Year 3, Ready or Not
Today was my first day as a 3rd year student*. Unlike last year, as a GEP, when I was chomping at the bit and ready to ace the year (little did I know!) this time around I’m not quite thrilled about starting another schlep of studies. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still excited and honored to be in vet school, but I am all-too-aware of the pain I’m getting myself into: the thousands of pages of reading and notes to sort through, the hours of wringing my hands in frustration, the hundreds of stupid questions I will have, and doubt - O, The Doubt!
However, that’s the wrong attitude to take, as it won’t help me survive the year. I must brush my brain off and remind myself of the good things. There are many. Some of the more simple ones:
- Name badges! They spelled my name correctly, and I now have a badge insisting that I am an official RDSVS ‘Veterinary Student.’
- Pathology! Okay, I know that my Path Fridays will end up being lots of work in a relatively short amount of time, but looking at diseased organs is fun.
- Surgery! I’ve performed a minor surgery before, and I could tell it would have gone much smoother if I was actually trained in surgery techniques. Here’s my chance.
- The school’s Orchestra is back and we have a little concert scheduled, so that’s a nice extracurricular to appreciate.
- I’m in my new flat, which is comfy and full of plenty of space to study.
- No longer having to endure the smell of Summerhall. I mean, it’s a great building, but parts of it…ewww.
Another bonus: being a real, integrated student, and not a member of a bizarre, relatively new and under-developed program. I hope my fellow ex-GEPs won’t need to badger the administration so much, because we won’t be the strange new group of mostly whiny North Americans trying to insist that the prix fixe menu turns into a buffet. Every University has a push-pull system between the Staff and the Students, but there have been 3rd years far longer than there have been GEPs, and I am prayin’ that the machine is pretty well oiled by now.
Tomorrow’s schedule: pathology of nasal cavities and sinuses, intro to surgery techniques, intro to anaesthesia, and 3rd year photographs. We’re done by 3pm, so I can go and officially register, sign over my student loans, print my notes for the next few weeks, and buy a few more school supplies. I love free time.
By the way, to everyone I was lucky enough to visit while I was home for a few weeks, I had a fabulous time back in the States and look forward to seeing everyone again during Christmas break! Although, that also means I will be sitting exams around that time, so I don’t look forward to December too much right now.
* To clarify, vet school in the UK is usually 5 years and is started straight out of high school; however, the ‘GEP’ programme combines the first two years for students with previous undergraduate degrees in the sciences, and then the students join the traditional ‘3rd years.’ So my second year at the University is called 3rd year! Logically!