Thought I'd separate this post from my last one to avoid it being super long!

I'm just stopping in for a quick update because I won't have time later in the weekend - another Monday morning midterm to study for!

This week we crossed another 2 tests off our to-do list, genetics and pathology. So needless to say, I don't have much exciting to report on. We had a review lab for our big (60%) physical exam evaluation we have in 2 weeks. I'm feeling much more comfortable with examining dogs, cows, horses and sheep :)

Class this week was brutal. Every year during this time I slowly start skipping non-essential classes because it's torture sitting there when you're thinking about all the studying you have to do! But don't worry, I'll only skip very few courses otherwise I'll feel guilty. Only 3 weeks of class left!!

Matt is visiting tomorrow and we're gonna go out for dinner and then watch some House of Cards (obsessssed). So tonight and sunday are gonna be full of studying. Thankfully Monday's test isn't a huge one and its all multiple choice soooo when in doubt, guess! (wonderful advice I know ;))

Daisy is going back to London with matt on Sunday :( I need to start getting into serious study mode and I cant do that at home, and I cant leave her home alone alllll day while I'm in the library. I'll miss cuddling with her in bed and having someone to wake me up in the morning (I can't hit snooze on a dog that needs to pee!) but I think she's getting a bit lonely because she's used to living in a family of 4 and now it's just me and her. I'll have to keep reminding my parents to brush her teeth and make sure they're following her diet - vet student problems!

Anyway I'll stop procrastinating now and get back to work - talk to you all when I'm another exam closer to the end :)

One of my last winter walks with my girl

What's left - I keep this on my desktop so I can cross things off; so satisfying! :)

Rant/Sassy Comments/Life Lessons

Attention ladies and gentleman - this will be my first rant blog! Kinda surprised I haven't had one until now, considering some of the people that drive me crazy at school hahaha

So. It's obviously a stressful time of year, especially for us first years since we're getting ready to go into our first year of crazy finals. But some people are driving me absolutely nuts with their pessimism.

Do I complain about some pointless/confusing stuff that we learn in class? Yes.
Do I complain about less-than-ideal lecturing styles? Yes.
Do I skip some classes because of this? Yes (but only recently - that end of semester trend, oops!)

But there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I want to be here and that I can handle it.

I've heard so many people complaining about the amount of work we have to do. Yes, we have 14 more assessments to go until the end of the year (eek!). But starting on March 30th we're done classes and we can set up camp in the library. I came from a university (not Guelph) that had next to no animal-specific courses. I've never learned any animal anatomy and anything clinical has come from my vet-related work and volunteering experiences. After applying twice to OVC and just narrowly getting in the second time, I'll admit I was a bit worried that I would come into this with no relevant background education and lower intelligence than the majority of the class. But instead I've shown myself that I have it within me to do this. I've learned all of anatomy from scratch and it's one of my favourite courses. It's actually amazing the amount of material we have learned, and my friends and family back home have even noticed it.

There are days where I wonder why I'm learning about how to critique journal articles, but then I go to the barn and learn how to do a physical exam on a horse and I remember why I'm here. OVC has a 97% NAVLE (vet licensing exam) pass rate and the curriculum wouldn't still exist if it wasn't successful. We just have to get past first year, which is known for teaching all of those sometimes boring but also essential things - cardiology, neurology, anatomy, genetics...

As for exam stress, I understand that there are people with learning/test-taking issues as well as mental health concerns and that is fine. It's the people that complain 24/7 and honestly don't seem to want to be here that bother me. Go home.

If I've learned one life lesson during my almost 7 months here, it's that professional programs are only successful if you have that internal desire to learn. I have friends in master's programs that have told me you'll hate your life if you're not researching something you're interested in, and I can definitely understand that now.

I hate girls that live by quotes (live your own lives instead of by someone else's words), but the only quote that I love is "dreams don't work unless you do". Sit down, shut up, and study.

I've had times in undergrad where I felt 100x more stressed than I am now, because back then it was all about getting the marks to get into vet school. I can't let myself not do well now (hello Type A personality), but there's much less pressure. I'm just going to live in the library and study the way I have been all year - taking it one test at a time and savouring those moments that make me realize I'm actually on my way to becoming what I've wanted to be for as long as I can remember.

14 more tests until I'm 25% of a vet!

The tattoo I got when I got into vet school :)

Crunch time!

