Catching Up

Monday: "All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and I promise you something great will come of it." - Benjamin Mee (We Bought A Zoo)
I planned on staying on campus all day to catch up on work, but I felt so sick after class that I went home and took a nap.  It was probably a combination of being overwhelemed for coming back, the rich American food, and jet lag (even though I wasn't actually tired).  I had my sheep anesthesia this afternoon, which couldn't have gone any smoother.  Only one person showed up to my dance class, so I canceled it so that I could catch up the rest of the night.

Tuesday: "Strength does not come from winning.  Your struggles develop your strengths.  When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is true strength" -Unknown
Today I had my SAM exam review, went to library to catch up on work, and then had some sushi for dinner.

Wednesday: "It never gets easier, you just get stronger." -Unknown
We had double DI and our physical exam review for our exam next week.  I ran to the store and tried to run to the bank but it was closed (.....at 2pm the bank was closed.....). then ran back home to....you guessed it....study for my DI quizzes on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday: "Don't be afraid to fail.  Be afraid not to try."- Unknown
I feel like I don't even know what day it is anymore, however in  3 weeks I will be home on break!  We had double DI again today, along with my DI makeup quiz from last week.  I talked to the anesthesia professors about shadowing for surgery/anesthesia at VTH, so I was able to do that today.

Friday: "After a while, I looked in the mirror and realized wow after all those hurts, scars and bruises, after all those trials I really made it through.  I did it. I survived that which was suppose to kill me. So I straightened my crown and walked away like a boss." -Unknown
We again have double DI and a DI quiz today.  I won't be going to volleyball tonight, so I can get a start on studying.  I will have no social life or sleep from now until the end of the semester.....oh vet school.

Weekend: "I'm not telling you it's going to be easy; I'm telling you it's going to be worth it" - Unknown
Surprise! I will be studying all weekend!  Sat night is the 7th semester (orange) banquet.  It's so crazy to think the people that I started this adventure with will be leaving the island at the end of this semester!  It's bittersweet because I will miss them but it also means I'm that much closer to leaving/graduating!

CO SAVMA symposium trip

Weekend:  Paddleboarding

 

Saturday was my last adoption day.  It was bittersweet since I've been in this position for 5 semesters. Luckily, one of my favorite cats was adopted out, so I was happy to see that. That night was the leadership awards dinner that I was able to attend for PAWS and AAV.

Sunday was a relaxing day at the beach.

 

Monday: "Unless it's mas passionate extraordinary love, it's a waste of time.  There are too many medicore things in life, love should not be one of them." -Unknown
I helped set up for Dr. Ketzis's chicken research again this semester.  I unfortunately won't be able to help as much as I have in the past, but I can still do a few small things here and there.  I met with my anesthesia professors to see how I can improve in that class.  At dance class, we completed the "Hips Don't Lie" dance.  There are only three more weeks of that class left!

Tuesday: "Whatever happened to chivalry? Does it only exist in 80's movies? I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window. I wanna ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey. I want Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me. I want Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he got me. Just once I want my life to be like an 80's movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life" -Olive (Easy A) 
I ran some errands in the afternoon and packed in prep for my CO trip!

Wednesday: “If you are looking for the word that means caring about someone beyond all rationality and wanting them to have everything they want no matter how much it destroys you, it's love.  When you love someone, you don't stop, ever. Even when people roll their eyes at you or call you crazy, even then, especially then.  You don't give up because if I could give up.... if I could just take the whole world's advice and move on and find someone else that wouldn't be love, that would be some other disposal thing that is not worth fighting for.” -Ted (How I Met Your Mother)
My flight to CO!  I was privileged with flying first class all the way to Dever.  Once in Dever, we rented a car and drove to Loveland where our hotel and conference was located.  We ended up getting in around 1am.

