This past week I have been on a Study Break! Thank you Australian uni!!! We have 4 weeks of intense class, one week to try and revise everything we have learned and study for exams, back to another 4 weeks of class. Study Break 2 for a week. 4 more weeks of class and then a final study break before Assessment period which is over 2 weeks at the beginning of June. This study break has been literally ALL study!!
I have a biochem exam on Monday afternoon and I have been spending as MUCH time as possible on that subject. I also have an anatomy exam coming up the week after and I am SOOO behind on all my insertions and origins and joints. Bleh! I know I know - I said I was excited for Vet school.. but the first four weeks of school hit me like a brick wall. I am pretty much over the intensity shock of the course, but reality is I need to step up my game! I have been pretty quiet on here and that is due to that said stepping it up! Studying a MIN of 3 hours every night after class is going to be mandatory to keep up with the information overload! I GOT THIS!!
I did pass my first Physiology/Histology exam last week and I am very happy!! And I guess its time to explain the grading system for anyone who wishes to attend school year. Thankfully I did my research before coming here and getting a 65 on my exam was a GOOD thing and not devastating like it would have been in the states. So in the US every student starts out at 100percent and is docked points as the test is graded. The problem with this approach is that it ASSUMES every student knows and understands 100percent of the material that was presented to them and they lose points for what they didn't retain. This gives an artificial bell curve and does not spread out students based on how much they actually know. Meaning all students who wish to go on to medical school are ALL lumped near the top with barely ANY way to distinguish each individual for admission purposes - hence all the emphasis on extracurricular experience for US Vet schools. (YES you still need good experience to get into Australian Vet Schools too). AU schools do NOT assume that every student knows the material and you start out at a 0 and have to earn every point! This is reflected nicely in the grading scale. Knowing 80-100 percent of the material fluently gets you a High distinction 70-79 gets you a distinction. 60-69 gets you credit and 50-59 gets you a pass and below 50 is a fail. In Australian terms it is BLOODY hard to get high distinction in vet school with the volume of information you are given plus they want you to NOT spend all your time studying and instead getting active in clubs to enhance social skills. Social skills are becoming more and more important in securing a veterinary career and most vets actually do NOT want to hire people who achieved HD in Vet school because it USUALLY indicates a lack of interaction with society in general! haha BOOK WORM!! :) I am not saying I would LOOOVE to get an HD in class, but at this point in my career just passing my courses and getting all the hands-on experience I can will be the most beneficial in the long run. Needless to say. I scored above average on my Physio exam and I got in the credit range and I will take that! :)
Now I have group projects to worry about on top of my exams and I need more than a WEEK to catch up!! ehhh only one more day of break and its back to the grind!
The only exciting thing I have done on break was RIDE THE TRAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! I was soo giggly!! Coming from a place where public transportation has SOOO much to be desired that it is basically non-existent. I LOVE PUBLIC TRANSPORT HERE!! Brian and I rode the train down to Rockingham! GORGEOUS place!! I can't wait to go back and visit Penguin Island! yes that is its name! :) Anywhoo we took the train down there to meet with a lady who is the main organizer for rehoming racing greyhounds. Well infact most of them have been bred and never even seen the track and just need good homes! She has 2 dogs of her own and 3 fosters at the moment, and we met with her for an interview to pet sit her animals for 5 weeks from april-may. She is going back to her home country of Ireland for a vacation because she hasn't been back in about 5 years and has been in AU for over 20. Sooo needless to say I REALLY hope we get the job and can play with animals for so many weeks. I am on the edge of a emotional cliff being without my kitties who have slept with me for YEARS!! I know they are being treated AMAZINGLY and I couldn't ask for better grandparents for them than my parents and I know they are being spoiled and getting fat. So knowing they are happy is getting me through, but being selfish - I want them here with me... I need them. At least in a few years we will see where life is taking me and hopefully we can be reunited! They are soo young that I can't imagine living the next 10-12 years of their lives without them! With that being said, hopefully we will get the job of pet sitting and I can be distracted from missing my babies for a little while longer! :)
Other than the kitties, I think we are adjusting quite well. I MISS CANNED BLACK BEANS!! I cannot find them anywhere. I found a package of pre-cooked black beans only to find out they were SMOTHERED in soysauce as a preservative and it was NASTY!!!! and we rinsed them a BUNCH!! So I guess I have to get the dried black beans from the little asian farmers market and do the whole pre-soak, and cook for hours thing! haha At least that way I know I will make enough to freeze bags of beans and wont have to recycle cans! I just miss the convenience! Also it blows my mind that they don't have canned black beans but every other kind of bean you can think of and CRAZY flavors of TUNA!! yes that's right! They have flavored tuna here!! Like mexican spiced tuna, chili flavored tuna, and the list goes on and on! It is quite disturbing! I RARELY eat fish or any meat for that matter, but for convenience Brian and I got some canned SMOKED tuna and Blackened salmon cans for tuna salad sandwiches in a pinch and those turned out tasty, but I can NOT get myself to try flavored tuna! hahahaha. OOO I also found Jackfruit at a different oriental store and now I can make my pulled "pork" bbq sandwiches ! YAY!! Yes I fed fruit that peels apart just like pork coated in homemade BBQ sauce to multiple people now and they had NO idea that it wasn't meat! I can't wait till the study abroad people move out so I can mooch all their kitchen stuff they can't ship home and I can be a real cook again!! :) Most people find cooking a pain, I just hate the dishes! :) I find it very relaxing to read through blogs and recipe website for plant-based recipes and imagine how I can tweak it to my liking or just finding combinations of foods I would have never thought of on my own. Whoever thinks a veggie lifestyle is boring is just plain wrong! :) ITs a blasty blast!! ALSO, I have to say I am SUPER annoyed with the labels and the prejudice on both sides of this food debate! WHO CARES WHAT PEOPLE CHOOSE TO EAT!! If people want to cook and eat meat GO for it. If people want to nibble on a carrot! LET THEM!! There is absolutely NO need for people to be so judgemental! Do whatever fits into your lifestyle and be happy with the choices YOU are making for YOUR own body. End of story! I will never judge people for hunting or choosing a juicy delicious steak because YES I do think meat TASTE wonderful, but after not eating it for so long I have a HUGE immune response to dairy and meat and I feel feverish and sick after eating it. I also do not agree with the intensive farming practices. So everyone has to find what is right for them and their decision behind what they eat may be a very complex emotional decision or it could simply be what they are used to - it really does not matter! Also, I am not the type of person who will be grossed out because someone is eating meat next to me, I do not care if your meat utensils touched my veggies, If someone has put the effort to make dinner for me and it has meat in it I will NOT turn it down because I was raised that that is RUDE!! Never bite the hand that feeds you as my mommy always said!! :) So that is the end of my rant! :) With that being said if people want to learn more about why I have chosen a plant-based diet (and not diet as in fad diet - diet as in habitual nourishment! Daily food rations) I will not hesitate to share the documentaries (most on netflix) that have changed my way of thinking. Some are on farming practices, but most are actually on the vast amount of Nutritional data that is available today. But in the end do not judge me because I am not judging you. Just Live and Be Happy with who you are because in the end its how you view yourself and the choices you make that will make you happy - other peoples perceptions of you will not.
I guess I will go back to studying and stop day-dreaming about going to the beach!! :) Enjoy your snow wisconsin!! :) I still do not miss it :P and YES I did have to wear jeans and a really thin fleece for my nightly walk last night!!! hahah not that it was COLD in any sense of the word, just saying its not in the 100s (F) anymore! :) I know you wanted me to rub that in once again! :)
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