Part One of Finals

Josh Project video:

Lyrics:
"I’ve never seen a monkey in the flesh

I cut my teeth on leather sans in the union

I’m very proud of my address, all my friends back home they got postcode envy.

But every day is like

Lab coats, green scrubs, freakin bout the Rossie, blood smears, block tests, what did Dr Soto say

We don’t care, we driving Samurais in our dreams

But everybody’s like  

Brinleys, Carib, (don't know what he said), Jet planes, Nevis, puppies on a PAWS leash

We don’t care we all got a little sand in our hair

But we’ll never be MDs

It’s just not in our blood

That kind of med just ain’t for us

We like our hair a little rough.

Let me be your teacher

And you can call be Dr Kibs.

Baby I’ll teach about anatomy

My friends and I wear pretty robes

We spent our money on some cats in the ocean

And everyone who knows us knows

That we’re fine with this

It’s Uncle Sam’s money.

But every day is like

Lab coats, green scrubs, freakin bout the Rossie, blood smears, block tests, what did Dr Soto say

We don’t care, we driving Samurais in our dreams

But everybody’s like  

Brinleys, Carib, (don't know what he said), Jet planes, Nevis, puppies on a PAWS leash

We don’t care we all got a little sand in our hair

But we’ll never be MDs

It’s just not in our blood

That kind of med just ain’t for us

We like our hair a little rough.

Let me be your teacher

And you can call me Shokery

Baby I’ll teach about toxicology.

Ooh

Poorer than I’ve ever been

Has anybody seen the dean

Ooh

Scream without a care

7^th you finally made it here

But we’ll never be MDs

It’s just not in our blood

That kind of med just ain’t for us

We like our hair a little rough.

Let me be your teacher

And you can call me Dr. Reich

Baby I’ll teach about that kidney."

Weekend:

My favorite part of finals (yeah right) is taking these pictures, so you back home can appreciate my study load (pen on left for scale):

Monday:  Happy 14th Birthday Buffy!   We had our last SAM class and our Ans Lab final.  I also had my tour of our professor's toxic plant garden for the final on Monday.

Tuesday: We had our last DI class, our DI quiz, and the Ans Lab review.

Wednesday:  I am now officially done with classes and it's time to start cramming! My last PAWS meeting is tonight!  I have officially adopted out over 50 cats in the 5 semesters I was a PAWS officer.  It's bittersweet to leave; I am thankful for the opportunity to work with such a passionate organization but also thankful for the free time that I will now have to study.
This is also me right now: What Day Is It?

Thursday: I had to clean the aviary, go to a DI TA session, and meet with my anesthesia professors.  The 7th transition ceremony was tonight, so I went to say goodbye and good luck.  Like I said last week, it's crazy to see them leave because I started this crazy adventure with them.  I'm incredibly happy for them for making it so far though!

Friday: We have a Tox review. If you want to learn some plants with me for my Tox exam, here's my professor's toxic plant garden on campus.   Toxic Plant Garden

Weekend?

One month to go

We had a very successful adoption day with three dogs and three cats adopted!  I just hope we can keep that streak up next semester!  On Saturday night, a group of us went to see Despicable Me 2.

I registered for 4th semester on Monday!  So exciting!
FACT OF THE DAY: The most common cause of inappropriate urinating/defecating in cats is the dirty liter box and not because they are "mad at you". (Animal Behavior)

There was a talk at lunch about how to become a board certified surgeon.  I'm not really interested in being a surgeon, but I'm in the surgery club and there was free food.  What they served

FACT OF THE DAY: Foxes, coyotes, jackals, wolves, and certain rodents are the most suceptible animals to Rabies.  Dogs, sheep, goats, horses, and nonhuman primates are moderately susceptible.  Birds are not susceptibility due to their high body temperature. (Virology)

Wednesday was a busy day that started off with monsters invading the RUSVM Student Union! In support of the Josh project, blue semester (4th semester) won and had the teachers dressed as members of the Monster Mash crew. Mad Scientist, Bride of Frankenstein, Frankenstein, Wolfman, and the Mummy.  In the picture below from left to right is Dr. Reich (my old physio teacher), Dr. Castillo, Dr. Lizzagiana (my current pharm teacher), Dr. Soto (my current bact teacher), and blue semester class rep Andrew in place of Dr. Verma.   Here's a video.

