More of the same

Ugghh.... I've been sick for the past week. I think I'm finally almost over it.

But on the plus side - I finished my bachelor's! I officially have a BS in organismic biology!

Tyler got me a really cool ring as a graduation present - its a stainless steel band, with a black line in the center. Inside, he engraved "Ancora Imparo" - which translates to "I am still learning." Seems rather fitting.

I spent the week

end at my grandparent's cabin in fairplay with some friends and the hubby's band. I'm trying to balance spending as much time with the people I'm going to miss like crazy with getting stuff done.

I think we found a buyer for Tyler's truck. Hopefully we'll get that taken care of tomorrow, and have one less vehicle to worry about. I'm hoping to trade in my cavalier right before we move, and get something that will fit me, Tyler, the pups and the cats for the thousand mile drive to CA. I've been looking at Toyota Matrixes, Pontiac Vibes, Dodge Calibers and Honda Elements. Whatever I get, it will have to last me for probably the next 8 years or so. I doubt I'll be able to afford to replace it until I've been working as a vet for a few years.

I've been packing like crazy. I think I have more stuff that I'm getting rid of than what I'm taking with me.

I still haven't found a place to live. I'm hoping that hubby and I can take a couple days to fly down to Pomona in a few weeks, and get something lined up. I'm pretty freaked out about the fact that nothing's set in stone yet.

Undergrad winds down, and my summer starts to wind up

The last couple weeks have been frantic, but my semester's finally winding down. I took two finals already this week, and have one more easy one tomorrow, then I am officially done with undergrad! So as of tomorrow afternoon (or more officially, when all my grades post,) I will have a B.S. in Organismic Biology! (Or, as I told my dad, I will be officially full of BS.)

I sold my hearse. It broke my heart to have to do it, but I know there's no way I could get it to California with me, and I needed the money from it to pay bills. It went to my old friend John from the band Try Redemption, and he's already put more work into it in the past month than I've been able to do in the last 4 years of owning it. I had a bunch of people interested in it, but I ended up screening who could buy it like I would if I was re-homing a dog. I love that car, and I didn't want it to go to somebody who would let it rust, or turn it into a Mad Max car. I'm determined when I graduate, that I will buy another '67 hearse, and probably a matching '67 ambulance.

I was terrified that I was going to fail biochem, and have my acceptance to vet school revoked. It was pretty much at the point where if I got the minimum points to get a C, I'd be happy. Well, our teacher worked quickly to grade our final exams, and I got a B! I did not see that one coming! I'm still waiting to hear what I got on my physiology final, but I'm not freaking out about that class.

At the beginning of the semester, I was talking to my husband about wanting to have a big graduation/going away party. Now that the time is here, and I have to pack, fix up the house, and move, it just seems like throwing a party is just another obligation to have to deal with. I think I'll just celebrate quietly and alone by making a couple caramel appletinis tomorrow after my last final.

My MIL has been making a big deal about wanting to throw a party for me. Which sounds sweet if you're on the outside looking in, but when you're the one she's targeting, its not so sweet. Between me and the hubby, we've had to tell her "no" at least 15 times, and she's still pestering about it. Why would I want to celebrate this achievement with a manipulative, passive aggressive religious zealot? The last thing I want to do is cheapen my degree by celebrating with somebody who thinks the world is 6,000 years old, or that angels returned her lost costco card, or who compares me getting my DVM to her dad having an honorary doctorate from some bible college (and who has the gall to use Dr. in front of his name for an honorary degree!) I've told the hubby that I will not see her again before we move, as since she does not take a polite "no" for an answer, I cannot trust her not to try to spring a surprise party on me.

In less bitchier news, my mom got me a badass canon SX120 for a graduation present, so once again, I can take pictures! My old digital camera bit the dust when some batteries leaked in the camera, and the camera on my phone doesn't really work inside in artificial lighting, so I'm excited about having a real camera with a flash.

I still haven't found a place to live out in Pomona. I've been scouring craigslist and the student housing website, and I'm starting to get nervous about not having a place lined up, or a moving day set in stone. But I have 2 1/2 months before vet school starts, and I'm sure something will pop up. But keep your fingers crossed for me.

Best news ever today!

I was starting to get a little annoyed with Western. At our interview, we were told that we should have letters in the mail by or on the 15th. Somebody from the student doctor network called them and found out that they weren't going to mail letters until the 15th. Well, they sent out emails today, and I'm in! I'll be moving to California this summer! I have been in a constant giddy state all day, and I'm hoping the hubby will be home soon so we can go out and celebrate.

