To whomever reads this blog... I guess there are a couple of you I'm moving over to vetschooldiary.com to continue my diary and hopefully reach more people interested in vet school and what it's like. My first couple entries will probably be from my articles on this site, but I'll try to add in new information as the year progresses. My only official 3 day weekend of the semester passed by quickly. It would be nice to have 4 days of classes and 3 days to catch up... I wouldn't mind ...

Not that writng is a waste of time, but I'm sure there are better things I could be doing on my Saturday night. Like sleeping. Or studying. But heck, I thought I'd give a bit more info about my first full week, since I'm awake enough to write coherently. My roommate and I just spent the last 5 hours running errands, shopping, and at dinner. We meant it to be a shorter trip, but one thing led to another... I feel as if I wasted my entire Saturday. Boo hoo. But I spent the morning back...

After some struggle, I'm finally back online! This new radio wave internet thingy is great... when it actually works. Hopefully I'll stay online from now on because I need the internet for e-mail (and my classes!). Speaking of which, the first week went pretty well. Anatomy gets easier the more time you spend in the lab, although it's still a lot of material. Once you figure out the naming system (thoracic for things attached to the thoracic vetertebrae, etc.) then it's a matter of org...

If you couldn't tell, I was exhausted when I wrote my last entry. Nothing's changed since then, but I've finshed orientation (and the first day of classes). Orientation wasn't too bad. The 2nd year students were there to make sure things went smoothly... apparently their transiton in to vet school wasn't so great, so they wanted to improve the system. We got new ID cards that I suppose you're supposed to wear most of the time, especially if you visit the clinics. That way, they'll know...

Well, it's the end of day 1 of orientation. It started with everyone milling around in the grass, slowly lining up in alphabetical order. 101 out of the 102 students showed up and got in line by 1pm, to my surprise. We all sat down and listened to some opening remarks by the dean of the college, and then they called us up one by one to receive our blue coats... kind of a formal "welcome to veterinary medicine." The ceremony and the meaning was nice, as was the blue coat.. It will be usef...

The internet suddenly went out on me when I tried to post my last entry... and it just came back up, after another visit from the internet guy. Thankfully, wireless is working beautifully! I still don't have cable, but I'll be okay with the internet. Without cable AND the internet though, I was going out of my mind. Read 2 books and tried to print out some pictures for my walls, but alas, I didn't have the printer driver. Anyway. I took a tour of the wildlife clinic today. It's entir...

I'm sitting on my bed, my tablet PC precariously propped up on my pillow so the ethernet cord can reach, my coffee cup off to the side. I'm praying it doesn't fall on my bed, or worse, my PC. But I love - almost need - my morning coffee, so doing without isn't an option. It's been almost 3 full days since I've been by myself, 5 days since I've been in my new place. Not quite organized yet, but the majority of boxes have been emptied. Animals are happy in their respective places (rabbit...

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted. What have I been doing lately? I did take a trip to Vegas (incredibly fun, lost a little money gambling but I got a little tanner). I've also been hanging out with some friends before I leave town. And I tried to finish up my project at work, but it just wasn't going to happen. So now I'm officially done at the lab and I don't have to worry about anything anymore (until they call me with questions). What a load off my shoulders...

I'd like to meet a person for whom moving is not crazy, tiring, and in general... a mess. I hate moving. I hate packing things in boxes and trying to label the box so I can find the stuff I need. I hate trying to scrape adhesive off the wall. I hate sorting through the stuff that I threw in a random shopping bag and put in my closet to sort through later. I hate coming across my passport in a said shopping bag - that I almost threw out. Now, where did I put that passport? But my stuf...

Every couple of years, I'm faced with the same cycle. I date a guy, we're happy, we spend 1-2 years together in blissful coupledom, and then he or I move away because of school, jobs, or whatever. There are a couple weekend trips to see one another and a lot of long phone conversations. Then, inevitably, we break up. The cycle begins again anywhere from 2-4 months later. Now, the elephant in the room that I've been unsuccessfully ignoring is - why will this time be any different? Reas...

I went to a Dave Matthews Band concert the other evening - he's kicked off his summer tour and this is the first of three DMB concerts I'll be attending this summer. It's been an annual thing of mine since 1996, so while I'm not a crazy fan, I consider myself a true fan of the band. Now, I'm not old. At least, I don't think I am, I'm still (barely) in the early 20s and that's young enough to have a good time. But I was considerably irritated by certain people surrounding me at the conce...

Well, our Class of 2008 now has a place to chat. It's nice to be able to talk to people that will be going through the same things... do you buy the fancy tablet PC? Which textbooks will we really need? Who's moving across the country? And most importantly... what apartment buildings allow pets? This is the predominant question on the message board. Where should I live if I have x number of animals that weigh x number of pounds? A lot of places have weight limits on dogs. And some, to...

I have a condo! My dad and I went down to check out the town and took a whirlwind tour of all the available condos within a 10-15 minute drive of the vet school. Because we were only down there for a day, we pretty much disregarded any "old" construction (older than a few years). No time for inspections and the like. There was a lot of new construction out west, so we focused on that, and ended up with a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1 car garage place on the 2nd floor with a nice balcony and a ...

I know my nervousness is laughable, but I had to contact the school to make sure they received my postcard and that I am indeed a part of the class of 2008. The replies were very cordial: one I received from whomever answers the "contact us" link on the website, and the other was from the assistant dean. She very nicely explained that once the current class is graduated, they can focus more attention on the incoming class, so I should expect to get "lots and lots of information" at the end ...

So I'm starting to mellow out a little. I'm less anxious to start school, especially now that the weather is nice. I figure I should enjoy my study-free evenings... that is one HUGE benefit to working versus being in school. I've found some condos on the internet that look nice, so I'll go visit next weekend or the weekend afterward to check them out. Unfortunately, the availibility of 1 bedroom places is nil, so I'm looking at more expensive 2 and 3 bedroom places. That means roommate(s...