Packing!!! Ahhhhhh!!!

I just want to transplant everything from here to there, can I just do that??? I love packing and moving, but this trip I can’t take everything, so the hardest part for me is figuring out what to bring, what is the most cost effective, what will be good comfort items, what will I need the most, and what will fit. I spent a good 4 hours packing my bags rearranging and trying to fit in some last minute snacks :-) The remainder of my Christmas Eve was spent putting up [even more] Christmas lights on the house and climbing up a 15’ ladder to decorate our outside Christmas Tree. Then we fixed dinner and opened our traditional one gift for Christmas Eve. Now I must go to sleep so Santa brings me lots of packable items! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Gratuitous pictures of my Caribbean Christmas Bunnies...



Fred tryin to look gangster in his Santa hat...



Betcha didn't know there were two bunnies present at the birth of Jesus...


(or that baby Jesus can be depicted by a cabbage patch doll :-) )

I hate goodbyes

Moving day...well, I got moved out of my apartment in Rocky Mount, thanks to my sister and the three lil ones. Wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. The worst part was having to say goodbye :’-( The mere thought of not being able to see those 3 cute little faces whenever I want to is hard to deal with. Living 1.5 miles away from family has been what has kept me sane through the last 3 years. I will miss my sister and her family tremendously...my heart is breaking...

Gettin down to the nitty gritty

Welp, its gettin real real...only one more night of work after tonight then off to the mountains I go. This weekend was kinda crazy, I worked friday night until 2am the drove through the night to SC for Christmas with my family. Arrived in SC around 7a then unloaded and got a 2 hour nap. Then the festivities began including lunch opening presents, a hike through the woods and lots of quality time :-)

Got the USDA endorsement on the health certificates for the rabbits today, cheaper than expected, so I got them a 10 bag of food. Did some packing up and undecorating for Christmas :-( But the Christmas tree is still up! Tomorrow’s the day to see how much of this stuff will fit in my car, hopefully all of it will but the truth will be revealed tomorrow.

Why do I keep waking up on the floor???

It’s winding down...I’m sleeping on an air mattress after taking my bed to a new home (along with one of my tvs). The apartment is slowing emptying, and the rabbits are getting more and more concerned. They nervously chewed on the air mattress causing a gushing leak, therefore I woke up on the floor. Exhausted and only thinking about sleep I pumped the air mattress up more only to wake up on the floor 2 hours later. Oh well, it forced me to get up and start packing again. Only 8 more nights of work and 19 days left in the States. My to do list is dwindling (ever so slightly). I still have some Christmas Shopping to do along with packing up the apartment and fitting everything into my car :-/

Oh yeah, I got my stethoscope!!!



Thank you Riverside Veterinary Hospital and Dr. Cameron for your generous donation (helping me pay for my stethoscope). I will have and use it continually remembering those who have helped me along the way!!!

Did I mention I love Christmas???

Two Christmas Parties and lots of fun!!! So time is winding down here in the US and I have so much stuff to do. I received my luggage tags from Ross yesterday, yayyyyy!!! I got my tracking number for my barrels today, my immigration letter came in the mail today (although I had received it by email on Thursday). Got my battery back up (UPS) from Dell (a solid 13.1 # to fit in my carry on :-/ ) My check has cleared for my Guide to the Dissection of the Dog book (bought from a current student). Monday is my appointment with Dr. Leonatti to get the rabbits’ physical exams and bloodwork drawn and get the ball rolling on all of their paperwork. They keep talking about all of the money we will need once we arrive on the island and its really disconcerting...enough for 10 meals during the week, then some information states to have 2 months worth of money for expenses (food, rent, etc.). Ahhhhh!!! I hope I have enough money?!?!?!? I forgot to mention that I got a “big sister” on the island, a first semester to help guide me along. I received a call from my financial aid advisor which freaked me out at first but when I called her back it was just to inform me that everything was set to go, just awaiting my refund disbursement in January. I put my car up for sale on craigslist. I am awaiting my stethoscope just ordered by Riverside Vet, so excited I can’t wait til it gets here. I also just ordered my magic jack... Found out that a friend will let me borrow their truck (Thanks Doug and Robin!!!) to take my bed to Norma in Wilmington (for safe keeping for the next 28 months) which relieves alot of stress in looking for a rental car and the financial burden. Had my last Sunday in Rocky Mount, went to Englewood for my last Sunday morning service :-( Then out to lunch with the Daytons’ and Williams’. I have my apartment walk through on Wednesday and need to clean up... Busy busy...

Adventures in Shipping...

