The first week of school was not classes – it was an orientation program that was very well run and I think will be crucial to our success as students and veterinarians. The purpose of the orientation is essentially to learn to trust and communicate with one another. As touchy-feely as that might sound, it is really important. When you have 130+ Type-A personalities in a room, all of whom are used to leading a group and having good ideas, it gets pretty crazy when you all have to work together. So essentially, we had a week-long crash course in learning to communicate better, organize ourselves, and trust that other people have good ideas too.
Now, I’m beginning the second week of classes – the first full week of classes – and I’m already feeling overwhelmed. Never before have I spent so much time studying outside of class. I go to school from 8am-5pm every day, and then come and spend the entire evening studying. I even went into school on the weekend and sat in the anatomy lab studying the axial skeleton. And that was after only 3 days of class!
Needless to say, vet school is intense and I’m not getting as much sleep as I used to. There is a lot of material that needs to be covered and there’s very little time! Today I sat in an elective class with some second and third year students and I was absolutely amazed by how much they already knew. I am definitely looking forward to the growth and knowledge I will gain in the coming years.