Just chillin'

Hey everyone! Long time no post, but last week was reading week so I didn't have much of an update. The only fun thing we did in the last week before break was a sheep handling lab. We got to practice exams on some adorable fluffy lambs, and also did "sheep tipping" - a restraint technique that relaxes the sheep while looking hilarious. We can't take pictures of teaching animals so I took one from Google because they look too funny not to share!














cutie pie

My week off was great but went way too fast, of course. I spent lots of time with friends, slept in almost every day, worked a few shifts (hello much needed money!) and took advantage of having Matt back in the same city as me. There was a girl's night complete with pajamas and wine, a get together to meet another friend's new puppy (they also have a cat - a vet student's perfect situation), and a joint birthday party for a few people with February birthdays (myself included). It was a much needed week to unwind although I did go to the library once, because I had a list of things to do that I had been putting off until the break.



some of my London best friends :)



The ride back to Guelph with my handsome fiancé..

Last night was spring fling, a formal social event that was put together for our class. It was nice to dress up and see everyone out of their usual sweatpants and hoodies :)

This Saturday are the mock MMIs which I'm helping out with - after 2 years of interviewing for OVC I'm ready to be on the other side of the table and scare some potential students (just kidding...........not really though, I have a really good resting bitch face ;) )

Other than that, I'm going to be studying for the foreseeable future because we have 15 tests/quizzes/exams in the next 8 weeks. 2/week doesn't sound bad, but it's the fact that there's no more breaks that makes it a little overwhelming. Good thing I have a healthy stash of coffee in my kitchen!

That's all for now, my next few posts will probably consist of "hi I'm studying, bye" - can't wait to be able to post "IM DONE FIRST YEAR!"

The craziness continues!

Hey everyone, I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I've posted! Clearly life has been busy as we're heading into the last part of the semester (that's crazy to think about). Highlights of the past little while:

Post mortem lab: Like a scene our of dexter, we all got blood-covered in a stainless steel room while we learned how to do necropsies. Best morning ever! It was awesome to see fresh specimens and how the tissues and organs look and feel different from the preserved ones we have in anatomy lab. It got pretty gruesome but of course that's right up my alley :)

Ok maybe it wasn't this bloody, but still!

 

Birthday photoshoot

Birthday: I turned 24 last week (eek!), Matt came down the weekend before my birthday and we went out to celebrate and then I had to spend the whole next day recovering...proof that I'm getting old. My mom was not impressed to have me away from home for my birthday for the first time ever, so I'm getting cupcakes when I go home for reading week in a few days :) To make it an even better day, my actual birthday ended up being a snow day because Guelph got hit with a ton of snow, so I didn't have to sit through class all day!















Ambrosia: My adorable animal facility beagle has been doing better with her walks and even sat before we went out the door without me having to ask or hold up a treat - little things are so exciting when you're in the training process! It's super rewarding and I hope she finds an awesome home once the school year is done.

Friends and Family day: Matt hadn't visited OVC yet because he couldn't make it to my welcoming ceremony back in September, so he was my guest yesterday and got to experience a day in the life of a phase 1 vet student. There were some awesome lectures from some of my favourite profs, a demonstration of the cow's digestive system using a live animal, and a video of kidney worms being removed from a poor dog's body (so gross but so cool). Everyone's friends and family seemed to have a great time, and it was a nice day despite the fact that we have an exam tomorrow. I figured family and friends (fiancé in this case) are more important than studying for a day, so I took the whole day off. We went out for dinner at a BBQ place and then spent the night relaxing with wine and Netflix (best combo).



























Today was spent studying for tomorrow's cardiology and endocrine test, and then we're test-free until March - but of course that doesn't mean I still don't have a ton to do. We get next week off so I'm going back home to London to relax, but also to work a few shifts at my research job, see my friends and family, and of course go to the library to get prepared for the last few months and maaany exams!

I'm at the point now where I really just want final exams. No I'm not going crazy, finals are always better than midterms because although they're way heavier and worth a lotttt, we don't have classes during April so I can dedicate all my time to studying. Class has been a bit monotonous and overwhelming lately, so I'm ready for reading week to recharge and then come back for a month or so of class before the real craziness begins!

I probably won't post again until the break is over because this week of school is pretty uneventful, so I'll talk to you all in a little while! :)

Blogging > Studying

Happy Saturday! I thought I would post a quick thing right now instead of studying - procrastination at its finest :) I finallyyyyy got to sleep in this morning (after Daisy woke me up at 7 am to be fed and let out - but she's good for going back to bed with me). It was a really long week, a lot of back to back lectures :(

I walked my little Ambrosia as I do every week, she's getting better at walking and happily sits for a piece of kibble. The program definitely helps those cuties get better prepared for real homes when their adoption time comes! They aren't perfect though; when we were crossing a (non-busy, thankfully) street she decided to flop onto her side and show off her belly in the middle of the crosswalk hahaha it gave me a good laugh and she just looked at me like "belly rub?" and wouldn't get up so I had to pick her up before a car came. Those stubborn beagles!