11/28/2011

Shipping barrels is definitely an adventure...I had heard tale of people shipping barrels for as cheap as $130, although when I received a quote it was for more than double that at $270. So I found another company that quoted me $170 over the phone. So I decided two barrels are better than one :-) I drove to the address provided but it was an apartment so I thought, "surely I have the wrong place..." Nope, so then I met the guy and his wife (?) whom I followed to a storage unit. Here was where the guy proceeded to print out my invoice on his laptop and portable printer while loading my barrels into the storage unit. I thought about backing out, but figured, I'm already here, what the heck?

Saying goodbye to my barrels...



So many other things have happened, and I haven’t had the time to really sit down and document it. I received my grade for Biochemistry and submitted my request for my transcript (as a part of my last requirements for vet school). I received my orientation schedule, exam schedule, final exam schedules. I shipped my barrels (that's right, count ‘em, one...two...) I was trying to hold out a resist the temptation to ship anything. But one whole barrel included the rabbit cage, rabbit food, rabbit hay, and rabbit litter. And that probably still won’t be enough to make it through the first semester. But oh well...the other barrel included mostly bedding, clothes, toiletries, and shoes. I attempted to take pictures of the contents so that I could remember and document in case something ended up missing. I got some pictures but definitely not everything...


I am now 8 days away from giving my two week notice to work...kinda scary. Oh yeah, I got a carrier for the rabbits from Dr. Stewart, who so graciously allowed me to borrow it long term. I am now 1 week away from taking the bunnies into their expensive appointment (drawing blood, physical exams, health certificates, etc. The bill should be quite hefty. I also got one of my textbooks. I was a little concerned about it since it was only available through one vendor it seemed a little shady to me. Turns out its printed in Raleigh and written by an NC State vet school professor. I should get my “Studying without Stress, Mastering the Medical Sciences” book tomorrow. I wanted it before Thanksgiving but it went to the USPS, go figure. Anyway, I have commenced decorating my apartment for Christmas :-) and watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music and the like. My...head...is...still...swirling. What else has gone on in the past 3 weeks? I have bought a dissection kit, coveralls, and Miller’s Guide from current students so I’ll just be taking the Smallwood one in my luggage. I still need to buy my MagicJack and Battery backup. Lots of studying still to be done but I feel like i can get a sufficient amount done in the next 33 days. Oh yeah, I have to arrange moving my bed from Rocky Mount to its new home with Norma in Wilmington, who is kindly keeping it for me for the next 28 months. It’s looking like enterprise is the best option so far...Had to arrange to be paid out for my vacation early to be able to pay for all of the upcoming expenses in a timely manner. Items still a little confused about: USDA Health Certificate (both the process and the cost :-/) posting my car for sale on Craigslist (resistant but hopeful) Still need time to create all of the Christmas presents for everybody and to get lots of studying and leisure reading in.


Can I take them with me???

Class Registration

So course registration began a week ago. Everything is becoming a little more real now. I am still very impatient and can't wait to start!!! I will be taking 21 credits, 5 classes. They include, Microanatomy, Gross Anatomy, Physiology, Nutrition, and Intro to Vet Med. Here is what my weekly schedule will look like:



So between TA sessions and classes there won't be very much "free time". I anticipate a LOT of studying. Countdown is 47 days left in the US!!! The clock is a tickin' :-)

Money, moolah, cash, greenbacks, benjamins...

10/20/2011

Financial Aid Award is in!!! Not the full amount, but close, so I’ll take it :-) That’s a relief as well, no co-signer needed and approved for almost the full amount...Signed my MPN last night (although I think I need to sign one more for each type)...$57,000 that’s alot of money :-/ oh well, thats the cost of the education so I’ll just hafta deal. I came to terms with it way back in March that if this is what I wanted to do, I had to go all out. Still a little nervous about paying for all of the stuff I need before I leave. Mailed my deposit for the apartment yesterday in $1350.00 worth of $50 traveler’s cheques...that was alot of signatures! Got the money order for my background check and mailed that as well. Also got my postage paid envelope to send my final exam in to UC Berkeley. So, now back to the holding pattern.
Still waiting to hear about:
-Shipping
-Books
-Labs that test the bunnies bloodwork for myxomatosis and rabbit hemorrhagic disease -registration for classes
-luggage tags
-wireless router/modem
-Dr.’s appointments (x2)
-3rd Rabies Shot on Friday (another $250.00 to part with)

Still need to buy:
-Rabbit Carrier
-Rabbit Pen
-Food
-Hay
-Litter
-UPS
-Magic Jack
-Books

