????????????? Or I Kinda Have a lot Going on Right Now!

So dear readers I have been really busy this last week and I have a very busy Monday in store so I will be keeping this post short (for once), and just Addressing something I had to remind myself of lately,
Teachers, Professors, Doctors, for the most part want you to do your absolute best. And that most of them are super nice people who love getting to know there students, and will bind over backwards to help students.
I actually owe a lot to Mr. Williams, my first collage level teacher (English 1010) at Motlow Community collage, (I was dual enrolled) and encase you haven't noticed my writing is not what you would call "Good" (and to be fair I am not really trying to be grammatically correct here, "first draft, last draft, get it out the door" is sort of the motto of this blog) regardless he would meet with me to go over every paper everyday before class, and no matter how bad the paper was he would always encourage me, also give creative criticism. And I am sure he no longer says the words "you can write your research paper on whatever you want to" in eng 1020, after I took him up on it and wrote about Bigfoot, and then doubled down by getting him to agree to giving me extra credit for working the salem witch trials in to it, and at the same time I became the first person to quote Dr. Seuss. (still very proud of that one) and I have had a ton of very good teachers, I have also had some that seem to thrive on the pain of students, but by enlarge the good out weigh the bad, and while CC was fun, I have to say that my favorite undergrad Professors are at Austin Peay State University, and then among this the Ag department is really the best, Dr. Sudbrink, Dr. Goode, Dr. Mills, (Ms. Patty not a teacher but still super helpful) and then of course my favorite Dr. Galben (DVM) who happens to be the adviser for the Pre-Vet club that I happened to be president of for a time, she also was my research adviser, and a really good friend/mentor.
Now I just need to make these connections here and I will be set, as for you dear readers you will have to forge your own lasting relationships with those who strive to feel your heads with knowledge, till next next week TTFN.

 

Injecting some Happiness, Or I have Weathered this Storm!

So Dear readers I realize that I have been talking a lot about the hardships and stress of vet school, but this week I figured I should talk a little about all the good things that have happened, or at the very lest the not negative things going on in my life right now.
I will start with my friends, and how super supportive everyone is and even though it has only been about 9 weeks since we all met (feels more like several years), I have always had something to smile about with all of them around and when you decide that learning pretty much everything about how animals work and the names of every single thing inside and out, you really need people who you can talk to about classes but also about whatever. I am a part of a very sporadic game of Torchlight 2 (remember studying comes first but you need to take breaks), also a on going (in between classes) discussion of a D&D game which may or may not come to pass but at the very lest the conversations are great (king of the dragonborn and a ranger without a bow), so yes friends are very important to keeping you on track and mentally sound.
Moving on with some of the things the school offers to help you stay happy (fair warning I Don't participate  with any of the stuff I am about to mention), like an ultimate frisbee club I know a few people who play with them all the time and they like it, there are thriving basket ball and FootBall (not US) leagues which even have teams and uniforms, the crossfit people are entertaining to watch after class, and if you would rather not flip tires the school has a (very) small gym, and if you go off campus you can get your scuba certification, lay on the beach, or rent a boat for a trip. And if you don't like the water there are island hikes every weekend, (I really have no idea how people find the time for these activates but I guess if I had a car and I could go racing I would unless there was a big test coming up).
Anyway It is very easy to fall into despair here, you know how much I have struggled here if you have been reading this blog, and it has been a good way for me to face my own problems head on, but what I haven't talked about is the fact that I always try to keep a smile on my face though everything I also try to cheer up those that are around me, because I am not the only one struggling and if I can make someone else smile then I fill a bit better about my problems. after all we all moved to an Island to go to vet school/med school, and we all feel the pressure building up like we live in systolic hypertension, (High blood presser during the contraction of the heart which maybe caused by a reduced elasticity of the aorta) but the we just have to take that bitter pill every morning, and try are very best to be better then we where yesterday, and last week, and last month, and last year. Smiling is the only way to get though it, and you need friends to smile with you, (it doesn't matter if they are human or animal friends, both are nice) and it doesn't matter if those friends are on the other side of the world complaining about there AC, or if they are down the hall they all make a big difference.
Well I will wrap it up Here for now, remember smile more and you will see the storm clouds roll away from the faces of those around you, also thanks for reading I will talk to you next week.

 Also we played with cows this week, which brings a smile to everyone's face.

Help not welcome. Or Watch the Breaking of Time!

