... new game-plan...

(To any of you who already know this info, my apologies.)

Well, finals didn't go as well as I had hoped... I failed physiology by 2 points... but I'm trying to look on the bright side of it. It could've been worse! I had 2 friends entirely fail out. I'm not alone, at least... I know of 4 people repeating their semesters as well, too.

Like... the B's that I got in nutrition and microanatomy can easily be turned into A's. I'll have a ton of spare time to play guitar (if I can get one down here), relax with video games, and still be able to understand everything. I'll have a stronger grasp on these things when it comes to later classes (like, physiology is the basis of pharmacology and anatomy is the basis of surgery). I'll be a god among men in the anatomy laboratory.

It really sucked the first day or so after hearing the news, but it's made me more determined to do better. Steven (my new roommate) told me that the best nutrition tutor on the island had failed a class in first semester too, so there's no reason I can't get as much of a reputation for myself once I begin TA-ing or tutoring for it myself.

So far, it's been a rather dull break, but that works out better for me. I've had lots of time to catch up on sleep, relax, watch some movies/anime, play "American McGee's Alice" (a good game, albeit quite dark), clean the house, go food shopping, run errands, and start re-studying for the semester. My only other big plan for the break is to clean the car, but I'm waiting until a cool day crops up. It's felt like it's been in the 100s lately!

Watch your back, Semester 1. I'm coming for you with a vengeance!

The Last Stretch of Semester 1

Finals begin in a little over 9 hours... :) I'm still not quite nervous yet, but I'm sure that'll change somewhere around 2:00am.

Physiology I (the tough class) on Monday...
Nutrition (the easy class) on Tuesday...
Anatomy I on Wednesday...
Microanatomy/Embryology on Thursday...

See you all on the other side...

One Week to Go!

One more week until finals... one more day of classes... it's insane that it's almost over already! Luckily, all the professors are taking the time to help us out with review sessions and everything. Fingers crossed!

Moved into the new apartment last weekend with few problems. I just had Steven's car trunk decide it wanted to try to eat my arm. It's almost all healed up now; and I'm all settled into the new room. It's nice having a working air conditioner that doesn't take 10 attempts to turn on (although, it leaks out the corner a little bit).

Got my foster dog a few days into living at the apartment. He's cute, but boy is he a handful... he's untrained (after living in a colony for a few years, it makes sense) and not well housebroken yet. At least he knows how to sit, but there are a LOT of other things he needs to learn. Luckily, Dr. Moffat had a spare crate for me to use while I'm in classes until one comes up from the AOCC (Animals on Campus Club) so that he doesn't pee all over everything. Of course, he also has allergies (I think), so he licks and chews on his feet a LOT and makes a lot of noise doing it. Drives me crazy when I'm trying to sleep in a little bit... but hopefully the clinic will be able to give me something for him tomorrow.

Had my week of feeding the campus tortoises. They're cute little buggers. Very sweet too (well, for a tortoise). I found a baby the second day of feeding, but hadn't been able to find it since... I hope it's still alive in there and didn't get eaten by a mongoose or something like that.

Been going to the gym. Lost 18 or so pounds so far. I think that's going well, but my pants and belts don't fit so well anymore. :P My friends and I have planned on going on another hike on Tuesday up to the radio tower. Looking forward to that one. :)

Been particularly homesick this week... and really wanting my guitar lately, but I can't pick that up until I go home in December.

Well, I should head back off to study for a little bit and try to get the study guides done for nutrition.

Coming to the End of Semester 1!

So... exhausted... it's been a very long few weeks (and once again, my apologies... it's harder to maintain posting every week with each passing one).

Have one more microanatomy test to go and then it's the last leg to the final exams. I've managed to pull my grades up to something more fitting of my self-esteem (although they still aren't perfect). I should be able to TA/Tutor nutrition next term at least. :) I'm good at that class and I really enjoy it (well, most of it at least). I think the studying is finally getting to all of us... as you can see, I've been held at knifepoint to answer anatomy questions. (Not really... but it's still a funny picture.)

