I thought I would give an update on my society decisions. I joined CSU, which is the Catholic Student's Union very early on. Michael and I went to mass at St. Albert the Great's Chapel a couple of times while he was here and the first person I met was Fr. Tim. He is a Black Friar and basically the big man on campus with regards to the chapel. St. Albert's is the chaplaincy for the University. Anyhow, they have a student-only mass every Sunday night during term and always have something going on afterwards (in association with CSU). The first night it was a wine and cheese get together, which was really great in the fact that many people made an effort to say hi to me and introduce me to others they thought I might have something in common with (like being from the US). The club has a fantastic group of students and the mass and functions are very well attended. I was immediately pegged as a postgrad student (wonder what gave that away) and invited to attend the inaugural meeting of STAGGS (St Albert the Great's Graduate Society). We had dinner in the basement of the chapel (cooked by some CSU folks) with plenty of wine to go around. I met some very interesting PhD and Master's students from all over the world. Tuesday nights are 'Theology and then the Pub' night. This involves a 20 minute talk by one of the friars on a relevant subject, then we all head to the pub for more discussion, if desired, and some serious pool playing. I ended up Fr. Tim's partner last week and basically blew us out of the water. He is pretty darn good.
The first talk was the about the history of the Domincan Order and the Black Friars. It was rather interesting. Tonight is another goody - how you can believe in both science and God. Obviously very appropriate for me. I have unfortuately noticed that a LOT of veterinary students call themselves atheist and agnostic. Rather disheartening. There is also a mid-week meal every Wednesday (again cooked by CSU'ers and down in the basement) for one whole pound per person. It seems like a club that I am going to get way more out of than I ever would have expected. It is good for me to be involved in something outside of the vet school and its student population. I know I have not written on my program yet, but most students are very, very young here. It is important for me to interact with some students that have relatively similar backgrounds, experiences and challenges.
The second club is AVS, which stands for Association of Veterinary Students. I am a First Year Representative. YAY. Yes, for perhaps the first time in my life, I have actually wanted to be a representative of something important to me so that I can have a say. There are 8 of us selected from first year out of our class of 120. They wanted a diverse group (UKers, those who have completed A levels and/or highers, second degree students, international, male and female. While there are plenty of international students with degrees already (mostly from the US/Canada), I take it to another level with the whole 'mature student' aspect.
The purpose of AVS is to serve as a liasion betweeen our class, the program in general and the staff and faculty. We will meet once a semester (I believe) to discuss any and all matters associated with the program - scheduling, grading, course content, practicals, etc etc. I am excited about being involved and depending on how it goes, may look to become a candidate for a postion with the VSC (Veterinary Student Council). This has much wider ranging implications on our education, as the council is composed of students from many vet schools and is directly involved with the curriculum in the UK.
So, those are my two clubs for now. I also have talked myself into going to soccer practice this week just to 'check it out'. I simply cannot help myself. I need to exercise and team sports seem like a good solution to something you really do not want to do at all, let alone by yourself. I may change my mind again, but I'm pretty certain about this. The team is made up of only vet students, so everyone understands the limitations we have and if we cannot make a practice or game. It is supposed to be a very laid back deal. This could be good or bad for me. Not sure yet. Good in the sense that I do not have to go 110% at it and win the Dick Vet World Cup, bad in the sense that I want the most bang for my buck when I DO decide to exercise and if it is not a serious atmoshpere, I may get bored, take my ball and go home.
We shall see.
Time to get a bite to eat so I can leave in about 30 minutes for the Theology and the Bar night. I am not planning on going to the bar, but that may change too :-)
Tomorrow is an easy, easy day. There are no lectures, as we all have to meet at some point with our Director of Studies (DOS). They ensure we are making good academic process throughout the year and are there for us if we are having any academic and/or personal issues. My meeting is from 9-930am and then I am free. I will get some errands done after my meeting - post office, sign up with a doctor so I can get my free healthcare, find an optometrist (getting some pretty good headaches from eyestrain and no glasses) and some minor grocery shopping. Oh yeah, and soccer practice tomorrow night...wheeeee.
Over-N-Out
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Cow Naming Contest
There is an Official Cow Naming Contest going on. As previously posted, this is my 'adopted cow' out at the school's very own Langhill Farm.
She needs a name. This was her as a cute little calf back in 2006:
She is adorable, I know. I am taking suggestions on a name for her....every cow needs a name, right? Only one entry per person is allowed. They must be received by Friday, October 1st at 5pm EST. I will pick the bestest name ATM (according to Me) and post my decision on Sunday. Bribes are accepted, but I cannot say if they will or will not affect my decision.....the risk is yours to take.
A little history about my cow. She is a dairy cow and was born January 23, 2006. She became part of the milking herd back in December 2007. She has had 3 calves, a male in November 2007, a female in November 2008 and a male last November. I am very curious as to whether she is pregnant now, as I have not yet 'met' her, so I do not know. However, I do know according to her mothly milk quality reports, there is no data for August and Sepember. This only means that she is not being milked right now. This coincides with last year when she was pregnant and there are no recent visits to the vet that suggest it is due to her not being healthy enough to milk.
That is all I know about my cow, so put your creative hats on and send me some names!
The winner will get some type of prize...a Scottish surprise, if you will.
Good Luck!
She needs a name. This was her as a cute little calf back in 2006:
She is adorable, I know. I am taking suggestions on a name for her....every cow needs a name, right? Only one entry per person is allowed. They must be received by Friday, October 1st at 5pm EST. I will pick the bestest name ATM (according to Me) and post my decision on Sunday. Bribes are accepted, but I cannot say if they will or will not affect my decision.....the risk is yours to take.
