*A wild Fabian appears onto blog*
*He wipes the cobwebs from the pages and blows the dust off the articles as if they were untouched scriptures of a forgotten age*
Nothing like some melodrama to revisit my blog. My somewhat unloved and lowly venture that has been, from no fault of my own (maybe a little), been sidelined once again shall now make a full and proper return. Now seems the most suitable of times to right the wrongdoings of engaging with other written obligations. Hopefully this return will suit the settling of people back into starting a new semester/term/financial quarter etc.
It is quite refreshing to come back to writing openly and freely. I have been unscrupulously plugging articles and charity related activities and pieces on my Facebook and Twitter and this blog, as I have discovered presents a certain freedom that more formal outlets tend to not allow. More personable events and such can be shared and the thought that I may be chastised for my grammar or fluency of writing doesn’t even cross my mind. Perhaps I am just becoming a bit of a poet, flowery in my prose, a side effect of having to write strictly opinion pieces regarding veterinary subjects.
It is nice and being a bit different from the normal cloth seems to follow me in many ways since I have been back at uni. For example, I am now straddling unceremoniously third and fourth year at Vet School in Brno… much to the irritation of many of my third year peers and friends. Not with genuine frustration but the benefits of sharing subjects from two years and what freedom it can afford you, has meant my timetable is always relatively favourable whilst others… not so much.
Best not to forget what awaits me during the last 3 weeks of semester!
Beyond the organising, the subjects I am following have really started to ‘heat up’ with regards to interest levels. Possibly due to the fact that I am one foot into ‘Camp Clinical Years’ but possibly due the fact that past work experience is starting to help me build a more rounded picture of what I am actually participating in. Brand names such as ‘Metacam’, ‘Synulox’, ‘Vetagesic’ roll off the tongue as if I was a hardened veterinary professional with years of experience and not some budding vet student. The most pleasurable aspect of that is I actually… pause for the moment… UNDERSTAND what is happening. I see, process and understand what the principles are of the handful of medications and treatments i know and when they might actually be applied. Non-medical students please ignore this previous sentence, in risk of being confused that why after 3 years of intense science, I am only just starting to make sense of basic pharmaceutical products. It is normal at this stage… I promise (*think).
With that in mind, it is only the beginning of the fourteen hard weeks of work. All vet students will know that every enthusiastic start comes with a neccessary hidden clause. I believe its the one that says ‘You are hereby condemned to the best and sometimes the worst years of your life. Compliments of Veterinary Universities worldwide’ on the certificate of acceptance, gifted kindly to you at matriculation.
Another huge positive of this semester personally, is that I have had space to pick up two elective subjects. Electives, for all those who aren’t familiar, are subjects that aren’t compulsory but are an option from a selection of subjects. It is compulsory to pick a couple in fourth and fifth year but there is freedom of choice about what they are. Being the anatomy junkie in my first year and having nearly been split into two by 99% theory subjects all of last year, I have opted for comparative anatomy of vertebrates and practical dissection. Essentially, the only two anatomy driven electives, that were available. In danger of sounding like a complete and total bookworm/nerd/geek or any combination of those stated, I propose to you this argument. Not only was anatomy the subject I have connected to most but it is also the subject I feel I have lost the most knowledge/comfort from. It has been a long long year of mechanisms, substances, what goes in and what goes out and frankly, minus pathomorphology as a subject, I am somewhat short of being able to resume my love affair with anatomy. Now seems like a better time than ever to return to its loving embrace, notably as next semester the elective, Clinical Anatomy becomes available and the semester after that, surgery finds its way onto my timetable. It is all about the long game plan!
All in all, it seems like academically I am well set for the next year at least.
Mentally however… well…
I am experiencing what many students will and should be nodding their heads in agreement to, is the distinct feeling of university beginning lethargy. Why is life so hard when you want to be in bed until midday when really you have to be at the university gates, tired, cold and probably miserable at 7:30am just to hear how to hear how dust is collected in a farm environment. *cue smallest violin in existence and melancholic music*
One must not rest on their laurels however! To be realistic, I feel and know I have more momentum at present then I did starting either of my previous years, mainly due to the continuing writing, reading and work experience from over summer. It feels great to be back and stretching the waning neurons in my brain – sometimes I do wonder where all this energy to do the extras comes from.
A fantastic miracle perhaps!
Dready Vet 