Sunday, October 26, 2008

October will be over soon

I was completely wrong about the downhill slide, mentioned in the previous post. However, this week will be one of the toughest, but then it eases up until after Thanksgiving break (really, at least no more major exams). And the week ends with a great Halloween party. So it's work hard and play hard for one more week.

Last weekend Matt and I did enjoy the beautiful weather and hiked up to Angel's Rest in Parisburg, VA. The view was amazing and the hike very vertically challenging.

My outlook on school is the same, but this week I have my first ever oral exam. For our clinical techniques course we can be asked to demonstrate pretty much anything under a time constraint. The best thing to do would be to go in confidently, but my confidence isn't sure I can memorize all the different types of needles ad procedures by Tuesday. We also have a Small Animal Nutrition midterm Wednesday, then part 2 of the clinical techniques exam Thursday. Of course Friday ends with a pharmacology quiz.

Everyone is tired. I remember being mentally exhausted last year with only a few weeks to go until break, and wondering how I would muster the energy to make it through. I wonder the same thing again this year.

I hope this week goes by quickly and successfully, which will make the Friday celebration that much better. I have not dressed up for Halloween since college, but this year I decided it's about time. The vet school is hosting a joint party with the medical school, so it should make for a good time.

Details on my costume to follow...

Monday, October 13, 2008

New Outlook

Thanks to some excellent support from a professor and co-worker, I understand that no matter how impossible it may seem, I have to have some sort of life this semester. This weekend, despite a big Monday bacteriology exam I went to the soccer game, a movie and for a long walk/run on Sunday. And I am working through this week to get to a longer hike this Saturday. It's too beautiful here not to enjoy it and it was starting to get to me. And I felt refreshed instead of burnt out like I have felt these past few weeks.

I no longer care as much about grades, I am here to learn. Good grades feel good, but that's not why I am here. I will do all I can learn, pass, and be happier!

Hopefully I can keep this mentality up a little longer. After this week we are on the downhill of the semester. Day by day, week by week, Thanksgiving will be here!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

As I sit

This week I decided I am in a second year vet school depression, in which my life is not my own. I study for hours on end and it's not enough and all I want is a life again. The trees are changing and I cannot even hike to the mountaintop views. Fall will pass me by.

Along with my depression, I am very uneasy. My pharmacology midterm sits in my mailbox and I did not have time to go back to school tonight to get it. (Studied from 3 until 10:30 today, and nope not enough). So now I have to chose the best time for it to ruin my day tomorrow, Friday. To top it off, the professor wants to hold a review of the exam Friday at 5:30, can you think of a worse time? Guess there's no such thing as a weekend for a second year.

And to think, I wanted to go to the soccer game against Maryland tomorrow with my husband. Vet students should not have fun, they should never leave the building and should review their worst exam on Friday night!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Test Free Week

Some people get excited about tax-free shopping week. Vet students, however, get excited about test-free weeks. They equal anxiety free weeks. To top it off most day this week for me are half days with just 2-3 classes, plenty of time to study and work out. I am battling a cold so getting back into the workout groove may not go as planned.

Following last week's high stress, little sleep, this morning the classroom resembled an infirmary. Everyone was coughing, nose-blowing, throat-clearing etc. I felt like I was getting something last Friday but fought it off. Then on Sunday I ran a 5K, and a few hours later I felt like an allergy attack. Today it feels like it could be the vet school, post-cortisol cold.

So, since we have no exams this week, I am heading to bed with some theraflu, zicam, airborne to hopefully cut this bug off at the pass.

After this week, it's 2 tests per week for the rest of the month. I am slightly rejuvenated after a relaxing weekend (I only studied on Sunday and was so burnt out I didn't even feel guilty about it), but when I think of October I long for Thanksgiving.

Friday, October 3, 2008

It feels like second year!

What a week. The pharmacology exam was a spitfire. I studied all weekend for it, including an intense 9-hour library session that only involved bathroom breaks. Was I well-prepared? No. Do I think I did well? Probably not. We were all so exhausted after that, but of course we had to study for a theriogenology exam on Friday. I had been studying for this all along and even though I felt prepared Friday morning, I was also quite challenged by this exam as well. Up until this week, while intense, second year was not much worse than first year. The material is more clinically relevant, and the labs involve live animals and clinical procedures, beyond memorization. This week, I studied harder than ever, and felt challenged beyond my comfort zone. I suppose this will be a positive attribute in the future. At the current moment, however, I feel tired, burnt out, and not in the mood for 2 more hours of theriogenology of the cow.

I don't know if I should let the brain rest or study even harder, although I don't think I can do the 9 hours straight again anytime soon.

Thank god it's Friday and next week involves no exams.