A good way to end the week was the cardiology and neurology exams we got to do yesterday. I'm super thankful for the times that we actually get hands on experience - they seem rare, but one of the 4th year students that was visiting from the US told us that they didn't have any until THIRD year so I can't complain! We got to spend 3 hours with the teaching dogs learning about the exams and practicing them - it's one thing to read about it, but actually getting to do the exams makes everything click. They also had a client come in with her dog who had a heart murmur so we could get used to hearing the difference between normal and abnormal. Of course I came home and practiced everything on Daisy (she's less squirmy than the young beagles at school) - sorry girl but you're going to have your heart auscultated and your veins held off a whole lot in the next few years!

So basically it was a tiring but beagle-filled week. This weekend I have to get ahead in physiology because we have a cardiology exam in Feb; I'm starting early because Matt is visiting next weekend for my early birthday celebration, and then the weekend after we have friends and family day, so my weekend studying time will be cut short. I just made a ton of coffee so I should probably get to work! I don't really have any pictures from this week so I'll include some of Daisy (as usual).

Winter walks :)

She takes after her mother

Anniversaries and Interviews

Hi! I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I've posted - I think that's gonna become more of a habit as this semester goes on. The past 2 weeks were pretty busy, no easing back into school after the break but I wouldn't expect anything else from vet school!

We've been doing simulated client interviews this semester, we had some practice before the break but now they are recorded (eek!) and we have to do reflections on them. I've finished my 2 fake appointments and they both went pretty well. It's always awkward because you know it's fake so it doesn't seem natural at first, but I got used to it. I think my past 3+ years of retail experience helped with feeling comfortable talking to strangers. I watched one of them today and didn't find it as weird as I expected, so that's a good sign!

Our practice groups also worked on a Case Based Learning exercise which was a really good experience. We got presented with a case and had to work like clinicians, creating problem lists and treatment and ordering diagnostic tests. We would only get a little bit of info at a time, and at the end of each session we had to go home and research things that we were not familiar with. I learned a ton about esophageal dilation and eventual cancer (our "patient" was a German Shepherd that had those issues) and it really made us all feel like we were working through the case like actual vets. At the end of the week we had to present our findings to a simulated client who was acting like the dog's owner. Overall I'm loving the practical experience so far this semester, as nerve wracking as it may be!

Other than school, Matt and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary (damn!!) by going to Niagara for the weekend. I know this is a vet school blog but I can't just talk about school 24/7 and I really try to balance my life as much as I can. It was a freezing but awesome weekend, complete with Ripley's and wax museums, a night out at Club Seven (we thought it was fitting), a lot of delicious food, a walk around Niagara-on-the-Lake, and overall a much needed weekend away :)

Today Matt brought Daisy back to me! Time to go back to sacrificing my lunch breaks for her, but how could I be mad at that when she snuggles with me in bed all night? It'll also get me back into a better exercise routine to help me shed those extra Christmas pounds ;)

Here are some pics of the things I just talked about, I'm going to go catch up on some work now - too bad 10 pm is too late for coffee!
- Faith and Daisy

Here's a little sneak peak into 2nd semester! Ahhhhh

Frozen Niagara Falls :)
 

Frozen Niagara-on-the-lake
 



Already claiming the bed again

Faves :)



Frozen faces

Hot damn!!

Guess who's baaaack?

Helloooo 2015!
I just got back to Guelph after 3 weeks of holidays so I thought I'd post a summary of how my break went (other than "too fast")

- I worked a few shifts at the hospital where I've worked for the past 4 years (a research lab) before they closed for Christmas. it was nice to talk to everyone about school because they all saw my journey to get here! Not to mention I got to make some money for Christmas gifts!


- Toronto trip: one of my best friends was visiting from Halifax so 4 of us went to Toronto for the weekend for shopping, wine, food and girl time :) we survived the craziness of the Eaton center the weekend before Christmas........NEVER AGAIN. We also went to a super cute breakfast place called Smith & Co. and I had to take a pic of the adorable little milk jug that I got with my coffee :)











- I managed to squeeze in a volunteer shift at the vet clinic I've been with for the past year and I gotta say it was awesome to be greeted with "hey vet student!"

- food, food, and more food. Obviously that's what a lot of Christmas break is about! Now that I'm back home I've already bought groceries and junk food was NOT included in that haul.

- other than that, my break was spent catching up on sleep and catching up with friends and family :) I planned on looking at some school stuff but pffttt who am I kidding, I did NOT have time for that hahah. Our group of friends had a great new year's eve party too :)

How to spot a vet student at a party :)



models ;)

models again!

Merry Christmas from Daisy :)

Now it's back to reality. This semester at OVC we add a course (genetics...not my fave) to our load to make it 7 courses, wooooo! (sarcasm). I'm ready to get back into the routine though. Matt and I are going to Niagara falls this coming weekend for our anniversary, then after that it's time to get down to serious studying.
Bring on the rest of first year!