Pelotonia

So much has happened this semester but I will get to that in another post. This post is dedicated to Pelotonia. According to the website: "Pelotonia is a three-day experience that includes a weekend of cycling, entertainment, and volunteerism. Pelotonia raises millions of dollars each year for cancer research." 100% of the funds raised by each rider goes directly  to fund research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. You can learn more about Pelotonia here.

This August I will be joining some of my classmates and fellow students of the College of Veterinary Medicine and riding in Pelotonia. I am doing this in memory of my dad who passed Feb 5, 2014 from cancer. It is my hope that the money raised will eventually find a treatment (or even a cure) that doesn't cause more harm (or more cancer). If you would like to learn more about my ride or support my ride please visit my page here. Thank you for however you end up supporting me. Every little bit helps to fight cancer.

Rest, Relaxtion, Recharging

I meant to be better after the last post and post something before a month had gone by but alas I did not. That is alright though because there is not too much to say. After Thanksgiving it was study time. Finals were approaching and there was a lot to study in a short amount of time. I ended up having five finals over five days with a weekend in between the 2nd and 3rd finals. The final I most dreaded was on a Friday and is the one I spent the most time studying for. After it was over I was burnt out and spent less time studying for each successive final. In fact my last final I barely studied for. Overall I did well in my semester and as much as I want to take the credit for I can't. The reason I did so well is because of God and trusting him through out the semester to help me get where I needed to be.

The day after my last final I flew to NH to be with family. I ended up getting in six hours after I had planned due to a loose antenna on the plane and then the glue needing to dry. As disappointed as I was to have to miss bowling with friends I was still glad that I at least made it to NH. Christmas is not only a time to remember Christ's birth but it is also a time of laughter in our house due to my dog Ginger. Despite all that has happened, this year was no exception. We joke that Ginger's favorite time of the year is winter because she loves to sit out in the cold, looking at the world and that her favorite day of the year is Christmas. As soon as we pull out the wrapping paper and start putting presents under the tree she is there checking them out like a little kid. We never tell her which ones are hers but the ones for her are the only ones she gets into trouble with before Christmas. Come Christmas day she is right there helping us unwrap and being ever so gentle.

This year I bought her a feeding puzzle toy. I put her breakfast in it the night before. The I put it in a box and wrapped it up. I made sure Alex gave it to her first thing. She carefully pulled off the wrapping paper. I then joked that she would have to figure out how to open the box. Next thing I know she uses her nose to lift the lid and is happily grabbing her toy. She is one smart cookie. She spent the rest of the time getting her kibble out of the toy. Out of all the toys we have given her I think this one is the most successful. Whenever someone grabs it now she is right there hoping you put something good in it.

Usually I can't get Ginger to leave a bow on her head. I happened to find a spot this year where she didn't notice it and though it deserved a picture in front of our tree.

After my couple weeks of relaxation in NH visiting friends and family I went back to OH. I then visited some friends from undergrad in a quick whirlwind trip that included surprisings one of my hosts and getting there right before the new year. I don't quite remember how I got the nickname of ninja in undergrad but it has stuck with me even after. So much so that one of the families I stayed with combined my nickname with my love of baking to give me a ninjabread cookie kit. Sometime soon I think I will make them as I don't have anything I need to do until next Monday when classes start back up. Until then I will continue to rest, relax, recharge. TTFN.

Time Machine

 I guess it's been a rather long time since I've done anything here. You know school is keeping you busy and you're having a good time when you forget that you wrote letters to people. This week I  ended up getting a letter and a text from two different people saying they got my letter and enjoyed reading it. I read them and the first thing that came to mind was I had time to write letters and I actually did and sent them. When did I do that?

Since it has been so long I'll take you in my TARDIS, starting with Thanksgiving break and ending at my last post.

I had a clinical pathology final Monday before break. I did really well too. I have now passed two of my classes this first semester. I have been on Thanksgiving break since I got out of anatomy lab Tuesday afternoon. As I didn't have a car in Columbus, my grandparents came to pick me up. We went out for lunch and then we were on our way two hours northeast where I have spent a relaxing few days. Grandpa gave me quite the tour and overview of my new car while grandma took me for some retail therapy. Thanksgiving we had a lot of family over, which I hadn't seen in some time, and we had a wonderful time. I ended Thanksgiving skyping with my NH family and ended up getting a screenshot of us all.

