New School Year

Sadly, I have not posted here nearly as much as I would have liked since the end of last year. My summer was great. I had a nice balance between work and relaxation, I went to Miami (see picture), and I read a lot of books.

I am now back in Dublin and 2 weeks in to my second year. A week before school started I was a peer mentor for the incoming class of graduate veterinary students. It was a lot of fun. I was really happy to give back to the incoming class. Answering lots of questions wasn't too bad either. I also got back out to the farm with a chance to review the material will be on our handling exam at the end of this year.

It turns out that this semester is "one of the hardest." I was warned multiple times from everybody, including lecturers. I've been spending a lot of time in class and studying but there have been plenty of fun times this semester already (first year nights at the horse show, new grad initiation night, dinner with the friends, etc). I guess my creative juices haven't really been flowing enough to keep up with the blog. But I'll try. I guess it doesn't help that I got the back to a new country sickness that I seem to get every time I travel between home and here.

Overall, I'm really happy to be back and in school again. I'm feeling lucky that I live in a house so close to the sea. I'm happy I get to go to the market in Dun Laoghaire on Sundays while the weather is still nice.

On a final note... today is Jason's birthday! So I should point out how lucky I am to have such a loving, supporting boyfriend during my tough journey through vet school. He really does make it all seem a little easier. =)

Easter in Switzerland

I've been on a bit of a break from writing lately since there hasn't really been much to talk about. With the exception of last weekend, all I have really been doing is studying for continuing assessments that we have had the last couple weeks of class. I figured everyone would get bored of reading about all of the nothing and studying I have been up to.

Last weekend I was finally able to get a bit of a break =). Colleen, Max, Micol and I went to Switzerland (Geneva and Lausanne) for the weekend. Micol lives in Switzerland and Max's parents have a house there. So between the two of them, Colleen and I had great tour guides/ translators. It's a reminder of how lucky we are to have made such great friends while in school.

When we first got to Switzerland, on Friday, we drove around Geneva, saw the united nations building, and stopped by the fountain at Lake Geneva (Jet d'Eau- one of the largest fountains in the world). For lunch, we went to Mont Saleve in France where I had a bit of a run in with walnuts and felt itchy the rest of the afternoon. Even with two hours of sleep, and Benadryl on board, I was able to appreciate the beautiful view from the mountain.


Saturday we went to Gruyere castle and ate some of the yummiest gruyere cheese fondue. Gruyere castle was converted in to a museum that is surrounded by a cute town that we shopped at. Then, after a quick stop in lausanne to get my pandora charm, we went to dinner at Chalet Suisse. There, we ate even more fondue (of the meat variety). I was so stuffed by the end of the day.

On Easter Sunday, after Colleen's first French Easter service, we spent the day in Lausanne relaxing. There was a market by the water and the weather was beautiful. We rode around Lake Geneva in a motor boat since we missed all of the lake tours for the day. Sadly, on Monday, we had to return to Dublin. Colleen and I both spent way too much money on chocolate at the airport. It is so delicious.

The best part about the return to the airport was that Jason was there waiting for me when I got back to Dublin! Thats right, Jason came to visit yet again!!! This time, he was on this side of the world for work, then afterwards he stopped by to say hi =).

Now, I am trying to relax for a few days with Jason before I have to study for finals. I cannot believe this is already the last week of class for the semester. Next week is reading week, then finals. I'll be home in just over 3 weeks. I can't wait to see everyone!

Here are the rest of my pictures from the weekend. =)

I got stuck in my room.

Yet another uninteresting week. Study, study, and more study.

Last night. I was getting ready to leave and meet up with some friends to go to The Mezz (which was really fun) and my door handle broke right off the door! I was stuck in my room. Thank goodness for roommates. I banged on the wall until Laurie came to my rescue.

Friends are great =). Luckily maintenance responded quickly and I had a new handle by the morning.

Nothing Much.