A little history about my cow. She is a dairy cow and was born January 23, 2006. She became part of the milking herd back in December 2007. She has had 3 calves, a male in November 2007, a female in November 2008 and a male last November. I am very curious as to whether she is pregnant now, as I have not yet 'met' her, so I do not know. However, I do know according to her mothly milk quality reports, there is no data for August and Sepember. This only means that she is not being milked right now. This coincides with last year when she was pregnant and there are no recent visits to the vet that suggest it is due to her not being healthy enough to milk.
That is all I know about my cow, so put your creative hats on and send me some names!
The winner will get some type of prize...a Scottish surprise, if you will.
Good Luck!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Exercise???
Perhaps some of you have noticed that I have not mentioned the word 'exercise' once since I've been here? I know. That is because I have not exercised (other than 1 hour on the cruise) in about....oh......2 months, or so? I'm not sure I can really count a few bike rides on the beach in Hilton Head, so it is closer to 3 months. Although, before that is when I had broken my wrist and couldn't do hardly anything...so.... well, you get the point. It's been a looong time. Do I miss it? Not so much. The only thing I miss is getting a good sweat on and knowing that I usually feel so much better afterwards.
I think the reason the exercise thing has not been such a big deal is because I am walking an inordinate amount since being here. Walking is a mode of transportation for me, so I do not dawdle. I walk fast anyways, but now it's even faster because I'm usually anxious to get to my destination and it's not just a 'walk in the park'. I'm not sure how many miles I put in a day, but it's a lot.
Here is the schedule. I walk the dogs for 30 minutes at 8am. At 830, I leave my flat to walk to class (10 minutes at a very fast pace). I then sit in lecture for 2 hours and walk back to my flat. I take the dogs for a 10-15 minute walk. If I don't have to go back to school, I may take them down to the park to play...this is a 30 minute outing. Come back, make a sandwich and walk back to school. Or, if not in class, walk to the grocery, to a meeting for a society, downtown to the bank, etc.
Another dog walk in the evening before I settle in to study or before I head out to whatever I'm doing. I usually have 3-4 nights where something is going on and of course, I walk there.
So, I'm not really feeling like I'm not getting any exercise, I'm just not getting the cardio or resistance training that I've been used to. And frankly, I do not necessarily feel like exercising after all of that walking. But, I have to. So, I think I'm going to start P90X again here in the comfort of my flat. Because, I need to sweat and I need all of the benefits of exercise again. I should start my program today. Should. We will see. P90X is an intense program on DVD's and it had a lot of resistance training - pushups, pullups, dips, etc and also has some cardio- 'kickboxing', plyometrics, yoga (not really cardio, but it does make me sweat), etc. It is a great regime and does work. My pants are pretty much hanging off me at this point and all of my belts are on the last notch. I'm certainly not complaining about this, but I do need to start toning up the muscles again....skinny arms and legs are not my thing.
I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I was thinking of joining the women's rugby or football (soccer) teams. Yes, that still gets my competitive juices flowing, but I am not so sure it is a good idea. For one, my feet are already KILLING me. Here is a picture of one reason why:
No, that is not the picture of a happy foot. I've had the bunion for a while now and it has affected me in some of my footwear choices, but it is now a large problem. This foot is now problematic and my footwear is critically important with all of this walking. I wore some 'cute' shoes the other night and boy did I pay for it afterwards. The bone associated with the ball of your foot was actually throbbing and painful. This is the same foot I tore the plantar fascia about 2 years ago training in Vegas, so it's understandable why I'm having trouble with it.
With the feet thing, playing a sport where I have to run around on them is not something that is going to help. Plus, I figured if I busted an ankle or something, that will severely affect my commute, which I cannot afford to compromise. I also talked myself out of it because they practice at a field that is not easily commutable for me two nights a week. It would involve a bus ride or bike (which I decided not to buy another one). Instead, I decided to try and hook up with the mountain biking team (which I have yet to do), start swimming some (there is a place a block away), or figure out something else that is not going to be so stressful on the big, ugly dawgs. Plus, I've done the whole college athetics once already and now I'm concentrating on some academic and social societies instead. These take up a portion of my time, but it is going to be time well spent. I'll post on my societies at some other time, once I am certain of which ones I'm going to be a member.
I'll keep you all posted, but I do believe I'm starting with P90x and concentrating on some upper body stuff for now and the rest should fall into place. Now that I've procrastinated enough, I think I'll take the Boyz to the park and consider going shopping...ugh.
Over-N-Out
I think the reason the exercise thing has not been such a big deal is because I am walking an inordinate amount since being here. Walking is a mode of transportation for me, so I do not dawdle. I walk fast anyways, but now it's even faster because I'm usually anxious to get to my destination and it's not just a 'walk in the park'. I'm not sure how many miles I put in a day, but it's a lot.
Here is the schedule. I walk the dogs for 30 minutes at 8am. At 830, I leave my flat to walk to class (10 minutes at a very fast pace). I then sit in lecture for 2 hours and walk back to my flat. I take the dogs for a 10-15 minute walk. If I don't have to go back to school, I may take them down to the park to play...this is a 30 minute outing. Come back, make a sandwich and walk back to school. Or, if not in class, walk to the grocery, to a meeting for a society, downtown to the bank, etc.
Another dog walk in the evening before I settle in to study or before I head out to whatever I'm doing. I usually have 3-4 nights where something is going on and of course, I walk there.
So, I'm not really feeling like I'm not getting any exercise, I'm just not getting the cardio or resistance training that I've been used to. And frankly, I do not necessarily feel like exercising after all of that walking. But, I have to. So, I think I'm going to start P90X again here in the comfort of my flat. Because, I need to sweat and I need all of the benefits of exercise again. I should start my program today. Should. We will see. P90X is an intense program on DVD's and it had a lot of resistance training - pushups, pullups, dips, etc and also has some cardio- 'kickboxing', plyometrics, yoga (not really cardio, but it does make me sweat), etc. It is a great regime and does work. My pants are pretty much hanging off me at this point and all of my belts are on the last notch. I'm certainly not complaining about this, but I do need to start toning up the muscles again....skinny arms and legs are not my thing.
