30 April 2012

Crunch time.

Exams are Thursday/Friday of this week.

Sunday I leave for Florida to meet my nephew.

I can totally do this.

(This post is just to try and prove to myself that I can get through the next 5 days in one piece).

25 April 2012

I don't wanna!!

Imagine a 4 year old at Toys R' Us whose parents refuse to get her the shiny pony toy that just came out. Tantrum? Oh, you betcha.

And then imagine me sitting at my desk hitting my head repeatedly against the surface.

What do they have in common? The fact that I feel like acting like a four year old and stamp my feet around while saying "BUT MOMMA I DON'T WANNA STUDY ANY MORE."

Because I really really REALLY don't feel like doing any more studying/revising/panicking over this exam any more.

And this is where I will end my exam stress-induced mini-rant, because...I have to get back to studying.


21 April 2012

Licensed Driver.

I had my UK drivers test on Tuesday and I'm happy to say that I passed with only 4 faults. All that worrying for naught. (Plus, I spent a lot of money on lessons...so if I didn't pass, I was going to be very upset with myself.)

Monday, as an incentive to passing, I bought myself a cute little 2001 Polo. Blue, 3-door, Manual, good gas mileage and has a really fun blue and grey interior. Here she is:

 I have named her TARDIS...because she's blue and is bigger on the inside. She is thus proof that I am probably the biggest geek for Doctor Who ever.

Anyway, revision continues. I'm on Principles of Science, which is so far kicking my butt, but I am kicking back. Less than 2 weeks until the first exam. Ugh.

10 April 2012

Yumchaa study time.

My friend D. and I got back to our old study habits today; we met at Yumchaa in Camden early early (I got there at just before 10, she got there at 9:30am) and stayed until dinner time.

It was really great to just sit in the café and study. Surprisingly, I work really well in that kind of atmosphere and I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's because my house was always very loud growing up between my mother shouting for my sister and I to do housework/come to dinner/get the dogs/stop fighting/etc and the barking dogs... But I do seem to thrive in an environment where there is white noise. And since Yumchaa has wonderfully large tables for us to sit at, D. and I got into the habit last year of going on weekends to study, just to go somewhere different.

I do have to say, after a while of sitting in college for class and then studying...you go a little stir crazy. Changing scenery really helps me keep focused on revision. I can get some stuff done at home, but then I get distracted and clean/cook. I can get some stuff done at school, but then I get sick of looking at the same room. So going to a café, where people are coming and going, there's music in the background and a nice steady level of quiet(ish) conversation...it's the perfect study environment for me. Plus, it gets me out of the house (always a bonus during revision time). If someone gets too loud, pop in the headphones and listen to some music. Fleet Foxes was my mainstay last year; this year, it's the Doctor Who and Sherlock soundtracks (yep, I'm a sucker for tall and lanky Brits). And generally, natural study breaks occur and I get to catch up on things with D. And then she forces me back to work (since I'm so easily distracted). It's just something that works. And it made me a very happy camper to be back in London for the whole day (even picked up some gluten free essentials at Whole Foods!!).

23 days until exam time. Not that I'm freaking out or anything.

08 April 2012

Revision revision revision!

My 2 week placement with the small animal vets finished up yesterday. It was pretty damn awesome to be back in a practice doing things, but it was nice to realize once again that small animal is definitely not my thing. I love my dogs and cats, but working in a small animal practice would not be a good fit for me. I like the outdoors. And the smell of barns and horses. Yep, it's definitely equine/large animal for me.

This last week was pretty amazing, though. I got to scrub in on a tendon reconstruction surgery, which was interesting to watch. The dog had come in with a wound on its left carpus that wouldn't stop bleeding (arterial bleed!) and she refused to put any weight on it. I ended up holding the left leg during the surgery, so I got to see it up close and personal. I even managed to guess the correct suture material for everything!  I also participated in a euthanasia on a heron, which was interesting but sad. Someone had found it on the side of the road just sitting there, and had brought it to the practice to be humanely euthanized (which was the right choice). I've never seen a heron up close, but man they are gorgeous creatures. Unfortunately, this one was really sick and did need to be euthanized.

And now, the next 4 weeks will be devoted solely to revision. Exams are the first week in May, and the week after I go to Florida to finally meet my nephew! That is what is keeping me going.

01 April 2012

EMS: first week conclusions

1. I know absolutely nothing off the top of my head. My feeble attempts to sound somewhat competent were pretty pathetic.
2. I managed to confuse radiography principles with ultrasound principles (aka black on ultrasound is FLUID, not AIR. Duh.)
3. I need actually ask to do things. I mean, I knew that. I realized that I would have to be a little pushy in order to get to do some procedures, but I'm just not very good at it.
4. Getting to do a ligation during a castration procedure made me feel like a REAL VET. REALLY. And I'm not kidding. I actually did something to the insides of a live animal and it LIVED. Miraculous.
5. Studying after 10 hours of standing on my feet is really hard. I leave the house at 8am and get back around 7:30-8pm. That is a really looooooooooooooong day. And then to come home and make dinner and then sit down to study...yeah, it doesn't really work so well.
6. Downtime at the vet practice means study time for me. I usually wander around first to ask if they need help, or if any in-patients need walking, but generally they push me towards the break room and practically tell me to study. They're good people.
6. There is no way that I could be anything but a veterinarian.

And that, my friends...is my EMS experience thus far.

PS: I may or may not be doing a castration solo this week. (fingers crossed)