It's hard to believe that we've been down here for almost a full 3 months... and many of my friends are returning home over the break. I'll be staying here on the island, because I'd rather be home during the winter break (Christmas and snow). So, while I didn't get the position as an orientation leader for this semester, I did take a volunteer position at the school's hospital/clinic. I'll be working 7 shifts... 5 of them are overnights... and 4 of them I'll be the shift leader (which, I believe means I need to work the full 12 hours of them!).

Just 8 more days until the move to the new apartment... and I have to say I'm quite excited about it. And then, it's just 15 or so until I get the foster pup, Reigo. I'll tell you guys more about that when I get a chance to get a feel for his personality a bit more.

Other than that, the only big news is that Massachusetts became the first state to ban debarking/demeowing surgeries. Article here! I don't think I would've ever been comfortable doing it, so I'm quite glad. Not to mention, I just don't think I agree with it. And while we're on that topic, it's strange to be put in the position where you finally get to choose for yourself whether or not you agree with procedures like that... it's a very odd feeling and I find myself on the fence of a lot of things because I CAN see both sides to the arguments for and against the procedures.

We've had a bit of a rough time at the zoo lately... Bourbon Butterball (the turkey in the picture) was euthanized this week. He's had a rough time with some sort of infection about a month ago (and was on vitamin injections as well as antibiotics). That cleared up and then he developed quite a nasty wound on his hind end that just wouldn't heal well without being in a hospital setting. Poor guy. :( I already miss his creeping around the pen following me while I cleaned out his enclosure.

Well, that's it for now. Another post just before/after the move (which is also on the next PAWS adoption day).

Light at the End of the Tunnel!

More than halfway through the semester... and boy has it been a tough one academically. The anatomy instructor explained it best to my friend, Jennifer:

You're taking a bunch of students at the top 10% of the bell curve through undergraduate school and putting them together and then re-creating a NEW bell curve with them. So, there's all ranges of grades/knowledge/experiences that we're not used to, having been at the top for most of our academic careers.

I have to agree... many of my friends feel as though they are "not doing well" in one class or another and yet, we're all not used to it... even if we're at the B-range in a class. It's a very odd feeling. I'll tell ya--there are a LOT of study groups organized in the next few weeks to get through the final 2 exams and into the finals. We all have our sights set on making it into the second semester, and nothing will stand in our ways. :)

Had another interesting situation come up regarding the housing situation... but I don't believe I've mentioned any of it on here... so, I'll recap with a summary:

Dorms were closed due to maintenance issues, so we had to find housing down here without ever having been to the island. It's worked for most of us as a temporary fix... but it's not an ideal permanent situation. Take my apartment, for example. It's beautiful, rather large, and in a safe area of the island... but it's not pet friendly, and nearly a 20 minute drive from campus. At the end of the month (hopefully... I'll get to that in a minute), I'll be moving to an apartment that's only a 10 minute walk from campus, is pet-friendly, still rather large (3 bedroom, 2 bathroom), and half the rent I'm paying now... and I'll be living with 2 (current) third-semester students that are in the same clubs as me.

However, Mac (the housing coordinator) contacted Lindsey and myself on Wednesday to inform us that our landlord had passed away from a heart attack on Sunday. Kind of caught us off guard... the guy was maybe in his late 40s or early 50s, maximum. Seems rather quiet down here lately, without him and his friends upstairs. :/

Saw Prince of Persia down here. It's not bad... and neither is GOING to see a movie... it's $15EC... when back home, it's $15 US! (For those of you who don't know the conversion, it's $2.70 EC = $1.00 US... so a movie ticket costs about $5.50!) Incredibly reasonable for food and everything too... a ticket, nachos, and a soda cost under $15 and the movie quality is just as good as back in the states. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with it.

... class is down 4 students now... the 2 from my orientation group, one that I just met for the first time last week, and one from my anatomy dissection group.

What can ya do though? Looking forward to next weekend, post-nutrition exam! Big plans for Saturday with going to Port Zante and just relaxing!