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!!!