Misc:
-Livescribe Pen
-Livescribe Notebooks
-Study without Stress book
-umbrella
-water filter
-cold medicines
-bug spray
-lunch box
-calendars
-magic bullet
-digital watch
-bath mats
-neoprene cover for mac
-nitrile gloves

10/22/2011

Just dropped below 60 days left in Rocky Mount!!! Ahhhh this is ceeerrrrraaazzzyyyy :-) but in such a good way. I still can’t believe that my life is going to change so drastically in less than 70 days. I know that i am going to be so stressed out but that’s the life I want. I’m going to be a student again :-) I got to go to the State Fair with my family today, so much fun! Here are some pics to prove it:

Emotional Roller Coaster

10/13/2011

Well at least is some good news to report, I got approved for my Graduate PLUS loan, no cosigner needed!!!! Yayyy! This is great news, I had forgotten about needing “pre-approval” for this loan then looked up how to do it. Apparently it was alot easier than I anticipated. I went to studentloans.gov logged in and clicked on request PLUS Loan. I filled out my address and information and within 10 seconds it said I was approved. Such a blessing!!! Now I’m still waiting on:

Dr. Leonatti - rabbit health certificates/USDA/bloodwork costs and location
Ross U Off Campus Housing - housing, did I get that apartment?
Ross U New Student Coordinator - rabbit food/hay/greens/litter

I wouldn’t mind knowing more details about shipping, one girl said it only cost her $130 to ship her stuff, that sounds good to me, even though I would have to get the barrel to Miami and pay a broker it could still be less stressful than trying to take it all on the plane. Simply because I will not have a ton of money to buy stuff once I get there and will need alot of the stuff I may otherwise have to leave at home (like my pull up bar :) ). We’ll hafta see. Biochem exam got delayed...AGAIN...so now she’s supposed to email me when it arrives on site so I can schedule it. Gives me more time to study but I’m ready to be done with it at this point. I want to be able to start studying for my classes for vet school, reading my last of leisure books (for the next 3.5 years), including one about study skills, which I think should come in quite handy.

10/14/2011

Such a RELIEF!!! Man, so now I have my apartment solidified. I’ll be spending much more than i intended ($742 as opposed to $600-$700) just for rent plus utilities and internet. But its in the location I wanted! So yayyyyyy me! Still trying to figure out shipping, but it looks somewhat good. I got a plastic barrel from work and had maintenance cut the lid off, so hopefully I can ship my stuff in there if the price is right. I’m just so relieved to have a place to live. If need be, I could hitch a ride to get groceries, school is the most important!!! Pictures of the new place:

My life in bags...

09/24/2011

Ahhhhh packing!!! it’s gonna be more or a challenge than I anticipated. My original plan to check 3 bags is being re-thought due to the $200 charge for that third bag. So....more stress of trying to fit everything about my life into 2 checked bags, a carry on and a personal item. Apparently I have more clothes than anticipated, more toiletries and school supplies than I thought, and more stuff to go to mom and dad’s than I thought :-/ oh well, I’ll just hafta clean more closets out at home to make everything fit. Right now have one bag of clothes/shoes, a tote of school supplies and toiletries, and a box of purses/misc items to go to the mtns. Along with the closet organizers mom will use. Oh yeah, and I packed up the games and mom’s bills in boxes to go as well. Must not forget the undergarments and socks, I read about someone who accidentally forgot all of her bras :-0 Still haven’t packed any workout gear, tank tops, or pajamas, AND still have shoes that need to be packed...man, its gonna be harder than I thought :-/

Just keep swimming...

09/02/2011

Well, apparently now that the month has changed to September i feel a little bit closer to actually going to vet school. When I date things for a month from now it will be October. Which seems obvious and mundane but in a month I will be getting ready to put all of my furniture up for sale so that it should be gone by Thanksgiving. So while it still seems a long way away, I feel it coming closer!!! This weekend will be a big landmark in trying to accomplish quite a few goals. In addition to going home for Labor Day I will be going by the doctor's office to retrieve my health records, the health department to get my immunization records and potentially get my Hep A/B vaccine, obtain a background check from the courthouse, go by the animal hospital I used to work at to say hi and pick up an anatomy book, potentially get the bunnies microchipped, and buy my flight ticket (including booking the bunnies reservation). So much to accomplish in such a short time. Plus I have to take the 36” TV back to mom and dad along with a few other items that belong to them. Very excited...I hope I get everything, or at least a good portion of it accomplished.