I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I was thinking of joining the women's rugby or football (soccer) teams. Yes, that still gets my competitive juices flowing, but I am not so sure it is a good idea. For one, my feet are already KILLING me. Here is a picture of one reason why:
No, that is not the picture of a happy foot. I've had the bunion for a while now and it has affected me in some of my footwear choices, but it is now a large problem. This foot is now problematic and my footwear is critically important with all of this walking. I wore some 'cute' shoes the other night and boy did I pay for it afterwards. The bone associated with the ball of your foot was actually throbbing and painful. This is the same foot I tore the plantar fascia about 2 years ago training in Vegas, so it's understandable why I'm having trouble with it.
With the feet thing, playing a sport where I have to run around on them is not something that is going to help. Plus, I figured if I busted an ankle or something, that will severely affect my commute, which I cannot afford to compromise. I also talked myself out of it because they practice at a field that is not easily commutable for me two nights a week. It would involve a bus ride or bike (which I decided not to buy another one). Instead, I decided to try and hook up with the mountain biking team (which I have yet to do), start swimming some (there is a place a block away), or figure out something else that is not going to be so stressful on the big, ugly dawgs. Plus, I've done the whole college athetics once already and now I'm concentrating on some academic and social societies instead. These take up a portion of my time, but it is going to be time well spent. I'll post on my societies at some other time, once I am certain of which ones I'm going to be a member.
I'll keep you all posted, but I do believe I'm starting with P90x and concentrating on some upper body stuff for now and the rest should fall into place. Now that I've procrastinated enough, I think I'll take the Boyz to the park and consider going shopping...ugh.
Over-N-Out
What to do, what to do
It's official...i've completed my first week of vet school! Yay. I think it is going to be fairly easy to get into the swing of things and develop a consistent schedule. We met last night at the Southsider Pub (this is a vet student hangout) to celebrate. The GEP's (that's the Graduate Entry Program - it's 4 years instead of 5) showed up to celebrate the completion of their Animal Body 1 course and a 3 day anatomy exam. They all seemed happy and as if they did really well, so congratulations to them! I got home rather early, but then skyped for a few hours and ended up going to bed pretty darn late.
Today, I relax. I very much need to go downtown to the mall and do some clothes shopping. I am sorely short on proper fall/winter clothing. The thought of shopping makes me want to pull my eyelashes out one by one, but there is no way around it. I am enjoying my lounging today so much, that I can see myself procrastinating until tomorrow to go shopping. But, that would mean I should do some studying today and I'm not really up for that either...so, maybe I will shop. If I procrastinate long enough, perhaps I could have a most unproductive day. Then, I would not be so happy tomorrow. If I knew all of my UK sizes, I could do some online shopping.
Tonight is already planned. A few of us are going to a Spanish restaurant to get our spanish food fix. I'm looking forward to eating some tasty food...yummo.
Ciao
Today, I relax. I very much need to go downtown to the mall and do some clothes shopping. I am sorely short on proper fall/winter clothing. The thought of shopping makes me want to pull my eyelashes out one by one, but there is no way around it. I am enjoying my lounging today so much, that I can see myself procrastinating until tomorrow to go shopping. But, that would mean I should do some studying today and I'm not really up for that either...so, maybe I will shop. If I procrastinate long enough, perhaps I could have a most unproductive day. Then, I would not be so happy tomorrow. If I knew all of my UK sizes, I could do some online shopping.
Tonight is already planned. A few of us are going to a Spanish restaurant to get our spanish food fix. I'm looking forward to eating some tasty food...yummo.
Ciao
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Almost finished first week!
I cannot believe after tomorrow I will have completed my first week of vet school! It's been great so far. The Animal Body lectures are mostly review...cell biology and back into biochemistry...lovely, just lovely. The material is less than exciting for me, but it is a welcome and needed review. The great part about our program, is that we get to start handling animals very early...like 3rd week. This is very unusual compared to US vet schools. It is not uncommon for them to not touch an animal until 3rd or 4th year! One of the main reasons I chose this school is because of its animal husbandry requirements. I have been in the working world for so long and do not have recent clinical or animal husbandry experience, so the emphasis on hands-on animal handling here, suits me very well. I will do a separate post on this, as it differs greatly from the US schools.
Today was a long day. I had two lectures and then straight into a 2 hour practical looking at black and white zerox copies of cells (not easy to see everything), with questions on certain structures and their functions. We also spent a good deal of time differentiating between different types of microscopy on the pictures of the slides. We only had a 30 minute window before we had to head out to Langhill Farm for our afternoon practical. Another vet student drove me to my flat so I could take my dogs out (in the pouring rain), grab a quick bite and then head to Langhill.
Langhill Farm is our school's farm. It houses our dairy cows. It is an actual working farm where they milk and breed the cows. We need to not only be able to differentiate between all of the breeds of cows, but also be able to handle them (put a halter on, do an exam, etc), know their nutrition requirements and be educated about milk production and quality of milk. We could learn all of this in lecture, but the clever ones at Dick Vet have found that it's a better learning model to give us an 'adopted cow' with which we get all of the information with regard to their milking and health and follow them for a long period of time. We are given their specific numbers in terms of quantity of milk and its composition. This will allow us to research what is normal and how our cow compares. We are also given the records of its health and all of the information regarding any visits by the vet.
This is my adopted cow. I'm still thinking of a name for her. Suggestions are welcome.
And, this is her as a calf. How cute is she??
