Wednesday, September 5, 2007

The Heart of the Matter

For my true fans out there, it is probably clear from the lack of communication that the semester is well underway, right about now. The transition is becoming easier, I have made some great friends already, and I have my first exam this Monday 9/10 in physiology. For those that know me from college or high school, yes I am already stressed out about this test. In fact anxiety began exactly one week before the exam (lovely). The ironic part is I am in the top 10% of my class in terms of being laid back...hard to believe? It is for me as well, but its great solidarity. We all have good and bad days and have been supportive of each other.

The first football game kicked off last Saturday, also marking my first tailgate as a student Hokie. We won, but not by as much, nor did we play as well as expected. Nonetheless a good time! (at least we didn't pull a Michigan)

Matt and I hiked the very popular Cascades Fall trail in the Jefferson National Forest on Sunday. It was a beautiful day 75 and sunny, and no humidity.

Today we began dissection on a large animal, either horse, cow or goat. We will be doing the same dissection as we have done thus far on the dog on the larger animal and noting the differences. The horse is always the outlier. Since I have the largest dog in the class, I opted for the goat (less work=less fat picking). I must say though, that the horse and cow are pretty neat to examine.

As I sat in lab among giant cow, horse and goat cadavers it hit me that I am starting to really enjoy this, despite the countless hours of studying. Having some friends and a good study network has helped. Seeing Matt last weekend and tomorrow also helps!

So tomorrow is the big tribute concert for April 16 featuring Dave Matthews, Nas, and John Mayer, and some rumored surprise guests. As a vet student I have class right up until the concert, but its a good excuse to take a night off.

As a last note for now, last night was my first late night. I studied in a group from 7-10, after getting out of class at 5:15. Then I came home and studied until 12:30. Note that the latest I have stayed up all semester on a school night has been 11pm. Now you may be thinking that I stayed up later because that I had class later today, and yes I did. I didn't have to be there until 10am today, however, I awoke at 7am sharp and began studying again. That's the difference from college when I rarely awoke before 11am.

And as I finish this blog I will begin a stringent evening/afternoon of diligently studying. This is truly the life of a vet student. Some days its painful, some days are really difficult and seem impossible, and some days like today you're tired, stressed, missing your husband and cats, but the passion rises to the surface just enough to smile through it.

No comments: