Second year ended pretty well for me, despite the fact of how stressful it was. It's like you get to this point where your brain literally will not comprehend things because you have crammed so much information into it. It even becomes hard to hold a normal conversation that doesn't involve school, hahah. Luckily this summer has helped me regain my ability to act a little more like a normal human being :)
So speaking of this summer, it has flown by WAY too quickly! Sea Vet was incredible, I met and learned from some very esteemed aquatic animal veterinarians, got to play with dolphins and work with manatees, and finally was able to see Winter the dolphin in person (she's incredible, btw - I definitely recommend going to Clearwater to see her!). We learned so many different things - dolphin surgery, cetacean, sea turtle, sting ray, shark, and manatee medicine, ophthalmology of marine animals, health assessments and a whole lot more. I loved every minute of it! :) After that was over, I had Brittney's wedding to go to which, believe it or not, was the first wedding I've ever been to, and I was a maid of honor for the first time too! It was one of the most fun events I've ever been to, and I could not be happier for my best friend. I've actually known her now-husband since we were like 5 years old, and I've known Brittney since we were 10, so it was amazing to see them joined in marriage! A few days after that I started my job at Banfield, which has already come and gone. Despite some of the negative things I've heard about the student job program, I actually really enjoyed it. It definitely helped that I love the people I worked with. They have amazing attitudes and I know that they're passionate about what they do and take it seriously, but still know how to have fun. Besides my lovely coworkers, I gained a TON of experience. When I started out I was a little rusty on my small animal skills because I've been working with marine animals for so long now. I feel so much more confident now in basic skills - prepping for surgery and monitoring anesthetic depth, drawing blood, restraining animals, having good communication with clients, asking the right questions to get a good history, what types of diagnostics are good for certain clinical signs, reading radiographs, reading cytological samples and a whooooooole lot more. I saw a lot of interesting (and some terrifying at the time) cases that will definitely stick in my mind for a long time - suture dehiscence, death from parvo (VACCINATE YOUR PETS!), open pyometra (SPAY YOUR PETS!), osteosarcoma, heartworm positive animals, liver cancer, liver failure, mastitis, pyelonephritis, foreign body removals, CHF...I'm sure there are tons more I just can't think of right now but my time at Banfield really helped me feel more prepared for the future and I'm glad I decided to spend my summer the way I did! I managed to stuff some fun in there too - obviously some trips to the beach, Sea World, Disney, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood studios (tried to get my roller coasters fix while I can) and seeing my friends whenever possible! It has been nice to be home, but I'm starting to get really excited to go back to school. I miss my apartment so much that I actually had a dream last night that I was back in it..hahah. I'm getting a little stressed out looking at our schedule for the fall but we get to do so many new and exciting things so I'm pretty ready to get started! My schedule consists of general medicine, food animal medicine, exotic animal medicine, surgery (!!!!), theriogenology, ethics, clinical skills, lab diagnosis, and pain management classes. We finally get to spay and neuter pets, learn how to perform physical exams, draw blood (which thanks to this summer I now feel pretty pro at), learn how to communicate with clients...and basically finally apply the knowledge we've acquired over the past two years and through our experiences. I AM PUMPED!
So I'll try keeping this updated a little more frequently this year, since it should be a little bit more fun/interesting than the past two years of sitting in a classroom all day ;) For now I'm off to enjoy my last 3 days in Florida...I get to ride a horse for the first time tomorrow!
Oh and I may have fallen in love with bats this summer...probably because their faces remind me of Rhyley HAH! Anybody else see the resemblance?!
