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

Last Progress Exam!

 This weekend, we had one puppy get adopted, the Hokies are going onto the ACC championship, and lots of studying!

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On Monday, there was a lunch meeting for VBMA certification.  We have gotten a lot of hours this semester! I'm excited to hopefully finish this certificate before graduating!
According to my horoscope, Tuesday was my lucky day and apparentely this time it was right!  I won a scholarship to the SAVMA synposium in Colorado in March!  (This is the same conference I went to this past March at LSU).   I'm incredibly excited because they have some amazing wet labs I would love to do!  The kittens and mom all had their recheck today, so they are ready to be weaned and go to a new foster home!
Mom kitty (Pomergranate) went to her new foster home on Wednesday, as well as two of the kittens.
On Thursday, another kitten went to her foster home, there was a VBMA lunch and dinner meeting, but I couldn't do to the dinner because I needed to study!
Finally Friday!  We had our Path/Epi block, which is our last set of exams until finals!  I also had EVS, where we dd halter ties, a skin scrap, and a phlebotomy (doctor word for drawing blood).  It was then time for a much needed nap, relaxation, and fun!

THIS WEEK I AM THANKFUL FOR:  The opportunity to live out my dream career.  I have worked incredibly hard to get to where I am and I know it will all be worth it in the end.  I couldn't feel more blessed.


On Saturday, there is a catamaran trip where I will soak up tons of sun!  I'm so pale, you would never guess I live on an island! Then, Sunday will be back to studying, but this time for finals!  Time is just flying by!

LSU Student Conference

This past weekend:
Adoption day where we only had one adoption, but two adoptions before Saturday for a total of three at adoptions (even though two were foster failures, we still love it!).  The kittens that I had all week were given to their new foster, so is already in love with them.
My first two open water dives for scuba! The first dive was at River Tar where we just swam around and saw a shipwreck and the other dive was at Harbor Reef where we practiced some skills. We were at a maximum of 40 feet for 40 minutes!
Then the rest of the weekend I spent studying.  Sadly, no St. Patrick's Day celebrations or green beer for me.  :(

Monday was my Physio exam which I was very worried about, but my all studying paid off!  I also meet with a research professor about chicken research.  I will explain more about it when I start getting into it. It's only next week and is time consuming.  I'm excited to be a part of it and gain more research though!  Alex and I then went to the beach to celebrate a late St Patty's day!

Tuesday, we had a two hour physio class.  I also finished packing for my trip to the LSU SAVMA student conference for the rest of the week!  The best part is my parents will be there too!
There was no physio class on Wednesday, so I ran a few errands before my trip. I had a flight to Miami, then New Orleans, then a one hour drive to Baton Rouge.  Yay to being state side!
Thursday there was an international breakfast where I met some great people.  I registered for the symposium and was able to gets tons of free stuff!  We walked around a little bit and hit up the mall!  That night, there was the opening ceremony and a tailgate at tiger stadium!   A few of us then went out afterward to explore the Baton Rouge night life!

Friday morning I went on the LSU vet school tour to see if I want to go there for clinics.  I was then able to attend a lecture on how to pick a good practice to work and lunch was provided.  I attended a bunch more lectures that afternoon.  That night was a crawfish boil and a band came and played.  We then went out to explore some more LSU night life!

Saturday I had more lectures in the morning about communication and finding the right job.  That afternoon I met Mike the tiger and had a alligator wetlab!  We were able to learn how to handle them, draw blood, intubate, and pass a gastric tube, then we did a necropsy on them afterwards.  Too fun! It was also the farewell/closing ceremony.  There was a great movitational and inspiring speaker Lance Fox and some awards were given out.  Ross' very own Dr. Stewart won the Community Outreach Award for her sea turtle project!

On Sunday, we drove back to New Orleans for our flight to Miami, then back to St. Kitts.  I, of course, had to bring back a little bit of America with me though.  :)