Yesterday we went and saw Big Hero 6 and then relaxed the rest of the day. Today I watched OSU beat that thing up north (*ichigan) and they WON! I guess I'm becoming a true buckeye.

 Now I just have about three weeks of classes and finals and then I will be in NH for a few weeks.

Two weekends before my clinical pathology final I was able to relax. There were no immediate exams I had to study for. I went on a retreat to Hocking Hills with Christian Veterinary Fellowship. We had an amazing yet cold time and got to know each other well while reflecting on God. Even though it is pretty flat compared to what I am used to hiking it was well worth it and had gorgeous views. We also had an amazing cabin we stayed in for the weekend. I look forward to doing it again next year.

A friend from CVF in front of a frozen waterfall.

Another frozen waterfall. I thought the way the sun was made this an interesting picture.

I also thought these rocks were interesting near the same waterfall.

The roots on this tree along with the stone wall caught my eye.

The sun hit this cliff section and I wanted to capture it.

What happened before Hocking Hills? I had four exams in four weeks. I passed all of them and that us all that matters. That was definitely a tough four weeks though going from studying for one exam to the next. Took a lot out of me. I was definitely glad when the Hocking Hills weekend came! And that brings me back to where I left off last time.

What about more non-academic stuff you say. Well I did end up getting a car and I will be driving it home tomorrow. My grandfather was quite excited to be able to find me a car and one that seems to have been gently used for a 10 year old car. Less than 70,000 miles and the person I bought it from was the first owner.

I will soon be helping out with kids ministries at church. I had an informal interview and was put on the schedule. I start the second Sunday of December. I look forward to it. So far I've found the time I have spent with kids from church to be refreshing after all my vet school stuff.

Clubs are starting to wrap up for the year. CVF had a going away potluck for one of our advisers and we have our last Bible study Monday. I signed up for snacks which means it is time to bring out the Mastin caramel corn as it is that time of the year. Food animal club is having a breakfast cook-off contest on Friday. I don't have any classes that day so I am trying to figure out if it is worth it to wake up early when I don't need to. Monday night the kickboxing group is going out to dinner and we are giving our teacher a Christmas gift. Tuesday I have a class secret Santa party which is also an honor ceremony for our cadaver dogs. Our class presidents organized this event. We will be having a potluck, exchanging gifts, and collecting items to take to a local shelter (which is in honor of our cadaver dogs).

That's about it I'm trying to figure out what I will do in Columbus for two weeks after I get back from NH but before classes begin. I am also trying to figure out what I want my summer to look like. I'm thinking of doing the business minor which is the only program of its kind at any vet school. We'll see where I am led.

Hope your Thanksgiving was filled with friends and family and you plan on having an awesome Christmas remembering the birth of our savior, Christ. 

TTFN

Midterm Survival

I survived! Or I think I survived my midterms. Over the last 2 weeks I had 4 exams. It was nice to get to the end of last week and realize I had a free weekend. No exams this week! We also had a short day Friday so I ended up going out to lunch with a couple classmates. Not much else to say in terms of school.

Food animal club has had wonderful Friday morning breakfasts. Not only that but I was able to do a TB wetlab where I learned about TB testing for cattle and even got to practice giving a TB test. I used a saline solution instead of the normal TB test but it was fun all the same. Surgery club had the introductory labs for first years. I learned how to do one-handed and two-handed hand ties. Then we had an instrument handling lab where I was refreshed on how to hold surgical instruments and how to do sutures. They were a lot of fun.

My big got me involved with the kick boxing group the second years started last year. Within the last couple weeks it became an UKBAF certified group and we can test for belts. What is really neat is the person training us was trained by Eddie Mapula who is a grandmaster.

I started looking for a car. According to my mom this won't be my first car because the family car with the one red door was the car I was always driving around back home. But this car will be the first car that I own so I am considering it my first car. I decided to enlist the aid of my grandfather who lives a couple hours away. 2 days after asking for some help he called me up to tell me I own a car. Apparently some friends of his from church were looking to sell a car and next thing you know, my grandfather had bought the car. Now to get the title transferred and buy some car insurance. Then when I come back from their house at Thanksgiving, I will have a car.