It has been a fairly uneventful week. Nothing much to talk about here. I did really well on all of my midterms so that makes me happy. We went to the farm this week and learned all about horse shoes. Also, I made a friend.

Laming in Scotland

Yesterday, I returned from my week of lambing in Scotland at Clonrae Farm with Kieran and Colleen. We had so much fun and learned and unbelievable amount. I am properly exhausted after spending a week there. Madge, if you are reading this, I cannot thank you enough for having us on your farm for a week, feeding us delicious food, and putting up with all of our questions.

This was my favorite experience of the year. My arms are bruised from trying to manipulate babies out of their mother's birth canal and my muscles are sore from lugging around buckets of water and tackling sheep but, it was more than worth it. I've become quite the sheep wrangler. They can be really tricky to catch and sometimes the process of doing so can be like bull riding a sheep.

Within the first couple of days at the farm I found this website that provided basic information about lambing sheep. I am proud to say we experienced every single one of those birthing situations, even the difficult ones (it's the best way to learn). This is the easiest way to see what we experienced without typing it out word-for-word. Warning: if you become queasy easily, this webpage may not be for you- Sheep101

For those interested, here is our daily schedule: We went out to the ewe shed every morning at 8 to feed the pet lambs (orphans) and water the nursing ewes, went inside for breakfast around 10, then back to the shed for lambing/feeding/watering until lunch around 1 or 2, after lunch we were back outside for more lambing/feeding/watering/bottle feeding until dinner time around 7. Sometimes that was the end of our day although, a few nights we went back out after dinner to bottle feed the pets again. Luckily, there were plenty of people around to help and pick up our slack when it was time for rest. We all brought some school work to do but, by the end of the day we ended up passing out instead.

While there, we were lambing Scotch Mules. They are a cross between Scottish Blackface sheep and Blue Leicesters. The ewes were then crossed with Suffolk and Texel rams. The babies grow nice and fast. The farm hand says we were there for one of the busiest lambing seasons they've had in a while. I think he said we had over 200 new lambs in that single week. I believe it, we were busy workers.

I cannot get over how cute the lambs were. I just wanted to squeeze them. I loved them even more when they were begging to be fed because they made me laugh. It amazing to see how much they grow in just one week. We saw them go from wobbly newborns to little rambunctious buggers hopping around in the fields. Here are a few pictures from the week.

I think this picture deserves recognition. The lamb stood on the ewe's back then, the ewe stood up. That takes some serious balancing. Too. Much. Cute. 

Finally, after all that, I decided I deserve to get myself a little present. =). New wellies with Scottish Terriers all over them. I'm obsessed. 

Halfway Through Spring Break

I'm posting from Scotland today!! It was my first full day at Clonrae farm, lambing with Kieran and Colleen. We are having a great time and have learned so much in only one day. I'm excited to learn even more this week. It's really neat walking through all the sheep and finding random lambs that were just born. Here is a picture of some of the little buggers I was bottle feeding today. They're too cute when they're hungry and begging.

Jason and I did make it to Howth on Monday, as planned. The weather was perfect and the peninsula is beautiful. I know what I am doing next time I need a break from school/ studying/ people. I was really sad to say goodbye Tuesday morning but, I am happy we had such a good time. Also, I'm sure jason is really happy that he finally got to see Google in Dublin.

I miss him already.

P.S. thank you, Aunt Renee, for my green scarf. I love it

That's all. The farm today left me exhausted and I am ready for bed.

Here is a bonus picture of Kieran's hands covered in iodine solution after she caught the bottle upside down. I couldn't stop laughing every time I saw her orange hands.

Galway

Right now we are in the midst of a 2 week long spring break. I'm posting a little late this week since my time has been tied up. Jason has been here since wednesday and we've had a really good time so far. Unfortunately, he is leaving on tuesday, bright and early. =(.