At lunch there was a avian talk from Dr. Thomas Tully from LSU where pizza was provided and he did another talk at 5pm about exotic case presentations where dinner was provided.  It was then back to studying!!
FACT OF THE DAY: The campus cats are getting braver by the day and enjoy playing with backpacks, stealing your food, and trying to catch fish in the indoor aquarium.

 

 

 

I had my Bact exam on Thursday and another avian talk at lunch.  I'm glad that was the last midterm of the semester because I'm feeling burnt out and I still have finals to study for.....:sigh:
 FACT OF THE DAY:  Picornaviridae is the virus that causes Foot and Mouth Disease, which actually has a very low (less than 5%) mortality.  It's a big deal because it causes such a large economic impact. (Virology)

TGIF!  I'm celebrating a friend's birthday by going on an afternoon dive with her, but I will probably be missing volleyball. 
FACT OF THE DAY: Puppies and German Shepherds are more susceptible to Ehrilichia canis. (Bacteriology)

This weekend will be spent  preparing for finals and relaxing at Palm Gardens pool all day Saturday.

80s/Thanksgiving

On Friday, after our fun flash mob (see previous blog post), that night there the 80s party!  Tons of 80s music, so much fun!  Everyone looked great too!

On Saturday I hung out at Liz's pool for a bit then, since I was still on an 80's kick, went back to my place and watch 80's movies the rest of the night (Say Anything and Can't Buy Me Love).   I also made shish kabobs...yummy!  Sunday, it was back to study mode and cleaning before the family comes!

Monday wasn't anything too exciting other than I made chicken parm for dinner because that was basically had in the fridge....I feel like I'm always running out of food! I didn't think I ate that much....
Tuesday wasn't anything too exciting either, other than having a break from 10-1pm where I met with my Immuno teacher and went to the gym.  We no longer have Anatomy on Tuesdays, so we will have this long break until the end of the semester.
Wednesday was the day Dr Gymiah, our Immuno teacher, dressed up for winning the Josh Project coin fund raiser (remember Dr. Reich as Ace Venture last semester).  It was very hard to take him seriously.

 Also, my family came for Thanksgiving!  I was so excited to see everyone!  We took our family picture and then went out to dinner.
Thursday was Thanksgiving.  I was able to get out of class at 10am and spend the rest of the day with my family.  We went to Reggae beach and then had Thanksgiving dinner at the Marriott.
Friday I set up a paddle boarding trip for my family while I was in class which they seemed to really enjoy.  We then went to dinner and saw Life of Pi.
Saturday morning I had a nice relaxing Marriott massage and then had some lunch and drinks poolside.  My family then had to leave and I had to start studying.  I did however get my freezer stocked up: 

Finals are approaching

Wedding

Amazing weekend back in Chicago!  I flew in around 10pm on Thursday night, so I was exhausted from the whole day of traveling.  On Friday, I was able to have breakfast with Brittany and catch up!

 Friday night was the rehearsal dinner followed by the rehearsal.  Then Saturday, my longest friend tied the knot and I couldn't be happier for her! It started with early hair and makeup appointments at 6am.  Then we had to be at the church at 8:30 for the ceremony to start at 9:30am.  After the ceremony it was picture time, followed by the reception.  Everything was incredibly beautiful.  Here's a little sneak peak:  (Will post professional pictures when available)

After the reception, a group of us went to The Dam Bar (great name) for a few more pictures, and well drinks of course.  Here's my favorite of my crazy family:

After the bar, we were a little hungry and grabbed some food, where else but Garibaldi's (be jealous Julia).  Yes, I went to a pizza place in my bridesmaid dress!