Hello reader, today I could talk about the stress of midterms, however I am just starting to recover from it so I will get to it some other time.
Now lets talk about a watch, my watch to be specific I have had this one watch since the summer of 2012, which is a long time for cheap watch that I pretty much had on me at all times. It lived though working at two camps, most of my undergrad which included working at the school in the summers, more races then I can remember (which is not that hard to do), it's been all over the the southeast with me, still it is just a watch and when it started to break I just taped it up because I didn't want to deal with a new watch and when I started having to use a rubber band because that piece right after the buckle broke, I really just thought it was because it wasn't to far gone. unfortunately during finals week my watch broke to a degree that I have decided to be unfixable and also unfortunately mt watch is a metaphor. (but I will let you think about it for a bit)
Now on to the meat which in this case is really based around one of the reasons I don't like to study with groups, sure their is the fact that I will be the most distracted and get no work done, however the other problem is that I have this stupid thought that if I go and study with people I must already know everything before even talking about it with people so that I can appear smart. Now the interesting thing is that there are two major driving forces at work here, and first up we have my low self esteem, which drives me believe that even though I was smart enough to get in to vet school that everyone here is about a million times smarter then me (it was so much easier when I could just assume that I would never get into vet school, Sigh), and at the same time my overly competitive side which tells me that I need to win vet school and be the smartest person here. (Okay so you might have noticed some conflict with these two ways of thinking but just wait for this one) This also keeps me from wanting to asking for help from anyone, (Just let me do it, I'll take care of it, No I am fine, I've got this... etc,) which is though, now understand that I will ask for help but only after I can't do something by myself, and only when it is my idea (also their are the people who I will ask for help from and those that I will not ask for help from). Unfortunately I can't really help you if you struggle with these same things, because I am very happy to study alone in my room where at least I can recover from a distraction. 
Back to the watch which is of coarse A Metaphor for myself, I have taped, glued, zip tied, leaned ageist the wall in the appearance of being whole, for what feels like so long (but to be fair only started in undergrad, and also to be fair I was doing such a good job of it). The really sad thing is that it only took 8 weeks of vet school classes on a island to bring it all crashing down, it is okay though I am rebuilding myself the wright way this time.
Anyway the morals of the story are, 1. vet school is hard but not just the classes, it is everything that is hard, and it is hard on your mind and body, 2. Buy a new watch before you start vet school.
Talk to you Next week, Thanks for reading.
P.S. Love you Mom and Dad thanks for all the support!

  

Midterm Midterms. Or 101 Given up, and Forgotten Dreams! (also known as how I got where I am)

So midterms start tomorrow, and I am very nerves (my last semester of undergrad stripped a lot of my confidence so coming almost immediately from there to here their was not a good way to build it up again), however instead of talking about how scared I am that I will screw up so bad on the midterms that there is no hope of recovery. which only crosses my mind when I am not 100% looked in studying (so right now), but breaks are impotent too, (Austin Peay is on fall break this week HAVE FUN WHILE YOU CAN) so instead of all that negativity I thought I would talk about everything I have given up to get where I am (in vet school), also all the things I have gained here and leading up to here (here=Vet school), and over all why I wouldn't change a thing (dang-it I gave away the whole thing oh well).
So what triggered this sudden remembrance of wins and losses, in relation to my some what crazy career path. Well when I came to this island I was a Somewhat sponsored racecar driver, which was something I found infinitely cool (I don't think I am some great driver but I enjoy driving and racing cars) Unfortunately do to the fact that I will be missing most of the session back home and my sponsor ramping up the team I decided that it would be in mine and the teams best interest to go are own ways, (this was actually a very hard decision for me to make because I really loved being a part of that team) I will never forget how that experience changed my life, because of Made I was able to meet people who I would have never met otherwise, I learned a lot about the sport of drifting, I stopped peddling what might be the cheapest STR miata in the world and started taking racing and the car build more seriously, (from both a performance and a visual aspect) all while I was able to go out and race with my dad (and sometimes my mom) which was great (not just because I almost always beat him depending on what we are driving) now don't get the wrong idea here I am still going to be racing when ever, where ever, and whatever I can. (I am the lead diver and head mechanic for Team UnderDog Racing, A Father and Son grassroots racing team of my own creation but my dad is still the team owner) Wow I talked a lot about this one thing, lets move on okay.
I have given up on Money to be here, you see vet school is not cheap and vet school on a island is extra not cheap, now I know what you are all saying and yes it is cheaper then going to Auburn. If you want a number think around the $300,000 dollar range in loans alone that does not include interest or taxes, so yes most of my future money is already spent and yes there are ways to lower that or make it go away. However that takes more of something we also giving up which is Time, while most people are out being productive, living life, buying a house, we are stuck in school and yes are job is way better then yours, (for me it is anyway) but still it is a struggle to watch all you old friends leave you not really behind but Just Sorta Off To The Side, which is just as bad but for different reasons. So what have I gained well I have the opportunity to save the life's of countless animals and save the heartache of countless humans, I can use the position I am in to help kids like myself realize their lofty dreams (so who needs stacks of money or Time plus I really want to clone extinct animals and they lost way more time then me). I also have already made so meany people that I feel like I've know for years and I am very comfortable calling my friends (some times that means you get to comfortable and push buttons a little to much and get on each others nerves but we talk it out and make up  eat some food get some sleep and keep on being friends).

You know what I wouldn't do anything differently, every loss, every win, I have ever had adds up to Me, and if I where writing a book (which I can here my old English teachers cringe at the thought) I would struggle to fit all the life, Good times and Bad, wins and losses, and all the ties into it so I think I will leave you with some quotes from some of my role models "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." (C.S. Lewis) 
"And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high." (Ayrton Senna)
“I've read the last page of the Bible, it's all going to turn out all right.” (Billy Graham)
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”(Dr. Seuss, The Lorax)
I will talk to you again next week, Thanks for Reading!