Histology/Embryology

It's Saturday night, September 25th (My half birthday!), 8:30ish pm.  I've survived officially a month on St. Kitts and it feels like I've barely been here a few days.  Not much has changed.  We all live day to day in order to keep up with classes, studying, and the stress that comes with both.  I'm starting to find time for breaks and fun time, like watching Glee and Grey's Anatomy this week with my friends, heading to the movie theater on Friday night to see "The Town" and taking a two hour study break tomorrow to head to the beach in the morning.  I realized that Vet School, besides the studying, is really a six-day a week job.  On Saturday's, I'm basically on campus reviewing and going to tutoring sessions from 10:30am-3pm.  Thursday's during the week are my worst days, arriving on campus at about 7:30am and leaving at 7:00pm.  But as long as I take it day by day, I'm okay.  I've never appreciated weekends more than I do now.  If it's not the catch up days, then it's the break days.
I hear that it's starting to get cold back home.  It was 88 degrees today.  As it was yesterday.  And I'm sure it will be the same tomorrow.  It's always "hot, hot, hot" as the weatherman says.
We had our first PAWS adoption day today and I fought the urge to adopt a dog, although I know it will happen sometime next semester.  But I bought Kodi his Christmas present... a "My mom is a Ross Vet" collar and leash.  I'm sure he'll appreciate it.
On Monday, I have my first Veterinary School midterm, Histology/Embryology and we all feel really good about it.  I guess we'll see what grade I actually get to see how I'm holding on.  A week after that on October 4th is our first anatomy exam.  That's the big one that everyone stresses about.  Wednesday, October 6th is our first physiology exam.  And a week after that is our first Nutrition exam.  Nutrition is the class that people have the most trouble passing so we'll see how I do.
On Friday, my group of friends and I found a path in the woods on the edge of campus.  We went down there and found this.  This is a picture of my lunch break on campus.  It's not so bad :)

I hope you're all enjoying the last week of September.  I'm sure I'll spend it studying.  Talk to you all soon.  Love you all and miss you.

My Saturday Night

Flexor Carpi Radialis Supinator Pronator Teres Pronator Quadratus Abductor Pollicus Longus Common Digital Extensor Lateral Digital Extensor Ulnaris Lateralis Flexor Carpi Ulnaris Superficial Digital Flexor Deep Digital Flexor Extensor Carpi Radialis Biceps Branchii Long Head of the Triceps Branchii Lateral Head of the Triceps Branchii Accessary Head of the Triceps Branchii Medial Head of the Triceps Branchii Fascia Tensor Antebrachii Coracobrachialis Sternocephalicus Superficial Pectoral Muscle Deep Pectoral Muscle Latissimus Dorsi Cutaneus Trunci Cleidocephalicus Cleidobrachialis Bracialis Trapezius Deltoideus Omotransversarius Teres Major Teres Minor Infraspinatus Supraspinatus Subscapularis Serratus Ventralis Rhombodieus Anconeus


This is my Saturday night.


It's Saturday, September 18th.  This morning, I went to Rams (the grocery store) and TDC (the home improvement store), did a load of laundry, went to the Anatomy Lab from 1-2pm to study our dog limb, which I cut off of the actual dog a few days ago, Microanatomy Tutor from 2-3pm and then the beach!  Hurricane Igor has passed us but left behind some enormous waves that have overtaken the beaches.  Today, we decided we were going to head to Shipwreck beach but once we got there, we saw that there was no beach left.  The tide was so high that the beach was covered so we drove on to Reggae Beach.  Reggae Beach is a bit better because it's a cove on the Caribbean Sea side of the island.  But the waves had brought up all the seashells and seaweed so it was a lot more difficult to go swimming.  But I'm not complaining about spending the day on the beach.  It's been thunderstorming all day but it's neat to watch from my apartment because you can see the clouds roll in, especially from the Atlantic Ocean.  I'm off to study the night away.  We have a three day weekend with Monday being St. Kitts Independence Day so we're all thankful that we have an extra studying day... or an extra beach day, depending on who you ask.  
Miss you all.  Talk soon.

