My father passed away on February 22. I was actually planning an update that day (I have no excuse for where I vanished to between the 7th and the 21st).
The reception after the funeral actually sparked the idea for this post. See, I saw a lot of relatives that I haven't seen in a really long time. They know I'm in vet school. They don't seem to know anything about vet school beyond that. I can't blame them. I mean, I don't know anything about law school.
Common questions I got:
- So, how many years is that? (I've heard that some people think it's a two year community college thing. Luckily none of my friends and relations fell into that category and most thought it was around four years.)
- Small animal or large animal? (There's only two kinds of vets to the general public.)
- My dog needs to go to the vet college. Can I ask for you? (Um... I'm a first year. I only get to deal with dead things.)
- How many in your class? Really, 60? That's a lot! (This was especially funny to me, because AVC has one of the smallest classes in North America, and my cell biology undergraduate class was 500+)
Fortunately, no one asked me to diagnose anything.
I'd like to deviate a moment to give a shout-out to all the faculty at AVC. They have been amazing to me, helping me to reschedule tests and get back on track. My classmates have been equally as fantastic. I will say that for anyone with an acceptance to AVC who is considering the school, the community within the school is so close knit and helpful.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
A note during interview season
So, first off, I'm not doing this to be patronising. And I know that some of you will ignore it, and I don't really blame you, I would have too. But I thought I'd put it out there anyway. If nothing else, it's a brief distraction from studying about heartworm and the eight million things that all look the same and can appear in poo.
The Class of 2016 hopefuls are starting to appear at AVC for their interviews. For now it's the internationals, but in a bit, the Atlantic Canadians will show up (PS - if you're an Atlantic Canadian with an interview, let me know. I love to meet people!) My classmates and I have been talking a lot about what it was like for us to be in those shoes. Those god awful uncomfortable shoes, if I remember correctly (both metaphorically uncomfortable, and literally uncomfortable because I hate high heels as I hate Hell, all Montagues and thee).
I'm going to start by being a massive downer. Not all of you will get in. Depending on where you're applying from, the odds are better or worse, but the cold hard truth is that there's way more applications than seats. On our first day, we were told that there were 360 applications for 60 seats. Some of you will get rejection letters right out of the gate. Some of you will get them after interviews. Some of you will get waitlisted and then never hear anything. Now, an addendum to my previous statement - Not all of you will get in this year. I really can't stress that enough. Yes, it will probably be shattering when you get rejected. But there's always next year. I threw a god forsaken fit when I got rejected post-interview in 2010 the first time around. I sobbed and moaned about how it's just not fair. Eventually, I picked myself up, did a post-mortem review and set a plan into action to spit and polish next year's application. Amazingly, that first fit was really nothing compared with the fit I had in 2011 when I was waitlisted. For crying out loud, what else could I do?! "I'm never getting in!" I mournfully remarked to my mother. (My poor mother...) Lo and behold though, a week later, that waitlist moved and here I am.
Even if you're flat out rejected, there is hope. Chances are, you can improve in some way to boost your chances. And if you're rejected, please remember, it is not a reflection of you as a person. Everyone comes into this with a different background. Different skills, different opportunities, different talents. It may be easier for A to get experience than it is for B. C may be better at science courses than D. Maybe E would have had better marks, but she was working a full time job while going to school, so couldn't devote as much time to physics as F. Everyone's circumstances are different. When you get into vet school, you will be over the moon that everyone is so diverse. I can't tell you how often I go see a classmate because they know cows. Or ferrets. Or physiology. Meanwhile, people come to me because I know histology, and horses, and etymology (you laugh, but it's amazingly helpful in anatomy). My long-winded point is, be the best applicant you can be. Don't complain about how so-and-so had it easier. It won't get you anywhere.
While you're touring the school, take a look at the students around you. They were you. Hell, some of us were you two or three times in a row. We got in. It wasn't easy, it may not have been immediate, but we got in. We're not superheroes. If we got in, so can you. Throw your all at it, have some confidence and persistence, and you'll be in. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, but you will be in. And then it'll be you blogging at 10:30 at night to avoid studying for a parasitology test.
The Class of 2016 hopefuls are starting to appear at AVC for their interviews. For now it's the internationals, but in a bit, the Atlantic Canadians will show up (PS - if you're an Atlantic Canadian with an interview, let me know. I love to meet people!) My classmates and I have been talking a lot about what it was like for us to be in those shoes. Those god awful uncomfortable shoes, if I remember correctly (both metaphorically uncomfortable, and literally uncomfortable because I hate high heels as I hate Hell, all Montagues and thee).