Today was a long day. I had two lectures and then straight into a 2 hour practical looking at black and white zerox copies of cells (not easy to see everything), with questions on certain structures and their functions. We also spent a good deal of time differentiating between different types of microscopy on the pictures of the slides. We only had a 30 minute window before we had to head out to Langhill Farm for our afternoon practical. Another vet student drove me to my flat so I could take my dogs out (in the pouring rain), grab a quick bite and then head to Langhill.
Langhill Farm is our school's farm. It houses our dairy cows. It is an actual working farm where they milk and breed the cows. We need to not only be able to differentiate between all of the breeds of cows, but also be able to handle them (put a halter on, do an exam, etc), know their nutrition requirements and be educated about milk production and quality of milk. We could learn all of this in lecture, but the clever ones at Dick Vet have found that it's a better learning model to give us an 'adopted cow' with which we get all of the information with regard to their milking and health and follow them for a long period of time. We are given their specific numbers in terms of quantity of milk and its composition. This will allow us to research what is normal and how our cow compares. We are also given the records of its health and all of the information regarding any visits by the vet.
This is my adopted cow. I'm still thinking of a name for her. Suggestions are welcome.
And, this is her as a calf. How cute is she??
So, back to our practical today. It was on biosecurity, handwashing and clothing washing. While we didn't get to play with cows, all of this information and techniques are critically important. Biosecurity is basically ensuring that diseases are not passed from farm to farm, animal to person, person to animal, etc. The foot and and mouth outbreak really brought light to the importance of biosecurity.
Our practical was from 2-5pm. We split into groups. One hour was designated for a biosecurity lecture/group project/video, one hour for handwashing technique and one hour for washing of your waterproofs and wellies (waterproof top and bottom and boots). The handwashing was interesting. You 'wash' your hands with a lotion that once you put it in a black light box, shows all of areas you missed. They then teach you how to properly wash and you do the exercise over to see how you do. We also put our hands on an agar plate before and after we washed. They are going to grow the cultures and post with pictures all of the nasties that were on our hands.
Learning of the proper washing of the waterproofs and wellies was fun. We smeared each other with mud, as if we had been out on a call to a farm and had mud, feces, blood and whatever else on our waterproofs. We were taught how to hose and brush off, then disninfect. This should be done everytime you leave a farm. It is so easy to spread really bad stuff from one farm to the next and even from your clothes/hands/boots right back to your home, family and pets. Even the healthy animals carry stuff we can get pretty sick from and it is ever so important for us to remember this.
I finally got home around 530pm and my Bingos were really happy to see me. I think that is the longest I have been gone in one day from them..ever. I could not believe it, but there were no accidents. So proud.
Ok, it's off to look at my notes from today and check out the 4 lectures for tomorrow. Oh yeah, and to eat somehing too....
Over-N-Out.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
My schedule...finally!
So, it took a while for our schedule to be posted, but we finally have them. In all honesty, it's not too terrible. I'm not saying the work that results from my classes is not going to take up all of my time, but the actual schedule of classes and practicals is manageable. I am really, really glad I'm in the 5 year program and not the 4 year.
We do what is called 'blocks'. Basically, I am taking 3 classes this semester (over 30 credits) - The Animal Body 1, Professional & Clinical Skills and Animal Health, Welfare and Food Safety (AHWAFS). Professional & Clinical Skills runs the full 5 years and AHWAFS runs through 4 years of our education and we only drop it in 5th year when we take on full clinicals with no lectures. The Animal Body 1 is a full year and is everything from Cell to Animal Structure & Function. It is broken up into three sections:
1. Animal Body Overview: introduction to the adult animal body plan with respect to general anatomy, physiology, and basic tissues; neural and endocrine integration of function; introduction to homeostasis
2. Animal Cell: the molecules of the cell; the management & flow of genetic information; cellular signalling; physiology of excitable cells; cell motility & division; embryology, histogenesis & organogenesis
3. Anatomical Structure & Relationships
small animal limb and topographical anatomy incorporating the skin and derivatives.
So, one block will be the first section and then when that is over, we move on to the second. Thing is, the weekly lecture schedule changes. It's not like undergraduate where you had the same class monday, wednesday, friday from 9-950am. Here, you have lectures and practicals (labs - indoor and outdoor) on different days at different times.
For the most part, I have two really long days starting at 9am and ending at 5pm with an hour or two break in the middle. These days usually consist of a 30 min bus ride out to our farms at Easter Bush for some sort of practical, like cattle husbandry. Then, the other days I go from 9am till as early as 11am (get out of town!) or noon! Wednesdays, university-wide, they do not teach in the afternoon. This is reserved for societies and sports teams to get together...sweet! I do know that some of our 'free' afternoons will be filled up with random veterinary educational opportunities, which is great and I hope to take advantage of as many opportnities as possible.
Tomorrow, I start officially! My schedule is very first - dayish:
9-950 Intro to first year
10-1030 Intro to EEVeC. This is our electronic veterinary curriculum online..way cool. It has a Virtual Farm where you can watch cows being born, videos of procedures (goat and dog castrations, surgery on an open wound), techniques and videos of animal handling (how to take a single rope, make it into a halter and put it on a cow), pictures of breeds of cows and sheep, pictures and explanations of the different types of feed, etc etc. I have spent a lot of time on the Virtual Farm. EEVeC also houses our class schedule for the year, notices, lectures and slide shows, staff contacts, etc. It is an incredible tool that I'm excited to learn all of what it has to offer.
1110-1300 Photographs (not too excited about this one)
1400-1450 Course overview and intro to portfolio (we are required to keep a portfolio over our 5 years. I'm sure a lot of students will complain about this component since it will be time consuming, but I think it will be something really worthwhile to have at the end as a visual representation of all that we have accomplished. Plus, this is the first year it will be completely electronic. They seem to have spent a lot of time in choosing the software for us to use.