Thursday: "You don't get to choose, you just fall in love and you get this person who is all wrong and all right at the same time. And you know you love them so much except sometimes they drive you completely insane - no one can explain it. And the reason it's so confusing is because it's love and if love didn't have challenges, what would be the point?" -Unknown
We were up early for registration and breakfast from the hotel.  I helped cheer on our volleyball team that morning and had a CPR wet lab in the afternoon.  The lab was more lecture style, so I only got a little out of it.  That night was the opening ceremony and pub crawl.  We went to several bars in Fort Collins, including a place that actually had a limit on margaritas because they made them so strong.  We again ended up getting to bed around 1-2am.

 

Friday: "If two people love each other, but they just can't seem to get it together, when do you get to that point of enough is enough? Never. "-The Mexican
I was up early yet again for a small animal dentistry lab where we practiced extractions on a cadaver. I grabbed a box lunch and went to two lectures that afternoon; one on Leadership in the 21st century with a speaker I've heard before, and the other on medical acupuncture.  That night was "casino night" where they provided food, drinks, a band, and a few casino games.

Saturday: "If you love someone, tell them.  Forget about the rules or looking ridiculous.  What is truly ridiculous is passing up on an opportunity to tell someone that your heart is invested in them."  -Unknown
I attended two lectures in the morning; one on how to use positive reinforcement training on zoo animals and the other one prion research (thanks to mom who wanted me to go).  A few of us did a little bit of shopping before my exotics cytology and hematology lab.  That night was the closing ceremony where there was a speaker, awards, dinner, and drinks.  We checked out the hotel bar briefly before I went to bed before our early morning.

 

 

Sunday: "So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday."  -Noah (The Notebook)
A long day of traveling.  We left the hotel at 2:30am, drove to Denver, flew to Dallas, flew to Miami, and then back to St Kitts.  I got back around 8pm.  Now time to play catch up!

Emotional Intelligence

Exhausted

Weekend:  "I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult." - E.B. White
On Saturday, PAWS had a SUP rely race which was a huge hit.  Hopefully we will put together another one next semester.  There was a ton of other PAWs stuff that I had to deal with this weekend as well...almost done, almost done.  I then spent the rest of the weekend studying for my exams this week!

Monday: "It's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring" - Marilyn Monroe
 I had one class and then EVS: suturing of the body wall. I ended up canceling belly dance to give myself more time to study.  That's ok though, because there is still four weeks of class, so I will finish our current dance and then do another drum solo.  I also registered for 6th semester!!

Tuesday: "It's not that I am so strong, it's that I refuse to be weak." -Unknown
ANS exam was today.  Exams here can be so frustrating because a lot of times I feel like I don't read the question right or I get something backwards in my head.  You can feel so confident coming out of the exam and then while looking up the questions you realize you got the answer backwards or something.  :Sigh:  I moved on to studying for SAM, and took a break that night to go out to dinner.

Wednesday: "I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say, because of you I didn't give up." -Unknown
We had our anesthesia exam review and I then took my friend to the hospital because she broke her tow two weeks ago and it hasn't been healing.  The hospital was an experience on it's own from waiting three hours for them to tell her it wasn't broken, the ants of the sterile sheets, the waiting room where we had to keep track of who was next, to the concession stands in the lobby.  Hopefully I will never have to go there for myself.  It was then back to studying for the rest of the night.

Thursday:  "A girl should be two things, classy and fabulous."  -Coco Channel
There was a VBMA speaker at lunch, which means I have finished my Gold certification!  

Friday: "I am a girl.  I don't drink a lot, smoke, or party every weekend.  I don't sleep around or start drama to get attention.  Yes we do still exist." -Unknown
I have my SAM exam and a moonlight paddleboarding tour tonight!

This weekend:   Saturday is my last PAWS adoption day!  It's very bittersweet, but I will be grateful for the free time.  I did PAWS for 5 semesters, so it will definitely be strange not being involved.  There is a SAVMA leadership award ceremony/dinner that I got invited to for being an officer in two clubs.  Alex and I are hosting game night, which we've been wanting to have, so that should be fun.  Sunday, I will be lounging on the beach all day for some much needed relaxation.