Another week

I haven't updated this in a while so I thought this would be a good form of procrastination.  It's Wednesday, September 15th (Happy birthday dad!) at it's 9:00pm exactly.  My life has consisted of class and sleep, with a few hours of studying in between and about 5 minutes for meals.  It's a lot of time in class but I feel prepared all of the information we're talking about now I learned in undergrad at Michigan State.  In Physiology, we're learning about action potentials and neurotransmitters, which I learned in Neurobiology at MSU.  In Histology/Embryology, we're learning about gametogenesis and fertilization, which I learned in Developmental Biology at MSU.  And in anatomy, we're learning about bones, muscles, and joints, which I went over in Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of Vertebrates at MSU.  So far, I'm not overwhelmed by the topics we're learning about, just the amount of time that I'm actually on campus.  The last two days, we didn't get a lunch break.  We had to eat during our lectures.  This Monday is St. Kitts Independence Day so we don't have class.  But the school forgot this and scheduled lectures for this time.  So we have to make up all the lectures that we miss.  So my schedule tomorrow:
Anatomy 8-10
Histology 10-12
Lunch!! 12-1
Nutrition 1-2
Physiology 2-3
Nutrition Make up Lecture 4-5
Dinner!! 5-6
Nutrition Tutor 6-7
And maybe I'll make it home by 8 for bedtime at 9.  It's an overwhelming amount of time in a classroom but I have to say that the people here make it all okay.  We're all new at this and we've all moved down here by ourselves, living outside the US for the first time.  And all of us have the same passion for animals so we all have something in common.  Everyday, we have the same classes together, at the same time, with the same amount of information needing to be learned, and the same amount of time to learn it.  So we all stick together and drag each other through the mud.
It's been incredibly hot the past few days with little wind.  But we're all thankful that Hurricane Igor missed us.  We're expecting thunderstorms all night because of him but none of us had to be evacuated.
I'm off to study the muscles of the canine thoracic limb.  I'm having a hard time keeping these muscles apart...I think you'll understand why:
Extensor Carpi Radialis
Flexor Carpi Radialis
Pronator Teres
Pronator Quadratus
Flexor Carpi Ulnaris
Lateral Digital Extensor
Common Digital Extensor
Ulnaris Lateralis
Abductor Pollicus Longus
Deep Digital Flexor
Superficial Digital Flexor

Back to studying.  Miss you all

Stress

Hello.  It's FRIDAY, September 10th.  It's about 8:30 am and I'm writing this sitting in the Student Union.  I just finished my bagel and cream cheese and an iced caramel latte for breakfast.  My anatomy laboratory is split into groups and I don't have anatomy lab this morning.
The last few days have been the most stressed I've ever been, Wednesday being the worst.  All of us first semesters are stressing worse because we don't have anything to grade ourselves on.  Or we aren't sure how much information we need to know because we haven't taken our first exams yet.  We leave class and study all night, usually resulting in a few mental breakdowns or books being thrown across the room.  Procrastination just isn't an option here.  You can't chose to put your studies off.  In Undergrad, I found myself watching TV or napping instead of studying.  Here, we study as soon as we're done with class, we barely have time to make dinner, and we go to bed at 9:30 so we can get up at 6am and do it all over again.  Everyone says that Vet School will be the hardest four years of your entire life and I totally believe them.  I appreciate the little time that I have to do nothing.  And I definitely learned to appreciate the weekends.  Vet School is like working a 70 hour week.  We never get a break.  But I guess it's worth it.  I've found that studying for Anatomy is the hardest.  It's memorization and everyday, it's a completely new set of bones or muscles.  So if you don't know 100% of the information assigned the night before, then you're behind.  This is what my wall looked like three days ago.  I've added a few more things up there.  But this is the amount of information we're required to learn in one night.

My daily schedule (which is exactly the same almost everyday):

6:30am- Wake up

7:15am- Leave for School

8:00am-10:00am- Anatomy Lab

10:00am-12:00pm- Histology/Embryology

12:00pm-1:00pm- LUNCH

1:00pm-2:00pm- Nutrition

2:00pm-4:00pm- Physiology

4:15pm- Arrive at home

4:30pm-6:00pm- Study

6:00pm-6:05pm- Eat dinner, usually microwavable meals

6:05pm-9:00pm- Study

9:30pm- Sleep

It's the same routine everyday.  And I'm sure that as we get more information, our sleep time will be moved back.  Most students go to sleep around midnight and wake up at 6am.  

It's tough work.  But it's all I do and all I think about.  We don't have time for jobs... and sometimes I'm thankful that I have time for a shower.  I think living in St. Kitts is one of the best things I've done.  All the students here are in the same boat.  If I were at MSU, I would have the distractions that I had in Undergraduate.  All the students, the restaurants, etc.  Everything here closes at exactly 4pm.  So nothing's really open in order to distract you.  Today is Friday and I've never been more thankful for this day.

Classes

Hello.  It's Tuesday, September 7th.  We got out of our anatomy lecture an hour early.  I'm sitting my the picnic tables waiting for my Histology lecture to start.
Yesterday was our first day of classes.  We had anatomy lab from 8-10am, where we just went over the syllabus.  I think my comparative anatomy and physiology of vertebrates class in college is going to come in handy for this class. After that, we have Histology/Embryology lecture from 10-noon.  The professor is from Serbia, so no one can understand him.  And he's incredibly boring.  So we were all just looking forward to lunch.  After lunch, we had Nutrition, which is supposed to be the hardest class of the semester. The professor was completely opposite of the Histology professor.  He was hilarious and entertaining.  Hopefully because he's entertaining, we'll all be more willing to learn and study for that class.  After class, we had our white coat ceremony.