1500-1550 Into to AHWAFS (Animal Health Welfare & Food Safety)
1610-1700 Transition to University (been there done this. This is for the younguns...which I will explain in another post).
Tuesday looks better:
9-950 Anatomy of adult body plan
10-1050 Physiology of adult body plan
11-1130 Vet Library tour Optional. (Guess what time I'll be done on Tuesday?)
Wednesday I go from 9-12 and Thursday and Friday are pretty full days.
The following week is short on M, W, F and long on T, Th. I can deal with this. Heck, I'm used to working 8-12 hour days and then some. Studying is going to take up a huge amount of my time, but I can do that in the comfort of my own flat.
Ok, well I have a BIG day tomorrow and need to get ready to get ready to go to bed. Of all times, I came down with a cold......grrrr....and need my beauty rest.
Over-N-Out
We do what is called 'blocks'. Basically, I am taking 3 classes this semester (over 30 credits) - The Animal Body 1, Professional & Clinical Skills and Animal Health, Welfare and Food Safety (AHWAFS). Professional & Clinical Skills runs the full 5 years and AHWAFS runs through 4 years of our education and we only drop it in 5th year when we take on full clinicals with no lectures. The Animal Body 1 is a full year and is everything from Cell to Animal Structure & Function. It is broken up into three sections:
1. Animal Body Overview: introduction to the adult animal body plan with respect to general anatomy, physiology, and basic tissues; neural and endocrine integration of function; introduction to homeostasis
2. Animal Cell: the molecules of the cell; the management & flow of genetic information; cellular signalling; physiology of excitable cells; cell motility & division; embryology, histogenesis & organogenesis
3. Anatomical Structure & Relationships
small animal limb and topographical anatomy incorporating the skin and derivatives.
So, one block will be the first section and then when that is over, we move on to the second. Thing is, the weekly lecture schedule changes. It's not like undergraduate where you had the same class monday, wednesday, friday from 9-950am. Here, you have lectures and practicals (labs - indoor and outdoor) on different days at different times.
For the most part, I have two really long days starting at 9am and ending at 5pm with an hour or two break in the middle. These days usually consist of a 30 min bus ride out to our farms at Easter Bush for some sort of practical, like cattle husbandry. Then, the other days I go from 9am till as early as 11am (get out of town!) or noon! Wednesdays, university-wide, they do not teach in the afternoon. This is reserved for societies and sports teams to get together...sweet! I do know that some of our 'free' afternoons will be filled up with random veterinary educational opportunities, which is great and I hope to take advantage of as many opportnities as possible.
Tomorrow, I start officially! My schedule is very first - dayish:
9-950 Intro to first year
10-1030 Intro to EEVeC. This is our electronic veterinary curriculum online..way cool. It has a Virtual Farm where you can watch cows being born, videos of procedures (goat and dog castrations, surgery on an open wound), techniques and videos of animal handling (how to take a single rope, make it into a halter and put it on a cow), pictures of breeds of cows and sheep, pictures and explanations of the different types of feed, etc etc. I have spent a lot of time on the Virtual Farm. EEVeC also houses our class schedule for the year, notices, lectures and slide shows, staff contacts, etc. It is an incredible tool that I'm excited to learn all of what it has to offer.
1110-1300 Photographs (not too excited about this one)
1400-1450 Course overview and intro to portfolio (we are required to keep a portfolio over our 5 years. I'm sure a lot of students will complain about this component since it will be time consuming, but I think it will be something really worthwhile to have at the end as a visual representation of all that we have accomplished. Plus, this is the first year it will be completely electronic. They seem to have spent a lot of time in choosing the software for us to use.
1500-1550 Into to AHWAFS (Animal Health Welfare & Food Safety)
1610-1700 Transition to University (been there done this. This is for the younguns...which I will explain in another post).
Tuesday looks better:
9-950 Anatomy of adult body plan
10-1050 Physiology of adult body plan
11-1130 Vet Library tour Optional. (Guess what time I'll be done on Tuesday?)
Wednesday I go from 9-12 and Thursday and Friday are pretty full days.
The following week is short on M, W, F and long on T, Th. I can deal with this. Heck, I'm used to working 8-12 hour days and then some. Studying is going to take up a huge amount of my time, but I can do that in the comfort of my own flat.
Ok, well I have a BIG day tomorrow and need to get ready to get ready to go to bed. Of all times, I came down with a cold......grrrr....and need my beauty rest.
Over-N-Out
Friday, September 17, 2010
The Bingo Boyz
I realize many of you are ever so familiar with my Boyz, nevertheless, they deserve a formal introduction.
So, please meet my two little furry guys who keep me laughing and smiling all the time and show me their unconditional love each and every day. It is a such a joy and I am forever grateful to be able to come home to such liveliness and adoration......I'm addicted.
This is my Harley Bones. He is a 5yr old Yorkshire Terrier. I call him my 'Velcro', as if he is not on my lap, on his bed next to my desk, or curled up on my neck at night, something is amiss. He is a true gentleman and a sweetheart.
So, please meet my two little furry guys who keep me laughing and smiling all the time and show me their unconditional love each and every day. It is a such a joy and I am forever grateful to be able to come home to such liveliness and adoration......I'm addicted.
This is my Harley Bones. He is a 5yr old Yorkshire Terrier. I call him my 'Velcro', as if he is not on my lap, on his bed next to my desk, or curled up on my neck at night, something is amiss. He is a true gentleman and a sweetheart.