This past weekend we were in Galway. I am so happy I finally got to see some of the west side of Ireland. We took a Galway Tour Company bus through the burren and Cliffs of Moher. Here are some pictures from my weekend so far.

 

One of my favorite things on this trip was seeing a fairy tree. Fairy trees can be kind of confusing since there is so much superstition surrounding them. Some people believe if you harm the tree (break a branch off of it) you will have bad luck. Fairy trees have ribbons tied up all over them. The ribbons are tied to the tree as an offering of good fortune. I really enjoy the romantic aspect of it all. 

There are a few more adventures to come tomorrow (hopefully, Jason and I will be heading out to Howth, as long as the weather is nice), then I'll be back to studying some more. Next week I'll be in Scotland learning all about sheep and lambing. I'm so excited. 

Cheese and Wine

Midterms are done for the time being and I feel so relived. I have another one in 3 weeks. I'm not feeling very creative, my brain is in melty mode. But, I could tell you a ridiculous amount of information and farm animals housing, growth, and nutrition right now if I was asked. For now, I'm going to finally catch up on some z's, then head out to cheese and wine with my classmates later this afternoon. I'll leave it at that, for now.

Here are some pictures from the farm this week. It was a beautiful day.  =)

They make the loudest baby baas

Learning to body condition score dairy cattle.

Proof that we do see the sun here.

Cute little teaser pony 

 Learned how to body condition score horses (and dogs), as well . I love them, they're so sweet. 

Bonus Picture. I see so many rainbows here! There must be soooo much gold. 

1st years, 2nd years

One thing people may not know about the Veterinary school in Ireland, and also in the UK, is that here, veterinary medicine is an undergraduate program. Normally students leave *secondary school (US version of High School) and go off to College/University (Uni). So, normally VetMed is a 5 year undergraduate program that is really tough to get in to. Interestingly, University College Dublin has the only veterinary school in Ireland. For us students with a prior degree, they have created the 4 year graduate entry program which is just the same as the veterinary programs back home in USA. Hence, our AVMA accreditation.

The first two years of the undergraduate program are an elongated version of our first year with electives (lucky undergrads...). During our second year, we combine with the 3rd year class of the undergraduates. Which is pretty confusing because by this time next year everyone in the school will call us 3rd year students, even though we've only been here for 2 years.

This semester we have started to integrate with our new classmates. It is really nice to see some new faces in our classes (seeing the same 40 people 40 hours a week can become daunting). It is a little weird because they're younger than all of us (sometimes it shows) but, they are expected to do mostly the same work that we do. They do remind us to not be so serious sometimes especially since our class has the tendency to do a lot of work and not get out often. I'm really excited to have new people in our class.  

This week, to help make the assimilation easier, there was quiz time. It was a way for us to mix up with some of the 2nd years, most of whom we don't know yet. We were asked trivia questions then, scored later on. My team didn't win, the questions were tricky! There were some prizes, and they fed us sausage, chicken finders, and sandwiches... so, I was happy.

All the other days of the week were uneventful. 

Tonight I watched the USA vs Canada hockey game. Canada won.. it's awesome for my Canadian classmates... A little sad for the Americans. We'll get over it. 

Two more midterms next week. So, as always, more studying for me.

*Edit: One of my classmates pointed out to me that high school here is not called college and is, indeed, secondary school. They sometimes add College to their name to "try to be fancy." I'm still learning! Thanks, Ciara!

Valetine's Day

I cannot believe another week has passed already. Time is going by so quickly, I have my first midterm on monday (Subject: reproduction) and another two midterms the following weeks (animal nutrition and farm animal/applied breeding). I'm in total study mode.

But, that didn't stop me from having fun last weekend. Anyone who is friends with me on facebook saw most of the pictures from Vet Ball last weekend. I had a really great time, getting dressed up was so much fun, and I can't wait to do it again. I still can't believe my dress is 7 years old...

