I have to say - I'm a little annoyed by vet school this week. Let me preface this with the following TRUE FACT! I will leave CSU with a STAGGERING $150K (at least) in student loans. That's a whole new mortgage on my BRAIN (thanks Liz). Let me give you ANOTHER TRUE FACT! CSU (despite being the #2 vet school in America) is, by far, the cheapest option out there for CA vet school hopefuls (at least with the squirrelly in-state tuition you get with the combined MBA/DVM program). Nevertheless. That is a big fat wad of cash. For the equivalent of a new home, I had hoped to get a great education - and I may still. But not this week.
It all started with "the cubes (B-H)". Incoming first-years into the PVM program are assigned a "cube" to, basically, live in for the year. It is supposed to be a quiet place to study with all the requisite materials (textbooks, microscopes, slides, skeletons, et. al) for a successful year. However - they built these cubes many moons ago, when the CSU PVM class was considerably smaller. Today's larger classes necessitated an increase in "cube" space. Sadly, none was to be had. Therefore, those of us with last names from T-Z (heretofore deemed "the redheaded stepchildren of CSU Vet Med") were relegated to the dreaded Cube I. The "normal" cubes boast such luxuries as separate desks with bookshelf space above, corkboards, outlets, drawers, filing cabinets, private microwaves, coffeepots, and fridges, and, let us not forget, the social atmosphere involved in having a "home" with 12 other cubemates. Cube I, by comparison, is split into two separate broom closets with a long row of folding tables. Our microwave outside the cubes has been designated the "overflow" microwave for all the spoiled little Early-Alphabetical brats. I want to nuke my Koshari, dammit!!!!
But that's just the cubes.
No biggie.
Hell. I even pimped mine out with a thousand baby pics and blinders to the other poor saps of Cube Ia.
I can deal with the cubes.
XXX-DON'T READ IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED BY DEAD DOGS - XXX
What I can't deal with (considering my incredible fiscal investment), is Pinky. Pinky is our canine cadaver for anatomy (before you get grossed out - let me point out that there are undergrad children dissecting honest-to-god HUMAN remains in the the same lab. Dogs are gross, but the fact that the same kiddos we just saw on the news at the MEGA-BASH are now dissecting what could feasibly be my grandparents' remains (both donated their bodies to science) is way creepier.) But back to Pinky. She was named for the incredible amount of pink latex on her fur. Turns out, she had some problems in the embalming process. I've rewritten this paragraph a number of times, but, to be as delicate as possible -Pinky has issues. Her arteries were supposed to be filled with pink latex for easier identification of arteries. Didn't work. Instead, her femoral artery exploded and filled her entire pelvic limb (our current area of study), with a bunch of neon pink crap. Can't see anything. Can't find anything. She's been leaking blood and propelyne glycol all over the place and is now a disturbing spongy/wet texture. Ew. On top of that, I have a crazy-ass type-A personality ( basically me 10 years ago) who didn't get into vet school on the first try and took this course last year as part of his "Plan B" major in my dissection group - prancing around and snapping at the rest of us because we don't already know this stuff. GRRRR!!!!!
GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!
Ok, I'm done nowrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
OK. REALLY done now.
Thank God for both my miserable forced bike-to-work policy (no car. grrrrr....) and my new weekday gym policy (also grr, but no one to blame it on). Gets out enough frustrations that I don't beat the kidlets if I see them - not today :( . I bet in 2 weeks when the moon is on the rise (fall - whatever is opposite from here), I'll be a happy camper. Love to all! Really!
Keep a mental image of the Type A person wearing Pinky as a hat in your head. It may be enough psychological armor for a minute or two of relief.
ReplyDeleteOh, and YOU GOT THIS! YOU CAN DO IT!
ReplyDeleteAnd to think I wrote a letter to help you get in to this party. I remember the pink latex vasculature, oh, and the smell after a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteWe had a quiz the first week that included about a million greek and latin root words. A couple students got on a plane after that quiz and never came back.
God, I loved vet school :) But it was just me, my dogs, my druggie/bookie boyfriend, and a rock in the ocean.
Your kids/husband/real life are pros and cons. You will miss them and feel guilty (sorry but it's true), but you will have them there when you need to step away from the vet school crap and feel like a human again and that's a major plus.
My motto for getting through school, and island life, "I can do anything for a limited amount of time." And so can you.
hahaha. Mama Throck, I love your depictions. I'm sorry you are GRRRing! Feel free to come use my microwave in Cube G whenever you need to nuke something! I will forfeit my microwave time to you- i don't utilize it often! Also, if you ever need to be able to see something you can't find in Pinky, you are welcome to look at Shiloh ;)
ReplyDelete-Lindsey