And, this is his brother Mugsy. Mugsy is 4 and came from the same breeder, but they are only distantly related. Mugsy, or the 'Mugger', is a bit more of a class clown. He is obsessed with his toys, mainly his ball (he plays soccer and it is really amazing to watch) and a little more independent. He has his times of wanting to be clingy and then those in which he hangs out on the couch. He is a little athlete and knows how to tell time apparently because he wakes me up at 730 on the dot every morning for breakfast. This is the Mugs with his favorite birdie.
One of their favorite pastimes is to sit like cats and check out what is going on outside.
They will be a familiar reference in my posts.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The Pope Visits Edinburgh
Edinburgh made international news today with the Pope's visit. He is doing a tour of Great Britain, which started in Edinburgh and will end in England. He met with Her Majesty the Queen today in Edinburgh and then travelled to Glasgow to celebrate a public Mass. He will continue on to meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury for Evening prayer at Westminster Abbey, celebrate Mass at the Cathedral and beatify Cardinal John Newman during Mass in Birmingham. He had lunch today with the Cardinal and it was 8 minutes from my neighborhood. I passed it on the way to run an errand. I wish I would have seen the procession, I did not realize it was coming this close to me.
It was a beautiful day and I hope that some of my friends/family got to see some clips on the news back in the US.
Our orientation was completed yesterday, so I had the day off to get some things done. Tomorrow, I have my first hair appointment here and am hoping all goes well. I really, really need a good cut since I haven't done anything in about 7 weeks....yikes.
We got our schedules today.....finally. It is not too bad, really. I'm so glad I'm in the 5 year program because we do have a more reasonable schedule than the 4 years. Monday is pretty chock full from 9-5 with an hour break for lunch, but two days this week I am only in lecture from 9-12! Apparently, on Wednesdays university wide, they do not believe in teaching in the afternoon. It is a time for students to take part in their sports/societies, or just have some free time to take care of business that needs attention during business hours. I absolutely love this hump day reprieve.
I'm getting unbelievable excited to start and feel like a school kid. I am so looking forward to the torture....I'm just different like that.
I miss all of my family and friends, but have certainly started to settle in. This is a pretty cool city and I see why everyone told me I would love it.
Oh, the best news is........I can now watch UFC and mixed martial arts again!! Thank Goodness!! I'm getting all caught up with some fights that I seriously was sad I missed. The only good news about the TV being terrible here is that there is no ESPN (like we know it), so no sports scores are ruined for me. Heck, I can't even watch the sports I want, for the most part. No college football and only like two NFL games a week.....Boooooo.
Ok, time to go get some shut eye. I feel like I may be getting a weakened immune system and do not want to get sick. Good Night.
Over-N-Out
It was a beautiful day and I hope that some of my friends/family got to see some clips on the news back in the US.
Our orientation was completed yesterday, so I had the day off to get some things done. Tomorrow, I have my first hair appointment here and am hoping all goes well. I really, really need a good cut since I haven't done anything in about 7 weeks....yikes.
We got our schedules today.....finally. It is not too bad, really. I'm so glad I'm in the 5 year program because we do have a more reasonable schedule than the 4 years. Monday is pretty chock full from 9-5 with an hour break for lunch, but two days this week I am only in lecture from 9-12! Apparently, on Wednesdays university wide, they do not believe in teaching in the afternoon. It is a time for students to take part in their sports/societies, or just have some free time to take care of business that needs attention during business hours. I absolutely love this hump day reprieve.
I'm getting unbelievable excited to start and feel like a school kid. I am so looking forward to the torture....I'm just different like that.
I miss all of my family and friends, but have certainly started to settle in. This is a pretty cool city and I see why everyone told me I would love it.
Oh, the best news is........I can now watch UFC and mixed martial arts again!! Thank Goodness!! I'm getting all caught up with some fights that I seriously was sad I missed. The only good news about the TV being terrible here is that there is no ESPN (like we know it), so no sports scores are ruined for me. Heck, I can't even watch the sports I want, for the most part. No college football and only like two NFL games a week.....Boooooo.
Ok, time to go get some shut eye. I feel like I may be getting a weakened immune system and do not want to get sick. Good Night.
Over-N-Out
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Back online!
I lost my borrowed internet connection all of yesterday (they secured it). Thank goodness today was my day for British Telecom to hook up my landline, install my broadband and give me my Sky TV bundle. I can now call US landlines for free up to 60 minutes. If I am going to talk longer, I simply have to hang up and redial....talk about a bargain!
So, we finished orientation today. It started out interesting with information on doing the research track, an intercalcated degree (another BSc, a Master's or PhD), a residency (postgraduate clinical training) and summer research projects (Paid!) and ended up with us getting the longer version of history of the Dick Vet that we've heard a couple of times now.
I am actually interested in at least pursuing the idea of research. The university is world renowned for it's research capabilities and facilities. I think it would be a shame not to at least consider the options. The cloning of Dolly the Sheep is perhaps what we are best known for, but we are at the forefront on infectious disease, genomics and biomedical research. The University of Edinburgh is currently the top research institution in the UK. That is pretty impressive in my book. The Roslin Institute is our research arm. Check it out: http://www.roslin.ac.uk/. It is located next door to our new teaching facility out at Easter Bush: http://www.easterbush.estates.ed.ac.uk/royal-dick-school-of-veterinary-studies/
Since I just got my internet back up online, I have some catch up to do.
Over-N-Out
So, we finished orientation today. It started out interesting with information on doing the research track, an intercalcated degree (another BSc, a Master's or PhD), a residency (postgraduate clinical training) and summer research projects (Paid!) and ended up with us getting the longer version of history of the Dick Vet that we've heard a couple of times now.