Feeling Like A Doctor

It's hard to keep coming up with different "themes" for the month, since the day to day life in vet school is pretty routine (class, study, try to relax before next exam, repeat).  I have to find a way to keep you interested in reading! For March, I'm going to do a different quote everyday.  I have a lot of quotes that mean a lot to me, so each day I will share one with you!  I get a lot of my quotes off of Pinterest, so I apologize if I don't know who said a lot of the them.

"Take time to do what makes your soul happy" -Unknown 
This past weekend, I brought two cats into PAWS, one of which is currently at my place learning tricks.

Monday:  (My all time favorite) "Love like you've never been hurt, sing like no one is listening, dance like no one is watching, and live like it's heaven on earth" - Unknown
I gave the avian talk and performed my first canine ansethesia!  My group and I had to calculate the drug dose for the premediations and induction agents and administer those drugs, while knowing the effects of those drugs.  We put a catheter in, intubated, did different breathing methods, monitored, had to figure out if a value wasn't right what to do about it, and then woke the dog back up!  Starting to feel like a doctor more and more everyday!  I had belly dance that night, where I taught the class a new choreography because the girls are learning so fast, that I have to come up with more dances for them!  We also got our schedules for next semester...ahh it's so scary and exciting at the same time! 

Tuesday:  "I chose to be unstoppable..  I am bigger than than my concerns and worries. The strength of others inspire me daily.  I focus on my goals. I trust my intuition and live a courageous life."  -Unknown
Happy Mardi Gras! Normal day of class, where I was done at noon.  I went and picked up four kittens to bring into PAWS.  They are afraid of me, but I'm sure once they see I'm not a threat, they will feel more comfortable. They are pretty adorable though!
 
Wednesday: "I am too positive to be doubtful, too optimistic to be fearful, and too determined to be defeated." -Unknown
Totally didn't realize that today was Ash Wednesday and the first day of Lent, so I didn't get a chance to go to church. There was a VBMA speaker at lunch and that afternoon.  They are great speakers and talk about subjects that we just aren't going to learn about in school, such as hospice, the art of euthanasia, and how to have a life once you start working.  After next week I will have completed my Gold certification!  Very exciting!  I also had my ophthalmic lab this afternoon where we looked at eyeballs!  I had dinner at Carambola this evening and it was amazing!  Probably the best food that I've had on this island so far.

Thursday: "My daily routine: get up, be amazing, go back to bed." -Unknown
I dealt with A LOT of PAWS stuff  today.  The kittens had their appointment, so I had to bring them in and then give them to their new fosters. This will probably be my last litter of kittens that I bring in!  I usually let the fosters name them, but I wanted to name the last ones!  They are Ottley, Serendipity (Dips), Timothy, and Calypso.  All named after places around the island.
 The woman that gave me the cats this weekend now wants one of them back, which we normally don't do, since we have them sign a form over to us and everything.  She gave him up because she is going back home, but will be back in the summer.  SInce PAWS hasn't really invested anything in him yet, then I gave her the ok to take him back.  However, now since I've been fostering him, I have to now help her find a foster until she comes back in the summer.  I normally wouldn't have a problem helping her, but it's just bad timing with everything else that I should be doing right now (maybe like studying). Then I got more emails about more cats that want to come into our program.  There was a VBMA speaker at lunch about The Art of Euthanasia. I then went to the DI TA sessions and then home to study!

Friday:  "Party hard, make mistakes, and laugh endlessly.  Do things you are afraid to do. After all, you're only young once." -Unknown
I have two VBMA speakers today.  I feel incredibly behind in my studying, so I will be staying in tonight to study for my two exams, ANS and SAM, next week.

This weekend PAWS is putting together a SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard)  relay fundraiser along with one of the professor here.  I will be working some of that and then studying for ANS and SAM for the rest of the time.