Dec 20It’s a strange sensation and to be honest I’m more numb than ecstatic at this point. Here I sit, on the other side of finals, having just closed the book on a 150 pt. physiological chemistry test, and life seems, well… complacent.
Perhaps it’s the knowledge that in two short weeks it all starts up again. More likely, I just need a little time for the “studying hangover” to work its way out of my system. Over the course of the last two weeks I only took one “study break,” allowing myself to watch a movie last Saturday night instead of studying. Other than that, when I wasn’t in school I was holed up in my office down the basement trying to coax the brain cells into hanging onto all the information with which they were being assulted.
The brain cells were only marginally cooperative. Suffice it to say that I have convinced myself that it is perfectly acceptable to be a “B” student. Now if I can just convince myself that it is perfectly acceptable to be a “C” student, I might even get a life beyond vet school.
Nah… vet school IS life.
Finals were merciful in that they were spaced out enough to allow us to devote enough time to each subject to do a decent job. Unlike in undergrad, where people’s class schedules varied wildly and it wasn’t uncommon to have three or more tests on one day, in vet school we all have the same schedule so they can plan test days in a reasonable manner. And in between all of this studying, the university also threw us a holiday lunch which had fabulous food despite the fact that they were feeding over 700 people. In the tradition of the great midwest, the buffet was heavy on meat and potatoes and light on vegetables. My vegetarian spouse would never approve, but I delightfully dug into the spread of ham, roast beef, roast pork, turkey, lamb, lasagna, stuffing, hash browns, german potato salad, rolls, and, yes, even a bit of salad (topped with bacon bits, of course!)
So what’s in store for the next two weeks? First and foremost is the party in Minneapolis tonight. Did I mention I won’t be doing any studying tonight? And then, of course, I have a whole list of household chores to do that I didn’t get to before school started. I’ll also be working at the large animal hospital on Christmas Eve and Christmas, and visiting “my” horses on campus on a regular basis. Hopefully I’ll get some skiing in, and maybe we’ll even make it out of the house to see a show or two. People keep telling us how much there is to do in the Twin cities, but so far all I’ve seen is home, school, and the walk in-between.
And I suppose one way or another we’ll end up with another animal in the house - that seems to be a tradition this time of year. And did I mention I won’t be studying tonight?