I am actually interested in at least pursuing the idea of research. The university is world renowned for it's research capabilities and facilities. I think it would be a shame not to at least consider the options. The cloning of Dolly the Sheep is perhaps what we are best known for, but we are at the forefront on infectious disease, genomics and biomedical research. The University of Edinburgh is currently the top research institution in the UK. That is pretty impressive in my book. The Roslin Institute is our research arm. Check it out: http://www.roslin.ac.uk/. It is located next door to our new teaching facility out at Easter Bush: http://www.easterbush.estates.ed.ac.uk/royal-dick-school-of-veterinary-studies/
Since I just got my internet back up online, I have some catch up to do.
Over-N-Out
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Fresher's Week and Dick Vet Orientation!
Fresher's Week is for all of the incoming freshmen to University. It is the week before classes start and is full of events - from your particular school of study, societies (clubs and organizations), comedy, music and pub crawls after pub crawls.
Vet school orientation began today! We met at 9AM in Summerhall, where my classes will be for the next year. This is the outside
Vet school orientation began today! We met at 9AM in Summerhall, where my classes will be for the next year. This is the outside
It was an amazing welcome, followed by picking out which veterinary school's sports teams to try out (I'm going to investigate the Dick Vet Dixens, which is soccer, er football, and the women's rugby team), then on to the Southsider pub by 11am for pints and lunch with the Professor and my class. There is also a univerity women's mountain biking team, which I will find out more about later this week.
I came back around 1230 and rested up. This evening, we meet back at the Southsider at 7pm for a pub crawl. I may last a few hours, but imagine some of the young guns will be out quite late.
Here is my Fresher's Induction Programme for the Vet School
Monday, 13 September
0900 Welcome Lecture by Professor Simon and 5th Years
1000 Dick Vet Sports Fair
1030 Pick up University ID Card
1100 Southsider Pub - Pints and Lunch
1330 Treasure Hunt around Edinburgh (not attending)
1900 Southsider Pub - 5-legged Pub Crawl (no clue what this means)
Tuesday, 14 September
1000 Welcome Head of School, Professor Elaine Watson
1020 Director of Teaching/Chair of Vet Education Prof Susan Rhind
1030 Director of Student Affairs Dr Geoff Pearson
1045 Coffee in the Main Hall
1115 Fire Safety
1145 Crime Prevention Officer - Community Safety
1215 Health and Safety
1230 Fundraising
1300 Edinburgh Dungeons Trip (not attending)
1800 Safari night - dinner, wine and dancing
Wednesday, 15 September
1000 Career and Research Opportunities in Vet Med (looking forward to this)
1030 EUSA Representative
1045 Disability Office
1100 Coffee in Main Hall
1130 Student Counsellor
1140 President of the Veterinary Students Council
1150 Association of Veterinary Students
1205 History of the Dick Vet
1300 Edinburgh Zoo Trip (not attending)
1300 Sports Teams Events - try teams out
I will be at my flat from 1300-1800 waiting on British Telecom to hook up my internet, land line and TV. Hopefully, they will come early enough so I can check out some of the sports teams.
Thursday, 16 September
The Pope is visiting Edinburgh, so there are no activities until
1600 Stags and Hens School Disco (ummmm, no thank you)
Friday, 17 September
1900 Southsider - Beach Attire for Pub Crawl (huh?)
Saturday, 18 September
All Day - Sports Day with teams in the Meadows
Sunday, 19 September
Dick Vet Ceilidh at Teviot
As you can see, it's a fun-filled, packed week. I will also be looking at any other University clubs I may want to join this week.
Glad to be here and glad to finally be started!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Liar,liar
ok, so I lied, but not intentionally. I really did not want to get back on that bus and do another all day trip on such a beautiful day, so I walked to City Centre and did some other much needed shopping. This is my flat when I left (trust me, the garden in front is a huge improvement). I have the bay window (which I could see my dogs standing on the couch looking for me) and the window to the left is the front guest room. The red door is the main door to the tenement. There are 4 floors, 2 flats on each floor. I actually cut a rose from the garden today.
The next pic is of me walking down my street towards the park.
My hood is pretty spectacular, but 1.5 blocks down the street, is this to the left, which is called Bruntsfield Links, because it actually has a 'golf course' in the middle of the park.
Then, straight ahead is The Meadows which stretches on forever and ever...
Notice the buildings in the background here. This is the new, mixed with the old, ritzy development called the Quarter Mile. It is is adjacent to part of the main campus of the University of Edinburgh.
The next pic is of me walking down my street towards the park.
Then, I missed my flat and looked back up the street...
My hood is pretty spectacular, but 1.5 blocks down the street, is this to the left, which is called Bruntsfield Links, because it actually has a 'golf course' in the middle of the park.
Then, straight ahead is The Meadows which stretches on forever and ever...
Notice the buildings in the background here. This is the new, mixed with the old, ritzy development called the Quarter Mile. It is is adjacent to part of the main campus of the University of Edinburgh.
and the 'hill' in the background is an inactive volcano. This is basically in the middle of town. It also has a lovely crag to climb, of which my lazy butt has not done yet.
This is one of the many paths crisscrossing through the ginormous Meadows. As you can see, there is a dedicated bike path on one side and a pedestrian path on the other. Whilst a very bike-friendly town, it is a closely, slightly watered down experience to biking in Manhattan, most likely. Plus, everything is totally backwards with respect to which way you need to look for cars, buses, pedestrians, mothers pushing their babies across the street, other bikes, etc....
And all of the peeps you see in this picure are either 1. sitting on the grass drinking, 2. playing 'football or 3. wishing they were sitting on the grass drinking.' This picture represents one twentieth of the Meadows.
And, the Quarter Mile closer up. The Starbucks is on the left of the blue construction fence and the QM on the right.
I hope you have enjoyed the pictures from my day today. I ended up finding a great bargain store for some hardware items and then went grocery shopping here, next to the Starbucks at a typical tiny European 'grocery store' called Sainsbury's.