 

The rest of my week was filled with class and studying, with the exception of Wednesday night. There was a VBMA meeting on marketing which was really interesting. I love that these meetings give me so many ideas on how I can, one day, contribute to a business (hopefully, one of my own at some point).

Also on Wednesday night, UCD Ents hosted a comedian show starring Neil Delamere. It was hilarious. I thought I would be worried that I didn't get much work done Wednesday night but, I had such a good time at the show that I left feeling care free and It was good. I always have to remind myself to unwind every so often... The next day I was back to studying.

This week at the farm we got to interact with calves. We did some disbudding (with local anesthetic), burdizzo castrations, and gastro tubing. I love it when we get hands on experience in school. Unfortunately, I only have one picture from the farm. It is a picture of a calf suckling on Colleen's fingers. They're too cute.

Today, is Valentine's day! Tonight, I am having a video date with Jason. =). I sent him a valentines day package in the mail last week so I really hope he gets it today.

Only 19 more days until he comes to visit me in person!!!

Trekking

I've been feeling kind of sick the past couple of days: tired, congested, sore throat. But, I have been pushing to get work done and by the end of the day I am so exhausted. I didn't even realize it was already Friday today. Tomorrow is Vet Ball and I am so excited to dress up and have fun with my classmates. I hope I am back to 100% tomorrow.

Other than that I want to write about last weekend and trekking. We took the 145 bus from campus all the way to the end of the line and there we got off and went to Brennan's Riding School.

I had such a good time. I didn't realize how much I missed horse back riding. It reminded me of when my best friend, Katie, and I used to go trail riding at her aunt's house on the weekends (except these horses would actually move for us). It was really therapeutic, I felt so carefree. I was so happy for those couple of hours even if it was raining.

My horses name was Morgan and he made me laugh pretty hard most of the time. He thought the trail was his buffet and liked to walk like a slow poke. The people working at the school kept tell me me to not let him trick me because in actuality he was one of their least laziest horses. Could have fooled me! He knew I was a softy and would let him get away with it. An additional perk of riding is that the Little Sugar Loaf Mountain in Wicklow is gorgeous and since it was raining but, not too badly we managed to capture a rainbow in the pictures (So pretty!). I know it is hard to see, because of the fog, but if you look closely you can see the Irish Sea and Howth in the picture as well.

I really hope I get to go again soon and I hope we can bring some new people with us this time. It was so much fun and so pretty. I just hope next time it's a little warmer and less rainy. 

Another thing we (Kieran, Collen, James, and myself) did last weekend, on Sunday, was meet up for our first study group. It was awesome and super helpful for Monday's abdomen and pelvis lab. We all felt really prepared. I am really excited to continue with it. 

Finally, after the study group, we went to one of the few bars showing the superbowl in Ireland, Rody Bolands. The crowd was awesome and the bar was really neat and sort of old looking. We had an fabulous time albeit the horrible game and lack of American Superbowl commercials. At least Red Hot Chili Peppers were awesome. We even made it until the end of the game... and to class the next morning!

The rest of the week was pretty normal... Class and studying. Yesterday I played with some calves and today I have class again. 

I know that school is hard and more often than not extra demanding. I can't stop myself from thinking these are going to be some of the best years of my life. 

AVMA, VBMA, and RAG

Massive work load and over exhaustion aside, this has been a very exciting week for me for more than one reason.

As I mentioned in my last post, the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) visited our school this week. I was one of three members from my class selected to talk with the council that was invited to our school. I think, overall, the talk went really well and if it is any indication of how the reaccreditation process will go then, I am hopeful. I think there were a few minor concerns about some things but overall they seemed really impressed by the student support system and the interaction between the students and staff. They also seemed impressed at the ability of the staff to listen to student concerns and make accommodations when necessary. According to our dean, the exit interview was, "very positive, insightful, and detailed." We should have a response to our reaccreditation between March and September.

