2.5 Years Looks Like...

107 credit hours later, this is the long list of classes I've completed so far in 2.5 years. That's an average of 21 credits per semester. For comparison, to be considered full time as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech, you had to take at least 12 credits per semester with most of your science students averaging 15 credits. The maximum you could take without override (uncommon) was 18 credits per semester. All you pre-vets out there, do try not to be too jealous of this list. I remember being in your shoes once and now I look back and wonder "what the heck was I thinking!!" I think that's the vet school exhaustion talking as I still haven't caught up on sleep apparently given that I can still go to bed at a decent time, fall asleep easily, sleep late, and take a nap during the day no consequence and I'm more than 2 weeks into break!

1. ANPH 501 Veterinary Histology and Embryology
2. ANPH 502 Animal Nutrition
3. ANPH 506 Veterinary Anatomy I
4. ANPH 512 Veterinary Physiology I
5. ANPH 514 Animal Welfare and Behavior
6. ANPH 516 Professionalism
7. LAMS 502 Veterinary Clinical Orientation
8. PTHB 502 Introduction to Research
9. SAMS 501 Radiology I
10. ANPH 503 Veterinary Anatomy II
11. ANPH 504 Veterinary Pharmacology I
12. ANPH 513 Veterinary Physiology II
13. PTHB 503 Veterinary Bacteriology/Mycology
14. PTHB 512 Veterinary Immunology
15. SAMS 502 Radiology II
16. SAMS 515 Veterinary Physical Diagnosis I
17. ANPH 505 Veterinary Pharmacology II
18. LAMS 501 Veterinary Physical Diagnosis II
19. PTHB 505 Veterinary Parasitology
20. PTHB 506 Veterinary Pathology I
21. PTHB 515 Veterinary Virology
22. PTHB 532 Clinical Pathology
23. LAMS 503 Introduction to Clinical Medicine
24. PTHB 507 Veterinary Pathology II
25. PTHB 510 Veterinary Public Health
26. PTHB 511 Veterinary Epidemiology
27. PTHB 516 Avian, Fish, and Exotic Animal Diseases
28. SAMS 514 Introduction to Surgical Skills
29. SAMS 520Veterinary Anesthesiology 
30. LAMS 516 Large Animal Surgery
31. LAMS 519 Theriogenology
32. SAMS 513 Diagnostic Imaging
33. SAMS 518 Small Animal Surgery
34. SAMS 522 Small Animal Medicine I
35. SAMS 526 Introduction to Clinical Practice
36. SAMS 527 Junior Surgery & Anesthesiology Laboratory
37. Elective - Marine Mammal Conservation  
38. Elective - Veterinary Disaster and Emergency Management
39. Elective - Wildlife Conservation 

Still to come:

1. LAMS 505 Equine Internal Medicine
2. LAMS 515 Food Animal Internal Medicine
3. SAMS 524 Small Animal Medicine II
4. ANPH 520 Veterinary Toxicology
5. LAMS 533 Ethics, Jurisprudence, and Career Development
6. SAMS 528 Small Animal Clinical Services
7. LAMS 529 Ambulatory Services
8. PTHB 530 Laboratory Diagnostics

And then 48 weeks of clinical rotations at NCSU that will consist of 24 two week rotations. AKA no-sleep-for-a-year, being-an-inept-idiot-every-day-x365, or slavery (that we're paying for haha).

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from Penny, Sampson and me! A nice holiday all around with the family with a morning filled with gift giving, an afternoon of relaxing, an evening of tasty roast beef (soooo good!) and a bedtime snack of chocolate cake!

Sampson and Penny enjoyed the gift giving benefits today too! Sampson really enjoys ripping paper and had a great time shredding open his presents that included rawhides, nylabones, and an elk antler to chew on. Sensing a theme? His paper interests carry over to things like toy instructions and newspapers too so I guess I'll need to be extra careful not to leave notes lying around in the spring! I can just see it now - "Sorry professor, my dog ate my study material!" Penny received the gift of food today - a Christmas salad, vitamin hay tablets, 2 bales of hay, and dried banana chips. She wouldn't have it any other way! She takes her "pig" title quite seriously! Both animals were kind and obliged their camera loving mother. Penny is the best - she even sits there and poses and puts up with me patiently!