CHEERS!
shopping, shopping, shopping
This better be my last day of serious shopping. I wanted to go last night to get my linens, but the mall closes at 630pm on Saturday's.....what?? So, it changed all of my plans because I was also going to eat out. I ended up going a block away, grabbing some boneless, skinless, chicken breasts and coming back to make a delicious chicken stir fry with veggies I had left over. AND, I am in love with this little gem of a spice:
It is so unbelievably good. It's got a hot, smoky, chili, salt and pepper taste to it that works with a lot of things. So far, I've used it on my chicken and also to make a very yummy bloody mary! I also think it will be tasty on vegetables.
Today's main shopping outing is to get some of the things from yesterday that I simply had no room left to carry. For instance, I want to go back to the sporting goods store that has incredible deals on sweats - the really good, thick, warm ones. I have a feeling I will be living in these in my flat. I also still need a laundry hamper since the laundry basket is actually being used for what it was designed - taking wet clothes out of the washer/dryer (it's a combined unit, more on this later) and hanging them out to dry on the clothes line.Yes, the clothes line. Why would I do that, you ask, when I have a dryer? Good question. Well, the dryer is not quite what we are used to in the US. Unless you want to dry your clothes for about 2-3 hours, they are not going to get fully dried. So after a short 'drying' period, they come out as very hot steamed items and are ready to be hung on the clothesline. If you do dry them for hours in the dryer, they then look like you had them balled up for a week's time and need serious ironing. It is just easier to dry them outside. Plus, they really do smell spring fresh. It has humored me that a place known for it's rain, cold and dampness refuses to use dryers for the most part and relies on the 'drying greens'. One of the many mysteries here.
For now, I am off to get cleaned up and tackle the buses, people and shopping once again. Wish me luck.
But first, with all that talk of food, time to make a Dagwood sangwich.
Over-N-Out
Saturday, September 11, 2010
9-11-01
Shopping Again!
I am really ready for my shopping sprees to be over. As most of you know, I have very little patience for this necessary evil and it's even more problematic without a car. It's an absolutely gorgeous day today (apparently the rain is coming tomorrow), so it was fine to be outside. I hit the jackpot at the all-too-familiar TK Maxx. Notice, that is a TK and not TJ. Looks the same inside though. I returned a jacket I had bought (found it in a lovely dark green rather than black), found my bathroom towels (finally!), bought another feather pillow, trashcan for my bedroom, black peppercorns, a chili/pepper/salt grinder (spices are SO inexpensive here), bathrobe (huge bay windows on street makes this a necessity), four, yes four, pairs of shoes (waterproof and work boots included)and another rug to put in my kitchen/dining room area. Lugging all of this on the bus and then 3 blocks was not the fun part of the trip.
I'm back at my flat and absolutely loving it. The sun comes in the bay windows in the afternoon, which really lights up this room. Now all I have to do is pray for more sunny days than not.
I bought an all day bus ticket for 3 quid, so I suppose I should take advantage of it and go out tonite. I'm going to travel to City Centre, go to a department store to track down the all elusive duvet cover and linens and then treat myself to dinner and a glass of vino at one of the many tasty restaurants available.
Off to feed the pooches and take them for a lengthy walk in the park before the rains come.
Over-N-Out
I'm back at my flat and absolutely loving it. The sun comes in the bay windows in the afternoon, which really lights up this room. Now all I have to do is pray for more sunny days than not.
I bought an all day bus ticket for 3 quid, so I suppose I should take advantage of it and go out tonite. I'm going to travel to City Centre, go to a department store to track down the all elusive duvet cover and linens and then treat myself to dinner and a glass of vino at one of the many tasty restaurants available.
Off to feed the pooches and take them for a lengthy walk in the park before the rains come.
Over-N-Out
Friday, September 10, 2010
Hello All!
Hello from Edinburgh! It is time to start this blog, of which I have zero clue as to what I am doing, so please bear with me. This truly is a place for me to update family and friends all at once about my adventures in veterinary school, as well as this beautiful city called Edinburgh. In time, I will make the site 'prettier', but for now it's just going to have to do!
My dad and I sailed over on the Queen Mary 2. We departed Manhattan, NY on August 8 and arrived in Southampton, UK on the 14th. We made the long drive up to Edinburgh and he helped me move into a temporary flat and then into my permanent flat for the next year. I absolutely love it! I brought the two Bingo's with me (Harley and Mugsy) and they are finally settling in.
We have seen a bit of the city, but did not get too much time to do touristy stuff since we were dealing with my banking, schooling, flat issues and moving in general. Michael left yesterday to go back to the US and it's been very quiet around here. I guess I better get used to it. We had a great visit and I miss him already.
I needed to start somewhere, so the first post is in the books. Pictures and updates are to follow. I start orientation this upcoming Monday and classes next Monday. Being out of school for the last 15 years has me a bit nervous about the complete culure shock I am going to experience, but I am so excited for this journey to begin.
My dad and I sailed over on the Queen Mary 2. We departed Manhattan, NY on August 8 and arrived in Southampton, UK on the 14th. We made the long drive up to Edinburgh and he helped me move into a temporary flat and then into my permanent flat for the next year. I absolutely love it! I brought the two Bingo's with me (Harley and Mugsy) and they are finally settling in.
We have seen a bit of the city, but did not get too much time to do touristy stuff since we were dealing with my banking, schooling, flat issues and moving in general. Michael left yesterday to go back to the US and it's been very quiet around here. I guess I better get used to it. We had a great visit and I miss him already.
I needed to start somewhere, so the first post is in the books. Pictures and updates are to follow. I start orientation this upcoming Monday and classes next Monday. Being out of school for the last 15 years has me a bit nervous about the complete culure shock I am going to experience, but I am so excited for this journey to begin.
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