For anyone who may be reading this as a hopeful UCD veterinary student, I want you to know that one of the many reasons I chose this school was because of what I had heard about the student body. Everyone is really supportive, all of the upper years answer any questions you have ( and they don't make you feel like you are wasting their time). Your class is encouraged to be supportive of one another. It is made very clear that by this point we are all the same, we've all made the grades to get into school, and we're all smart individuals. Competition between us isn't encouraged (Although I cannot deny, it will always exist somewhat), our class has bonded really well, and we're always there to help each other out.  Even the professors are so willing to help you with anything from academics to personal struggles. It is a really good environment to be in, especially when it is so easy to get stressed out. 

Seriously, if you're a prospective vet student and you are thinking about coming to UCD don't be afraid to contact me. I'll tell you as much as I can. 

Exciting happening number two was the introduction of a VBMA (Veterinary Business Management Association) chapter to our school. This is a club with a very important goal. It was founded in 2001 by a student at the University of Pennsylvania who believed," in order to practice quality medicine, veterinarians need to posses subsidiary skills to enhance client compliance and personal success." By 2004, the club was national and in 16 veterinary schools. Today, the VBMA can be found at all of the American vet schools, 2 caribbean schools, and 3 European schools (including UCD). The club hosts discussions and lectures that provide credit hours towards a VBMA business certificate. Some of the topics include personal finance, budgeting, exam room skills, communication (with clients and coworkers), business plan, bookkeeping, etc... It is something that is really great to have. Not to mention, it looks awesome on a resume. At the first meeting (a talk about inventory management) there were 100 students. I plan on participating in this since I believe it will make me a better veterinarian in the future.

The third exciting thing that was going on this week at school was Vet RAG week. RAG stands for raise and give. Events raised money for donation. There was a pantomime performance where some of our students shared their best acting abilities, a silent auction, tonight there is a pub run (or pub crawl as we like to call them back home), and tomorrow there is a Romeo and Juliet night (you get the name of one person from a famous couple, then have to find your other half). During the VBMA meeting one student shared his performance from the pantomime which made me a little bummed that I didn't go but, now I know next year to make sure I attend because it was really funny and a nice break from taking everything so seriously.

Now, to wrap things up. I'm ready for the upcoming week. I should have some interesting adventures including horseback riding and playing with calves. 

Here's a picture of me relieved to be leaving the rectal palpation area. 

I passed all of my finals

This is going to be a short post because this semester the lecturers hit the ground running and I have a ton of work to do already. There is so much new information that I need to learn and we're only on day three. But, as always, I think I will be ok.

On the bright side... I passed all of my exams! In the end, the excruciatingly long study haul was worth it.

Next week is a really big week for UCD School of Veterinary Medicine. The AVMA (American veterinary Medical Association) is visiting our school and reevaluating our accreditation. This is what allows me to come home and practice as a veterinarian when I am done with studying. So, for the school and all students trying to study in America, this is huge! By next week I should have some info on how (I think) the visit went.

I am really happy to be back in Dublin and super excited to go horseback riding with some of the girls next weekend in the Wicklow Mountains (I will definitely have pictures of that) =)

Back in Action

Hiatus is just about over. In 5 short days my first day of semester two will commence and in 3 days, I'll be flying back to the Emerald Isle. It's about time I get back to writing. My first semester at UCD was successful (as far as I know) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I won't find out anything about my final results for a few more weeks. I am so excited to go back and see everyone. I'm excited to be back in Dublin.

 I made a video recap of the first semester at UCD. Featuring music by Flogging Molly. I am happy to have made so many new friends. =)

It was really awesome to be home for the past 3.5 weeks. Here are some of the things I did during my break:
     - Hung out with my family
     - Worked for a couple days
     - Read 5 books
     - Went snowboarding with Jason!!! And was only sore for 3 days
     - Ate too much food

For the most part I was a giant couch potato. I think I may actually be ready to get back to studying. Although I'm sad to be leaving Jason, my family, and friends again, I look forward to the adventures this semester has to offer.