Week 9 of Semester 2--Accreditation and Herpetology

Interesting title, no?

To start off, we had a great bit of news on Tuesday this week--Ross University was granted full accreditation by the AVMA... so that means we don't have another comprehensive site visit until 7 years from now!  This means that graduating from Ross is no different than graduating from any of the US schools, and we won't have to take any foreign equivalency exams (like the ECFVG or the PAVE). It's such a big step for our university--we've showed that we're as capable and competent as any other United States veterinary school.  They managed to get at least 90% of the student/faculty/staff population into this picture, I think. It's been a big celebration week as a result.

Wednesday was a parasitology exam... not fun... it was a tough one.  Next up is anatomy on Friday.  *fingers crossed*  Let's see if my meetings with Dr. Moffatt pay off--I mean, I understand the larynx and pharynx SO much better now.

I finally got my package in the mail, so I have a new laptop battery and charging cord!  What a relief!  It's so much more convenient to be able to sit in class without finding a nearby outlet.

This week's volleyball game was quite possibly the most fun I've ever had in a game.  It was full of laughs and funny volleys (like when Scott and I had a joint effort to get one over the net or when I shot it into the next court just trying to bump it up), and a good stretch of serves (I think I scored 8 points in a row just on serves at one point).  We won the first game and then went on to lose the next two... but we were very evenly-matched.  However, it was such a blast... and that's all that matters, right? 

Today was the morning of the next SKSTMN patrol--so far, my group is 2/2 for finding nests.  This one was particularly interesting, because it looks as though the turtle had come up rather high on the beach, started to dig the nest, got distracted/confused by the lights, and moved about 10 feet closer to the ocean to lay the nest.  This time, I was in charge of the recording--we had to measure the width of the nest, obtain a GPS coordinate, and then mark the nest (which is what that pole is in the left side of the picture) with the type of nest and the date.  Lucky me, I got to draw the path she took on the data card.  The walk along the beach felt so much longer this time, but I managed to survive much better in terms of the heat and physical demand of walking along it.

That's about it for this week, although it was a busy/rewarding one.  :)  I was supposed to meet up with Lindsey about the campus tortoises today, but she had car troubles so she wasn't able to... ah well, it's probably better that I took the time to study today instead.

See you all next week.