Today, we had anatomy lecture from 8-9, Histology lecture from 10-noon, and Intro to Vet Med from 1pm-2pm.  After class, I have to make my way to the Basseterre Post Office to pick up the package I sent myself two weeks ago.  I'm not sure where that is but I'm hoping for the best.

Talk soon.

First week video.

St. Kitts Video

Where do I begin?

It's Sunday, September 5th.  Today is our day to relax.  I haven't posted anything for the last few days because I've been so busy.
Friday night, we went down to Port Zante for a party.  After all of us drinking far too much, we headed over to Ziggy's which is a bar on the beach, right next to the ocean.  We all had a whole lot of fun and some people paid the price that night and even into the next day. But we all had lots of fun.
On Saturday, we woke up at 9am and went to Harpers, the school supplies store, IGD, the home improvement store, and the grocery store.  We all came back home and took about an hour nap and got ready for the catamaran.  We had an amazing and relaxing time on the trip and it was incredible.

After the catamaran, I went over to my classmates' house, Rachel and Kristen.  We had a few of my orientation group members there where we watched The Hangover and ate Dominoes pizza.  It remarkably tasted about the same as American pizza.  This morning, we all woke up on our own time and met at Rituals, the coffee house for Brunch at 11am.  I think Rituals is the most American place on the island and I had scrambled eggs, pancakes, and an iced caramel latte.  Now we're all back in our apartments, getting ready to start school tomorrow.  They don't really give us a lot of information so I think we're all just going to show up and hope for the best.

Talk soon.

Shipwreck Beach and Brimstone Hill

Hello.  I'm sitting in my living room currently watching Big Brother.  Today, I woke up at 6:15am and headed off to orientation.  We spent the day sitting in one of our lecture hall, getting talked to about life on the island, security, etc.  I learned that drunk driving is only frowned upon here and you'll only get a ticket for it if you hit somebody.  Although, they highly recommend against it.  I also learned that all Kittitans think that American girls are promiscuous and that AIDS is rampant here.  There's signs along the road addressing the issue.  Because the island gets American TV, they think that all Americans are rich and crazy, getting their opinions from shows like Gossip Girl and Soap Operas.  We got our financial aid check, which means we're all rich again.  At least for the moment.  I came home to find a monkey standing at my front door.  That was a new one.  After orientation, my orientation group went to Brimstone Hill and the beach.  Brimstone Hill is the fort on the island and it's on the top of the hill, which means amazing views.

After Brimstone Hill, we went to Shipwreck Beach, where we swam while the sun went down.  We all felt cold for once and realized that the ocean felt like bath water. 

 We're all having an amazing time.  Tomorrow's a really long day, with orientation in the morning, a trip to the bank to deposit our financial check, then to the movie theater for a free movie, and out to dinner at Ziggy's.  On Saturday, we get to go out on the catamaran trip and Sunday, we have off to prepare for school.  Although, I think we're heading to the Marriott that day to play a little bingo.  I'm almost done with my YouTube video and I'm hoping to upload it on Sunday.

Day From Hell

Not sure where to start with this one because so much has happened in the last twenty four hours.  Last night, we went to Rituals, the coffee shop and it was amazing.  Great food.  My orientation group was there and we all just watched our favorite YouTube videos and laughed the whole time.  It was great.  Then I got home and my roommate was washing towels and taking a shower.  I opened my door and was standing in half an inch of water.  Everything had flooded.  So we spent most of the night, until about 1am using towels to soak up the water.  The worst part was ringing out the towels and trying to keep the stray cat out of the house while we were going in and out.  Eventually, we went to bed and woke up early this morning for the plumber.  We were both exhausted.  The plumber managed to flood the apartment three more times and after 3 1/2 hours, told us that the drain was in the wall instead of outside and there was nothing he could do about it.  So the landlord stopped by and now we're waiting for a guy named Carl to come so he can try and fix it all.  The showers are fixed but we don't have a washing machine.  Oh well.  The internet guy came today so we finally have internet inside the apartment.  As I was taking the trash out, I ran into this little guy.

Aren't you glad I showed you that?  We're all going to the grocery store to buy machetes so we can kill these little buggers.  They're poisonous... and aggressive.  Oh the joys.  Tomorrow, we have our second day, which is supposed to be our fourth day, of orientation.  Hurricane Fiona hit today, which consisted of a 2 1/2 minute drizzle.  Everything was cancelled just for that.  I have to wake up at about 6:15am tomorrow and we're supposed to be going all day.  Here's the view from campus.  Love.