Reasons why California is going to rock:

Western U's problem-based-learning curriculum

Students are in the clinics from week 1

High # of surgeries done during school

Exposure to a large number of practices, and different ways of doing things

A "systems based" curriculum

Warm weather year round

Within driving distance of the beach, the mountains, amusement parks, pretty much anything

Trader Joes

Citrus trees

There are a bunch of guitar builders and luthiers out there - The hubby can probably find a job building guitars again.

I've got so much I need to do. I need to get through biochem, fix up the house so I can sell it, get my tattoo finished, sell a bunch of cars (definitely my hearse, but possibly my cavalier and hubby's truck too), find a place to live, pack, move cross country with 2 dogs and three unhappy cats, and figure out a way around a whole new city.

I can't wait!

The wait is killing me

When I interviewed at Western, they told us that we should hear about acceptances/rejections by March 15th. After staking out the old threads from previous years on the Student Doctor Forums, it looks like I could hear as early as the 12th, or as late as the 19th. I could potentially know by Friday!

I don't want to get my hopes up too high, 'cause I don't want to be crushed if I end up at KSU, but I just want to know! This application cycle has really tested my patience. I just want to start looking for a place to live, and make plans to move, but I won't know for at least another week where I'm moving to this summer.

I'm also stressing out like crazy over other things that are kind of related to going to vet school. My acceptance to KSU is contingent on passing all the pre-reqs, and biochem is killing me. I'm not doing well and I'm terrified that I'm not going to pass it. (Please, a C is all I'm asking for.)

I'm also starting to stress out about money and moving. My student loans will probably run out in April, and classes don't end until May. I'm only getting 8-12 hours a week at work. How am I going to afford to move, and put a deposit down on a place to live? I also need to start fixing up my house I'm renting from my mom so she can either sell it or rent it. On top of that, I need to get my hearse fixed so I can sell it, 'cause I doubt I'm going to be able to afford a place with enough parking spots to keep it. Even if I could find that place, I don't think it would make that long of a drive without breaking.

It begins

After days of stalking the mailman, the letter finally came. A large, yellow envelope with "K-State" on the return address. I'm in!!!!!

I won't hear back from Western for another month or so, and should hear back from Wisconsin in a week or two.

I'll just flat out say it. I'm not as excited as I should be. When I interviewed at Kansas, it was like 3 below zero, the town was disappointing, I missed the tour of the school, and I just didn't like it there. The thought of having to live there for 4 years is a bit of a downer.

When I interviewed at Western U, I had the opposite reaction. I fell in love with the school, and the area around it. When I was reading online, I was warned about how terrible Pomona was, but after driving around in it, it didn't seem bad. I was expecting something like the bad part of Denver, or Oakland or something, but it seemed fine. It was snowing at home when I left for the interview, and I got there, and it was pouring rain and 60 degrees. It was beautiful. Everything was so green! At the interview, all of the students and faculty were so enthusiastic, and I thought that their problem-based-learning curriculum would be an amazing fit for me.

So, I get to wait a month to hear back from them. I think I'll be pretty crushed if I don't get it, but even if I don't, I've already gotten into one other school. The important thing is, in four years, I'm going to be a veterinarian!!!

Starting in the middle

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I thought I would start a blog about getting through vet school. Why is that overly optimistic? I haven't been accepted anywhere yet.

I applied to 7 schools back in October. I was rejected pretty quickly from CSU, my in-state school, OSU, WSU, and I've never heard back from Penn one way or another, even though I'm pretty sure they've sent out all of their interview invitations, and I've got a snowball's chance in hell there.

That leaves me with the three possibilities that haven't blown me off - KSU, Western U and UW-Madison. I've interviewed at the first two, and UW-Madison doesn't interview students. Now I'm just stuck in limbo, waiting to hear from these three, hoping that one of them finds me suitable for their school.

Of the two schools I've interviewed at, I loved one, and the area its located in, and was impressed with the other, and hated the area its in. I'm almost afraid if I say which was which, I'll jinx myself and end up at the one I hated.

I'll start this blog off optimistically, three possibilities, and hope that future blog entries are about my journey to a new area, and through 4 years of vet school. Hopefully I won't have to write about re-applying next year.