If you have any questions or want to know something specific about life in vet school let me know.

Surviving School: the non-class stuff

So after a month I'm still loving it. I managed to pass my first anatomy quiz even though there were only 20 questions but loads of information. This week starts off an exam a week. Cell bio midterm is tomorrow. Then clinical pathology is the following Monday. Then the Monday after that is Anatomy. Enough about school though, I promised to talk about clubs the next time I wrote.

There is a plethora of clubs on campus and each one you have to pay dues to join. The cost varies from free (extremely rare) to $55 or more. So what clubs did I join? I joined the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association which by joining for 4 years gets me into the midwest veterinary conference for free (the cost of which one year is equal to OVMA membership for 4 years). SCAVMA is another one I joined. This is the student chapter of the American veterinary medical association and just about everyone joins to try and be a member in good standing for the perks after graduation.

Surgery club is one that everyone joins because of the way school is set up. During your first two years you have lecture based learning. Your third year you get more of the surgery/hands on learning. Then 4th year is all clinical. From day one you can go into the hospital whenever you want but it is on your own. Surgery club augments your learning and helps you learn the skills you'll start learning 3rd year. You end up getting a jump on things. This week is the start of the required technique labs for surgery club. These are basic hand tying, instrument handling, and suture labs that are the basis for surgery.

VBMA is the veterinary business management association. It provides lunch and dinner lectures (with really good food) that gives you business information. They also have a certificate program that can show an employer you have learned about topics in business. It is not the business minor program. Zoo animal club I joined to be exposed to exotic and wildlife animals.

The last club I joined, which doesn't have dues, is Christian Veterinary Fellowship. They have weekly Bible studies, are planning a retreat to Hocking Hills and are trying to figure out either domestic, international, or both mission trips. I look forward to getting to know this great group of people.

Outside of school I have found a church. It is called Veritas and has two campuses. The one I go to is located in an elementary school. I also joined a community group from that church. I went once and thought I wouldn't be going again because CVF was changing their Bible study time to what I thought was the same time. However, they ended up changing to a different day entirely so I guess I'll be able to keep going.

That's all for now. Better head off to church and then spend the rest of the day studying. TTFN.

Biking Around

I have now finished my second week. We got eased into things in terms of the number of days we went these first two weeks. We started August 27th and went for three days. Then we had a long weekend which made this week only four days. We have not been eased into our classes that much though. From day one we jumped right in and have a massive amount of information thrown at us. As one professor put it we are in a language immersion course. It is definitely true because there is a lot of new terminology that we have to figure out. It is used repetitively though so after a bit we get used to it.

Wednesday we have our first anatomy quiz which is on the muscles and bones of the thoracic limb. That is a lot of material and it will give us an idea of just how massive our future exams will be. Overall I am enjoying classes. Some of them are review. Others are slowly teaching us how to read CBCs. That class is much better after the initial shock of the amount of material and getting used to the terminology. Right now it is turning into one of the classes I enjoy the most.

Not only are we having information thrown at us in classes but in clubs as well. Clubs at the vet school are in recruitment mode right now. What this means is about everyday during lunch you get free food (if you RSVP). It also means that you are writing checks because in order to join clubs you have to pay dues. So far I have found a few that I am looking forward to joining. I'll write more on clubs later.

You might be asking yourself - does she have any free time? The answer is not really. If you want to have free time when you don't study or do anything school related you have to make time. So far I have made time to join a group of 2nd year girls who started a kickboxing group their 1st year. My big sib is part of it so I thought I'd try it out. I also make time to bike around the city.

This may not be the best of bikes but so far it has gotten me around pretty well. Near the veterinary campus, close to the towers and the football stadium there is a trail called the Olentangy River Trail. It can be crowded but it is very nice.

This is the river that runs along the trail. At various points on the trail there are bridges that cross it. As you go across you can see many geese. Today I even saw a man fly fishing.

At points along the trail there are sections that merge. This is one such section. In the background on the left is Schottenstein Center where a few weeks ago I went and picked up my football tickets.