Sunday, we arrived at the airport bright and early.  I kept my hair in the updo from the day before, but little did I know that bobby pins (64 total) set the security thing off.  So, I had to get patted down, lol.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that both of my flights were first class tickets!  I had no idea!  So I definitely lived it up in my roomy seat and enjoyed breakfast and lunch on the plane. (Can't get picture to load right side up)

On Monday, Dr. St Jean battled Dr. Johnson at lunch with theriogenology tools!  To funny...only at Ross! Check out the video on my Facebook wall, it's too big to post here.

 Monday night Taylor made me dinner and we ended up watching Magic Mike, which was sadly a disappointment!  The dancing was fun, but it only lasted like 5 mins!
On Wednesday, there was another VBMA meeting, so I am pretty much officially done!  One of the classes I'm taking counts toward one of the certificate points, so all I have to do is wait for that class to end! lol
Then on Thursday, I ran to town to run some errands during our class break.
Friday is the Olympic opening ceremony, so I'm having people over to have some dinner and watch it.  The rest of the weekend, I will probably just be studying and maybe hang out at a pool or something.

Mid-semester break

This past weekend, I volunteered to help count the coins raised during the Josh project fundraiser.  I wish I got a picture of what our hands looked like afterwards, they were so black!  7th semester ended up winning, so Dr. St. Jean will be dressing up as Zorro.  1st semester raised $431.29, so we ended up coming in 3rd.  The total raised for the fundraiser was $4,263.13 EC.
Monday was our anatomy palpation quiz and micro test.  I will admit I was very overwhelmed with all the information, but I don't think I could have studied anymore I than I did.  We haven't gotten our anatomy grade back yet, but I'm pretty sure I did well and I also did well on the micro test.
Tuesday was pretty uneventful, although we did go see What To Expect When You're Expecting at the theater.  I'm pretty sure Joe Manganiello is what made the movie. ;)
On Wednesday, our class had their first bake sale of build your own nachos to raise money for our 7th semester banquet.  We raised $1235 EC.
I found out that I didn't get the orientation leader position on Thursday.  None of the first semester's that applied did.  I'm still debating if I will be going home over the break though.  I'm considering staying on the island and traveling.  Anyone up for coming to visit me and traveling!?  So only in vet school would you still have class when the power goes out....The power went out in our last class and we ended up having the rest of the class in the dark (projectors, computers, and wireless are on a generator), but then the generator went out as well.  Needless to say, I was not about to workout in the dark, so it was a workout day at home for me.
Finally Friday!  I felt like this weekend would never come!  Tonight there is island idol at Bamboo bar that we might go to.
This weekend is a long weekend because it's mid-semester break, which mean there are no classes Monday!  Saturday we will probably go to the beach, since we are getting white over here from lack of beach time!  On Sunday, I'm going on a catamaran trip which includes an open bar, snorkeling, and lunch on Nevis. (That waterproof camera would be great right now) Then, Sunday night there is a glow-in-the-dark paint party!  Then on Monday I might do some studying  ;)

Fun website about vet school:
http://ourlifeinvetschool.tumblr.com/

Fun picture that we like:

First round of exams over

I had a very relaxing weekend, including some studying and lots of cooking on Sunday!  I cooked ravioli for lunch/dinner, chicken for the week, and my own peanut butter protein bars (Thanks Pinterest....yum!)

On Monday, the Josh Project Coin project began.  Each semester will pick a teacher to dress up and if they have the most coins collected at the end of the week, then that semester's teacher dresses up.  Here's the list:

1st semester - Dr. Spencer as Britney Spears
2nd - Dr. Kibbel and Dr. Adams as the main characters from Up
3rd - Dr. Wang, Dr. Soto, Dr. Gyimah, Dr. Arauz, Dr. Bogdanovic (so far) as The Avengers
4th- Dr. Castillo as Princess Lelia
5th - Dr. Walker and Dr. Shokry as Batman and Robin
6th - Dr. Pope as Inspector Gadget
7th - Dr. St. Jean as Zorro
(The underlined are the teachers I know and have had in classes)