09/05/2011

Well, a wonderful and somewhat productive Labor Day is over. Got to sleep in, help mom do some things around the house, attempt to (and later finish) work on some coursework for Biochem, dinner and a movie (Fazoli’s and Zookeeper) with mom and dad, then back to the house to talk and again work on Biochem. Overall I think I did most of what I set out to do today. Oh yeah, and mom bought me some batteries. And possibly the most exciting news...I bought my flight to St Kitts for January. It felt amazing!!! The rabbits have their reservation as well, so all is good. Although last night I felt some pangs of homesickness for the first time. Realizing that I won’t be able to come home that often while I’m in school hit kinda hard. It was emotional to know that I will no longer be a car ride away from my parents and the home I grew up in. This is one of the things that has previously held me back from going to Ross before. I just need all of the strength I can muster to pull this emotional struggle off. I set up mom and dad’s computer for Skype so that we can video chat online while I’m in school. This aspect will be crucial; I hope to be able to talk to them at least 3-4 days per week, even if it just for 10 minutes. I am going to miss home so much! It’s all for the greater good though, maybe this is supposed to prepare me for something bigger, like moving farther from home or even internationally. Who knows what opportunities I will have! Mom said tonight that she would love to go on an African Safari, this is also a lifelong dream of mine. I know the vet school has taken trips in the past so that would take care of me, but I need to find a way to take her along, pack her in my suitcase, maybe?! Here's a gratuitous shot of Fred chewing ;-)

Hurricane Irene!!!

08/29/2011

Welp, I survived...Hurricane Irene has come and gone along with what I’m pretty sure was my first panic attack. Don’t know why, but I freaked out at the thought of Hurricane Irene demolishing all of my belongings. Now I am not one to treasure earthly belongings but I am pretty sure it had something to do with not wanting to let anything stop me from going to vet school. Along with my stockpile of goodies I have accumulated to take with me to the island (toiletries and school supplies), my clothes, and most importantly my bunnies...I packed it all up and headed west. Note the picture of Fred hiding from Irene :-/ I was previously supposed to visit Norma in Wilmington this particular weekend but due to the inclement weather we adjusted our plans to make an impromptu visit to Charlotte to visit Paola with Tammy. We went shopping and ate tons of food. Overall it was a fun trip but as usual I felt guilty spending money on food (even though it was delicious Peruvian cuisine straight from Machu Picchu :-) ). Well, hopefully I can work some more overtime to make up the difference. Did quite a bit of studying for Biochem today. Hoping to make more effective use of my breaks at work to accomplish what I need to with this class. Its just so hard to be motivated knowing that I have already gotten into vet school and between work and volunteering at the vet I am not motivated to do much else. Oh well, I hafta finish this class and I’m pushing the deadlines.

Lots to do!!!

08/18/2011

My head is swimming, so many things I need to get done and not enough time to do them…the story of my life. I like being busy but I also procrastinate doing the unpleasant or mudane, yet necessary tasks. Right now the looming elephant in the room is a doctor’s appointment. It has been mmmmm...some time since I last visited a doctor and also find it necessary to complete some immunizations in preparation for going to St. Kitts. Due to my unfortunate 1 kg weight to the eyebrow incident in May, I received my tetanus vaccination (won’t be needing another one of those for 10 years!). But I need my immunization records, a health certificate, RPR and TB Test results, Hep A and B, and Rabies vaccinations. So many things ahhhh!!! Although, my rabbits need almost as many documents for their trip , they must be tested to Myxotamosis, Tularemia, and Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease, 2 of which don’t occur in the US so I am working closely with the exotic vet in Raleigh to find a lab that can test for these. They must also have a health certificate, valid within the last 30 days, that must be certified from the USDA, as well as a check up 72 hours before departing. Through a series of events they did end up being vaccinated for rabies (with a ferret version of the vaccine) :-/ I also confirmed with Delta that they would, in fact, be able to be checked as baggage for a flight from ATL to SKB, which is great news!!! Who knew taking 2 cute lil bunnies would be so much trouble? I wanted to take them in the cabin but only Continental/United allow it...neither of which have direct flights to the island. So short of getting a not from a doctor certifying them as service animals, this is the only way to transport them :-/ So now just waiting to hear from the housing department to see if I will be able to 1)Live on campus with the lil bugars, 2)Live off campus with the lil bugars, or 3)have another Ross student house them our first semester. So many obstacles to overcome, but that’s the story of my life, if I don’t have a direct path I climb over, go around, under or hurtle whatever comes my way.

