Sleep, Study, School, Study, Study, Study, Repeat...

I've just finished my 7th week of vet school and am over half way to Thanksgiving break (6 more weeks)  I cannot even begin to express how excited I am for an entire week of sleeping past 6 AM.  However, until that glorious lights at the end of the tunnel (more like middle of the tunnel), I get my first "break" in school next week.  Next week is the only week we do not have a test on Friday and I feel as though it's nearly as wonderful as Christmas morning.  This next week will be spent going to bed by 11, catching up in all of my classes, and attempting to salvage any social life I ever had to begin with.  Here are some updates of my life (aka - vet school).

Gross Anatomy:  Still hanging out with "Bud" (my cadaver) almost every day.  This week we learned about the structures of the internal thorax (heart and lungs) and we also have begun dissecting the nerves of the brachial plexus (armpit).  We are also doing veins and arteries right now, which I find much more difficult to locate than the nerves.  Again, this is still my favorite part of school!

Microanatomy:  This was the test I had LAST Friday, and well - I'm very glad it's over.  I've been told that everyone in vet school will flunk a test at some point in their 4 years.  I chose to get mine "F" out of the way early :)  Kidding - I passed.. barely.  Anything less than a 70% in vet school is considered "failing," so after the professor entered in the extra credit points I squeaked by with a 70%.  I'd like to think of this as my "failed" test and therefore, never ever repeat this experience again.  We have moved on from glands, lymphatic system, and digestive system to respiratory system and bones this week.  Both I find much more interesting than glands - so let's keep our fingers crossed for the next test.

Beta-oxidation: How did you think your fat got broken down?

Physiology:  This used to be my least favorite class until I did poorly on the test in Micro.  This is the class I had a test in this morning and I'm so so SO excited to say I got an A on the test!  Friday's are much more enjoyable when you don't feel miserable about your test scores :)  The test was over:  vitamins, minerals, what happens to your body when you exercise, what happens to your body when you reach starvation, how your body breaks down fats, and how your body defends itself against bacteria and viruses and the urea cycle.  Pretty much every random topic you can think of.  I was a big fan of the urea cycle, and for some reason it just "clicked" for me.  If you're ever interested in how your body forms urine, I'd be happy to explain it to you in a very detailed way with many many diagrams :)

"Oh, hey Mom! Were you studying?"

That's all for school right now - except for my electives (but really who cares about that anyway).  In my life outside of vet school (which is pretty nonexistent) I have started taking a water aerobics class through K-State at the natatorium twice a week.  I went with a group of girls from my lab group and it's been such a great stress reliever.  It's hard not to laugh at yourself when you're doing flutter kicks in the deep end of the pool :)  I also went with Cole to see Seth Meyer's from SNL who came to speak at K-State last weekend.  Really, anything that makes me laugh now-a-days is high on my list of things I want to do :)

The picture to the left is me attempting to study with Little Bear.  Please note the location of the cat vs. the location of my study materials.  He is not a very good study buddy :)

Happy Friday!