I'm going to start by being a massive downer. Not all of you will get in. Depending on where you're applying from, the odds are better or worse, but the cold hard truth is that there's way more applications than seats. On our first day, we were told that there were 360 applications for 60 seats. Some of you will get rejection letters right out of the gate. Some of you will get them after interviews. Some of you will get waitlisted and then never hear anything. Now, an addendum to my previous statement - Not all of you will get in this year. I really can't stress that enough. Yes, it will probably be shattering when you get rejected. But there's always next year. I threw a god forsaken fit when I got rejected post-interview in 2010 the first time around. I sobbed and moaned about how it's just not fair. Eventually, I picked myself up, did a post-mortem review and set a plan into action to spit and polish next year's application. Amazingly, that first fit was really nothing compared with the fit I had in 2011 when I was waitlisted. For crying out loud, what else could I do?! "I'm never getting in!" I mournfully remarked to my mother. (My poor mother...) Lo and behold though, a week later, that waitlist moved and here I am.
Even if you're flat out rejected, there is hope. Chances are, you can improve in some way to boost your chances. And if you're rejected, please remember, it is not a reflection of you as a person. Everyone comes into this with a different background. Different skills, different opportunities, different talents. It may be easier for A to get experience than it is for B. C may be better at science courses than D. Maybe E would have had better marks, but she was working a full time job while going to school, so couldn't devote as much time to physics as F. Everyone's circumstances are different. When you get into vet school, you will be over the moon that everyone is so diverse. I can't tell you how often I go see a classmate because they know cows. Or ferrets. Or physiology. Meanwhile, people come to me because I know histology, and horses, and etymology (you laugh, but it's amazingly helpful in anatomy). My long-winded point is, be the best applicant you can be. Don't complain about how so-and-so had it easier. It won't get you anywhere.
While you're touring the school, take a look at the students around you. They were you. Hell, some of us were you two or three times in a row. We got in. It wasn't easy, it may not have been immediate, but we got in. We're not superheroes. If we got in, so can you. Throw your all at it, have some confidence and persistence, and you'll be in. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, but you will be in. And then it'll be you blogging at 10:30 at night to avoid studying for a parasitology test.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
One month in and back in the swing
Yes, we're pretty much back in full swing. We've written two tests since my last post, with a quiz tomorrow, and another test next Thursday. We seem to have a never-ending stream of tests this semester, due to some courses having more than 1 midterm. For example - for histology, we have a midterm and a final. But histology only officially goes until March 5. So we just wrote the midterm for it on Monday. The final is March 5. Then we switch to embryology. And that has a midterm and a final. Anatomy has quizzes this semester. Parasitology has 3 tests and a final. You get the picture. I counted the other day - this semester, by April 27 when we write our last final exam, we'll have written 19 tests/exams this semester. There's only 17 weeks in the semester. Meaning we have a minimum of one test every single week. Yikes.
On the whole though, I am enjoying the semester. Anatomy is a bit tedious this semester. It's both the pain of learning new stuff, and the pain of trying to remember old stuff. I'm enjoying epidemiology, more or less. I like the concepts, I just haven't really liked any of the lecturers at this point.
My structure and function group is doing our presentation this Friday. That will be nice to have out of the way. At least we're doing it on a week when we don't have much else to worry about. Last week's group had the parasitology test on Thursday and then had to present on Friday. Our presentation is on the function of the udder. My section is on the milk ejection reflex so I'm mostly talking about hormones and neural pathways. Nothing too hard, though I'm hoping I can manage to say "magnocellular neurosecretory cell" without stumbling. While researching "milk ejection reflex", I remembered a rule I should know by now: Always specify the species. I got a bazillion results on breastfeeding. As in, human breastfeeding. (Not that I'm against breastfeeding, I'm all for it in both humans and non-human animals. It just wasn't what I wanted!)
So there's January gone already. Three months to summer break. Bring it on! To my pre-vet readers from Atlantic Canada - I know that time may be flying for me, but I know it's dragging for you. Hang in there, those interview invites WILL come. I look forward to meeting you!
(And my foot has more or less healed up. Never got a big impressive bruise, unfortunately. Boo. And she was very good this week, no fuss with her feet at all.)
On the whole though, I am enjoying the semester. Anatomy is a bit tedious this semester. It's both the pain of learning new stuff, and the pain of trying to remember old stuff. I'm enjoying epidemiology, more or less. I like the concepts, I just haven't really liked any of the lecturers at this point.
My structure and function group is doing our presentation this Friday. That will be nice to have out of the way. At least we're doing it on a week when we don't have much else to worry about. Last week's group had the parasitology test on Thursday and then had to present on Friday. Our presentation is on the function of the udder. My section is on the milk ejection reflex so I'm mostly talking about hormones and neural pathways. Nothing too hard, though I'm hoping I can manage to say "magnocellular neurosecretory cell" without stumbling. While researching "milk ejection reflex", I remembered a rule I should know by now: Always specify the species. I got a bazillion results on breastfeeding. As in, human breastfeeding. (Not that I'm against breastfeeding, I'm all for it in both humans and non-human animals. It just wasn't what I wanted!)
So there's January gone already. Three months to summer break. Bring it on! To my pre-vet readers from Atlantic Canada - I know that time may be flying for me, but I know it's dragging for you. Hang in there, those interview invites WILL come. I look forward to meeting you!
(And my foot has more or less healed up. Never got a big impressive bruise, unfortunately. Boo. And she was very good this week, no fuss with her feet at all.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)