Our micro class was canceled on Tuesday, due to a flood in the men's bathroom near the classroom.  We will have to make that class up late on Thursday though.  There was a speaker that I went to that night that talked about infectious diseases of wildlife which was pretty interesting.
Nutrition exam was on Wednesday.  In in the typically Reich fashion, no matter how much you know the material, it's still a really hard test.  I ended up skipping a wildlife speaker that I really wanted to go to in order to get a few more minutes of studying in.  I am definitely still liking the block exams better than our schedule now.  I don't like having to wait until the usual class time to have the exam and then having class after the exam; it's hard to concentrate.  We finally got our grades back for Anatomy and let's just say there was a lot of drama from everyone about that.  I did really well, but sadly the class average was very low. 
Thursday was a VERY long day.  Instead of my usual break from 10-12pm, I had nutrition lab where we looked at body conditioning scoring the kennel dogs.  The same speaker from Tuesday spoke at lunch about motivating your health care team.  I was able to use her as points toward my VBMA certificate.  We then had our makeup micro class from 3-5pm.  I was exhausted, so I didn't end up going to the gym, but instead went home to studying.  It's probably a good thing I skipped the gym because I ended up pushing myself too hard on Monday and my knee has been bothering me since.
TGIF Ever'body!  Today at lunch that same speaker (Dr. Karen Shenoy) is talking about nutrition.  I volunteered to help count the coins for the Josh project tonight since I'm a member of the Ross chapter.  Cross your fingers that the firsties win!
This weekend, I plan on studying for the Micro test and Anatomy palpation quiz both of which are on Monday.  I feel the tests have been nonstop, but after Monday we will finally get a small break before they all start up again.
I know I haven't been good about keeping in touch, but bare with me! I will be able to talk once I figure out my phone situation and all these tests are over with and I get a small break!  I do have skype though, so feel free to message me there!

I can't believe I've already been on this island for 6 months. That means there have been 28 blog posts!  This experience is just flying by and I'm glad you are experiencing it with me! :)

Parents visit

So this past weekend my parents came to visit (see Mom I told you I would talk about you).  On Friday I took them to one of my favorite places to eat here and they were able to meet a bunch of the people I have been hanging out with.

 On Saturday, we went to look at a car that another student was selling, and I now have a car to drive!  Of course, it's white...thanks dad for helping! I couldn't do it without you!

The rest of Saturday we spent at Reggae beach, where I introduced them to Reggae Colidas.  We then went back to the Marriott for happy hour St. Patrick drink specials and checked out an Italian restaurant I've been wanting to go to.  Sunday we went to church....two pleasant hours later....we had brunch at Ottley's Plantation.  We then were able to go look at the apartment that I will be living in, so my parents could see it and Alex and I could again get an idea of what we will need to bring with us.  Sunday night we spent another happy hour at the Marriott bar and later had some sushi for dinner.

 They then had to leave Monday, so we ran to port and did some grocery shopping.  I think I'm basically set for the next two semesters with the five boxes of cereal that mom brought for me.  However later that day I found out some very overwhelming news, so please keep a friend and her family in your prayers.
We found out our math/pharm test grades on Tuesday.  I got a 104% on it!  For dinner I made an amazing chicken pesto which I had been craving (thanks for the pesto mom)!
Thursday I went to the post office to pick up two packages full of nothing but cookies (homemade and girl scout...thanks Grandma and Laura!  As part of the Josh Project fund raiser a few weeks ago, each semester picked a teachers to dress up as something that the students chose.  Whichever semester won, that teacher had to dress up today.  My Physio teacher ended up winning: Reich as Ace Ventura

We plan on laying out at the beach on Saturday and probably going out that night.  Sunday, we are all having a pot-luck brunch outside and then I was invited to take some surfing lessons with one of the teachers (Thanks Boruta!) here who I know through a coworker back home.  Then I will also probably go to some of the tutor sessions for the upcoming tests.