't seem to fit my horse too well since she actually filled out and I also have neglected it some... the mice have done a good job on chewing it up, and I got too lazy to replace a strap with leather and tied it on with baling twine. All of these that I checked out at the consignment store look pretty nice, and I get a few day trial period to make sure it fits alright. Definitely the cheapest prices I have ever seen on saddles, even non-namebrand ones.
I'm cuddling with my kitties at the moment while studying for micro (or trying to). They are such cuddly little buggers that it makes not petting them rather hard!
~Melissa
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Blogger on the iPad
Jared got me the iPad air for Christmas, and what do you know, it has a blogger app! Should be a little easier for me to post on the go (and now super easy to post pictures!!).
One of my best friends got engaged over break and I got asked to be her bridesmaid today (I am super excited!).
The first week of classes has been going well. A bit hectic. Microbiology seems like it will be really interesting and also highly relevant to vet med/health sciences. Neurobiology will be fun just because my teacher is so enthusiastic about it and can make anything sound fun and exciting. Today we dissected a sheep brain and did anatomical comparisons to a human brain (a real one!). Proved all the reasons why sheep aren't smart!!
Vertebrate zoology is going to be rather boring I fear... It is a graduation requirement and focuses (rather than on anatomy)on evolution of species. I do like all the dead specimens though, and I am sure I will get at least something out of it. We get to do a bunch of field trips to find critters in the field and identify them, so that should also break it up a bit.
And human anatomy and physiology is fun as always. I am taking the second half of the course and still find it just as exciting and interesting as last semester. It is easy to make it comparative and to teach myself the animal versions at the same time.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Back to the Grind
5 weeks of break have flown by... while I spent much of it working, I also had the opportunity to visit with three of my dear friends (or have them visit with me), fly across the country to interview at Missouri, drive from MO to CO and spend some time with my parent set out there, then fly back home and drive down to VMRCVM with my other parent set for an interview yesterday. I returned today, and am back to school at 8 am tomorrow!
My interviews went... well, they went! Missouri felt a little rough; I wasn't expecting them to test my knowledge on a few things, nor ask me some of the ethical questions that they did, but I hope I muddled through it all right. They were very kind, and it was quite conversational. If I hadn't been so darned nervous it would probably have gone a bit better. However, I loved the environment of Missouri, as it reminded me deeply of the school I go to for undergrad, where professors are professors but also friends and colleagues. Everyone was friendly beyond belief, the program and facilities were impressive, and I was sold on the whole concept of how they do things. It was an honor to interview there, and they made me feel like THEY were honored I was there, which was pretty cool (certainly doesn't hurt the ego ;-) ). I should hear back from them the week of the 27th (since officially the dean is out of town until the 28th and he has to confirm everything).
Virginia-Maryland was different. There was little in the way of welcome when we got there, though we did have a nice dinner where we were able to chat with a current vet student and a professor. The professor didn't even know the first year at the table, despite the fact that he had just had him for class the past semester. I can't say much about the interview process except for that it was behavioral and both everything and nothing like I expected. I felt good about it when I left, since I was able to relax a little while into it and revel in the silliness of the whole thing, the novelty of the experience and the fun of the way it was presented. I have no idea how they can determine anything about me from any of the things that I had to do, nor what they would determine about me from them, but I hope that it was all good! The tour was enlightening, and they have done some renovations since I was there in March, which made things look a little nicer. Getting to talk to some current third and fourth years in food medicine and equine helped ease my mind about the tracking program and opportunities available, and made me feel like I could be successful and enjoy my time there were I admitted. I should know from them by February 14th.
I still haven't heard a peep from Wisconsin, but they are (I think) going to notify in mid-February.
So by this time next month I should know whether or not I am going to vet school, where I am going if so, and what my loan will look like! The experiences I had going to the schools were invaluable though, and I really was grateful for the interviews that I got and the opportunity to shine. Just looking at the numbers, it was amazing to make it into the top 200 of 900 (for MO) or top 300 in 900 (for VMR).
Still, I was a little intrigued by the collection of students; certainly they are going for diversity. Some of the students had little vet experience, some had changed careers abruptly and decided that they wanted to switch to vet med, some had thousands upon thousands of hours of vet experience, were certified vet techs or had spent years in a hospital. Others had done pivotal research with prestigious labs, or seemed to have done everything short of curing cancer. And yet I still met a few students who just "thought" that vet med might be a good career for them, since they "liked animals" and such. It was interesting to meet so many others with a similar goal, and to hear the differing paths they had taken to get to this point in the process. It certainly proved there is no one "right" way to get into vet school (or at least get an interview). I am sure that this diversity boils down in the end to a class of vet students with differences across the board that strengthen each other and the profession. It was nice to see.
My interviews went... well, they went! Missouri felt a little rough; I wasn't expecting them to test my knowledge on a few things, nor ask me some of the ethical questions that they did, but I hope I muddled through it all right. They were very kind, and it was quite conversational. If I hadn't been so darned nervous it would probably have gone a bit better. However, I loved the environment of Missouri, as it reminded me deeply of the school I go to for undergrad, where professors are professors but also friends and colleagues. Everyone was friendly beyond belief, the program and facilities were impressive, and I was sold on the whole concept of how they do things. It was an honor to interview there, and they made me feel like THEY were honored I was there, which was pretty cool (certainly doesn't hurt the ego ;-) ). I should hear back from them the week of the 27th (since officially the dean is out of town until the 28th and he has to confirm everything).
Virginia-Maryland was different. There was little in the way of welcome when we got there, though we did have a nice dinner where we were able to chat with a current vet student and a professor. The professor didn't even know the first year at the table, despite the fact that he had just had him for class the past semester. I can't say much about the interview process except for that it was behavioral and both everything and nothing like I expected. I felt good about it when I left, since I was able to relax a little while into it and revel in the silliness of the whole thing, the novelty of the experience and the fun of the way it was presented. I have no idea how they can determine anything about me from any of the things that I had to do, nor what they would determine about me from them, but I hope that it was all good! The tour was enlightening, and they have done some renovations since I was there in March, which made things look a little nicer. Getting to talk to some current third and fourth years in food medicine and equine helped ease my mind about the tracking program and opportunities available, and made me feel like I could be successful and enjoy my time there were I admitted. I should know from them by February 14th.
I still haven't heard a peep from Wisconsin, but they are (I think) going to notify in mid-February.
So by this time next month I should know whether or not I am going to vet school, where I am going if so, and what my loan will look like! The experiences I had going to the schools were invaluable though, and I really was grateful for the interviews that I got and the opportunity to shine. Just looking at the numbers, it was amazing to make it into the top 200 of 900 (for MO) or top 300 in 900 (for VMR).
Still, I was a little intrigued by the collection of students; certainly they are going for diversity. Some of the students had little vet experience, some had changed careers abruptly and decided that they wanted to switch to vet med, some had thousands upon thousands of hours of vet experience, were certified vet techs or had spent years in a hospital. Others had done pivotal research with prestigious labs, or seemed to have done everything short of curing cancer. And yet I still met a few students who just "thought" that vet med might be a good career for them, since they "liked animals" and such. It was interesting to meet so many others with a similar goal, and to hear the differing paths they had taken to get to this point in the process. It certainly proved there is no one "right" way to get into vet school (or at least get an interview). I am sure that this diversity boils down in the end to a class of vet students with differences across the board that strengthen each other and the profession. It was nice to see.
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