Today I also got to spend some nice quality time with my beautiful sister and her wild n crazy kids at the spray park today. Well, technically the plan was to go swimming but ol’ reliable Rocky Mount Parks and Rec had a different idea. Apparently instead of waiting til Labor Day to change hours they changed early. So we headed to Sunset Park and played on the “rocks” cement statues of amphibians and fish and a rock wall to climb on. Taught Grace and Isaac how to climb a wall and stand on one foot on the fish. We came out of the whole experience unscathed and with hands full of humongous bowls of ice cream!!! They had this interestingly named “Trash Can” variety that sounded a little sketchy but apparently its vanilla flavored ice cream with cake and nuts mixed in. Oh yeah, and we made preliminary plans to do the Polar Express tour, a train that goes from Rocky Mount to Wilson to watch the movie Polar Express around Christmas. Since Christmas is the MOST Wonderful Time of the Year, and I love anything dealing with Christmas its sounds like a play date!

Oh yeah, and my wonderful mom is definitely on the prowl to find my some coveralls for large animal labs; come to find out one of my favorite local stores is going out of business, Shermans. L But some good does come out of it, “Carhartt and Sherman’s will always makes you smile”, welp, all through vet school I’ll be smiling and have a piece of the mountains with me while wearing some Sherman’s Carhartt coveralls!!! 50% off retail!!! My mom can find a deal, well tomorrow will mark the start of the four month countdown to my last day of work. I'm so impatient! Til tomorrow :)

Start at the very beginning...

A very good place to start...

So I started this whole journey of applying to vet school waaaaaaayyyyyy back in undergrad. I began college with vet school in mind. My freshman year was spent at the University of Pennsylvania (who has a vet school :-) ) which was quite a culture shock to live in West Philly for this NC mountain girl. I was offered an athletic scholarship at UNC-CH, which was an amazing opportunity and a much better fit, so I transferred. I had applied and was accepted into Ross University immediately after graduating but was unsure of the financial commitment. Fast forward a few years later and I reapplied to NC State but to no avail. My original plan was to start in August but the class filled the day before I interviewed. Which works out for the better actually, there are so many financial commitments that accumulate!!! (deposits, airline tickets, rabies vaccines, physicals, plus all of the rabbits' requirements...yes I am taking the rabbits with me to St Kitts) Needless to say, here is an approximate timeline for how everything has transpired:

03/22/2011 Submitted Application to Ross University

04/06/2011 Enrolled in Biochem at UC Berkeley (prerequisite previously not required)

05/13/2011 Found out scheduled interview date

06/29/2011 Ross University interview

07/11/2011 Interviewer contacted me, ACCEPTED!!!

07/18/2011 Received acceptance letter!!!



So ever since I received confirmation of acceptance I have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything accomplished. I will gradually chronicle what I have written since this point in order to get everything accomplished until I catch up to present day...

In the meanwhile, here are some gratuitous shots of where I will be living for the next 28 months:

About me

Hi everybody, my name is Anna and I will be entering the January 2012 class at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine!!! I am so excited to finally have the opportunity to pursue this dream. As cliche as it sounds I feel like this has been a long time coming, and with the tremendous support of my family and friends will hopefully come out in 2015 with my DVM :-)

A little bit about me: I am originally from the mountains of North Carolina, went to the University of Pennsylvania for one year before transferring to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (only the BEST school in the WORLD) competing in varsity intercollegiate athletics at both schools. I have worked many different jobs and still never found a career that I was as passionate about as veterinary medicine. I had applied to Ross back in 2005, was accepted, but chose not to go and turned my back on anything veterinary related. Finally got up enough gumption and decided to go all out, go hard or go home! Moving to another country, while attending one of the hardest programs is going to be the biggest challenge of my LIFE!

All of the pieces are coming together, and I will be moving my two pet rabbits, Desi and Fred (the two cutest bunnies EVER), along with a majority of my personal belongings to the beautiful island of St Kitts.

Where is St Kitts you might ask? Well it is located in the Lesser Antilles Islands of the West Indies approximately 220 miles southeast of Puerto Rico. The island is bordered by the Caribbean Sea on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Just the right setting for a tropical paradise. But heeding the warnings of all who have come before, there is some bad that comes with the good (to be expanded on once I have experienced this for myself).

Like every student accepted, I am very apprehensive about what I am getting into but know that I really have no choice in the matter. What I want in the end is to have my degree and the knowledge to become a great vet.

I have decided to start this blog (like every other Ross Vet School student, hence the title of my blog) in an effort to keep my friends and family in the states aware of my life for the next 3.5 years. So happy reading!!!