It wouldn't be a complete post if I didn't mention how much I miss Lucy. I love having Sampson in my life, but it's still so bittersweet. I miss that silly dog so much. She was my special needs canine that fit so well with her special needs mommy. Sampson is so very lucky to have fallen into the spot he's living now but boy Lucy and I sure had to be so unlucky for him to get here. She was my Christmas present last year, he is my Christmas present this year. I still have a never ending supply of tears for that dog!

The One Year that Should Be

A year ago today, I brought Lucy home with me. She was scared out of her mind but immediately knew how to get the things she wanted - a comfy bed, a nice walk, a tasty meal. She instantly knew who her human was and she would have followed me to the ends of the earth. Lucy, Sampson is forever in your debt as he now shares the home you so loved. His shelter days are over and he doesn't have to wander the streets as a stray. He even proclaims his love for his new home by refusing to leave and dashing up the stairs to come back. It is so bitter sweet sharing this new love with him, a love that belonged to you not that long ago. I will truly miss you forever, but your memory will forever live on in my heart. 

 

Sampson

This is Sampson. He is a 1yo Australian Shepard mix and he is my new furry friend. He came from a shelter on Saturday, spent the night with a rescue volunteer and came to me on Sunday as a foster dog. Today we made it official so he now officially owns the house haha. He weighs about 40lbs and is a super sweet heart. He is very friendly and loving and whimpers when he's unsure about something. He doesn't like cars and isnt sure what going for a walk is all about but he loves to play and frequently grabs toys out of the basket.

Two Months

Well, it has officially been two months. Doesn't seem possible and doesn't really feel like it. Lots of tears today (not an infrequent event these days unfortunately). I did at least get to finish the day with a breath-taking night dive though. So many beautiful corals feeding and crustaceans running around!

I was rejected by yet another rescue group today. Lucy is turning out to be more irreplaceable than I could have imagined! This group's reason was that they felt that flying on a plane (in cabin) would be too much stress to fairly put on an animal. It's a fair concern, but the dog I was interested in is currently living in a rural shelter. Trust me, living in a shelter where infectious disease is common and stress levels in those animals is through the roof because of the negative environment is way worse than traveling on a plane for a few hours. Insert pathophysiology rant about cortisol and stress hormones here haha.

My study buddy would not have been impressed by all of the stress and studying that's currently accompanying final exams!

No More Term 5 Classes!

I'm sorry I've been a little on the quiet side this semester, I don't really have a whole lot to say these days. Everything seems so trivial and meaningless in comparison.

Today we finished our last day of classes for the semester today. It's about time! I am so very tired of these classes and I am not sad to see them go! So much surgery, and frankly, I'm just not much of a surgery person! Theriogenology is going to go out just as badly as it started - I don't think anyone has positive or happy things to say about the class and we certainly don't know what to expect for Friday's final exams. Diagnostic imaging ended up turning into a little bit of a war and although we haven't seen the exam yet, we "won" because what was supposed to be a cumulative crazy final is now just covering material from two visiting professors. We shall see!

All that is left for the term is studying, something I'm not very excited about. Still hunting for motivation so if you have some to spare, please send it my way! I'm leaving Grenada the day after exams finish to go home, and although I'm a little sad I won't get to do much diving after exams are done, I am definitely ready for a break. I am currently struggling to find a new canine companion (so far I've been declined, too late, or the a mistake happened and the dog didn't end up with the rescue organization). 0-3 is definitely a bit discouraging and the memories of my dear friend and her demise are still very fresh in my mind. A change of scenery will do my heart good I think.

I am currently finishing up a rescue diving course and I've currently logged over 60 dives since I started! Hoping to make it to 70 by the end of the term, we'll see! Still very afraid of the whole water on my face thing, but aside from that, I'm turning into a regular fish! I'm also living true to my cold blooded nature - I swear the ocean gets colder every time I get in. Taunting and teasing by my fellow diving friends has assured me that this is not the case! Saturday I came back so cold, I was shivering like I was in a snowstorm and my fingers were going numb! I always dive in a full 3mm wetsuit, but there are plenty of people who dive here in just a bathing suit. Sunday I caved and somehow managed to squeeze myself into Christie's 7mm wetsuit (she is tinier than the thinest stick around so this was really nothing short of a miracle!) and I must say, it was just the most amazing thing ever. It was like being enveloped in a cozy warm blanket or a nice big hug the whole time under water and I wasn't the least bit cold! That might be a first for me! I think it's time for me to invest in a wetsuit better suited for a dive site other than the Caribbean ;).

I suppose I should get back to studying, I have a ridiculous amount of material to memorize between now and the official end of this semester and finals begin in just a couple of days!