Today on my way past I biked close to the football stadium (the horseshoe or shoe for short). Come  tomorrow the area will be packed for the 1st home game of the season.

I will eventually sit in this stadium but it won't be until later in the season. Yesterday I got a little taste as I watched the marching band practice their routine for tomorrows game. They are really something to watch in person and will be amazing to see in the stadium with all the fans. I should probably go study. Until next time, TTFN!

Buckeye Land

It's crazy to think that in a matter of days I will be starting classes at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine! I spent my two weeks off spending time with a bunch of people I won't see for some time and in general getting spoiled. I started my 3D tree challenge quilt but didn't quite finish it. It's almost there though. Just some finishing details that I should be able to finish in my time off before classes start.

Just need to outline part of the tree and add a backing maybe even a border.

Last Friday, mom and I went and picked up the rental minivan. I then spent the day packing up everything I was planning on taking to Ohio and putting it into the minivan. As I won't have a car (at least the first year) and I live pretty close to campus, that included putting my bicycle in the van.

This was a picture of the packing process part way though and you can see the wheel. Once I was done packing though, unless you look closely, I don't think you can see the wheel.

My aunt was very impressed with how I packed and told me I would be in charge if she ever moved. Last Saturday we spent 14 hours driving to Canal Fulton, OH. I drove the whole way partly because I goofed and didn't check the passenger seat when I started packing (there wasn't much leg room for me) and partly because I knew mom doesn't really like to drive. We drove the final 2 hours Sunday and started moving me in. 

I live with a 3rd year and two 4th year veterinary students. I've met two of them and they are awesome and super helpful. As you probably notice from the picture of the van I didn't bring a mattress. One of my housemates sold me a custom built loft bed frame but I had to find a mattress. I ended up sleeping the first night on the floor but made getting a mattress a priority the next day.

Mom stayed through Wednesday helping me unpack and get the things I needed for my room like a desk, bookshelves, and various other items. She also came with me to get my Ohio license. She then flew back the same day orientation started. The OSU CVM has a big sib program where you are paired up with a second year (big sib) who is there to help you though the year. My big sib is awesome and has really taken me under her wing. She met me at the big recreation and physical activity center (RPAC) and showed my around. Not only that but she has made sure if I hang out at parties I have a way home as I have no car.

I didn't realize there would be as many vet students living in houses by me but once I started meeting my classmates and upperclassmen, I found quite a few that live near me. Friday was our convocation ceremony where we were officially welcomed to the vet school, signed the veterinarian's oath, and spoke the oath. Then we got to see all the clubs at the big merchandise sale as well as get our baby pictures taken. The baby pictures will be in our baby book and is how the professors get to know our faces.

Throughout this week I have been asked 'Are you excited?', 'How was it?', 'Are you having a good time?' and while I am excited I don't think I am as excited as I would have been. Let me explain that. I am ready for school to start and have been excited/ready since I was accepted in December, I was excited to move, and I was excited for orientation. I'm someone that doesn't really show it much though. I also have been finding there might be a reason for not being extremely excited.

I got thinking last night that it's been about 6 and a half months since my dad died. I think that has something to do with my excitement level. It's not that I'm sad but I am missing him and wishing he could have been here to see me on campus as a first year student. I think this is something I might deal with every time a major event comes up in my life. I'm sure over time I won't think about it nearly as much but right now it is somewhat fresher. The convocation ceremony had many families there. For me, having my mom help me move in and dragging her around campus to run errands was my family convocation time. But, I didn't get to do any of that with my dad. I think if he were physically here, it doesn't even have to be in Ohio, and not with God I would have been even more excited. Don't get me wrong, I am excited it just felt incomplete. While I am sure I won't get used to it, it will not be so immediate in the future and I might start to feel like things are complete.

Now, I just have time to relax before classes start on Wednesday. I am looking forward to all I will be learning as well as what God has in store. I'm starting to think it might have something to do with thriving. Pastor Mike played Thrive by Casting Crowns at the end of each service I made before I left. Also at convocation they talked about not just surviving but thriving. Definitely check out the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ71RWJhS_M 

Until then TTFN