Summer in West Lala Land

First of all, I am still a Purdue DVM Class of 2015 alternate. My guess is I will be finishing my undergrad work, rather than starting my vet school career.  I am perfectly fine with this. I knew all along that either way, I would be at Purdue. Boiler up! Nothing wrong with that. I have already started my second application for vet school and this time around, I intend on applying to Purdue again, as well as Iowa and Michigan. Iowa and Michigan both look like really good schools and the more I research them, the more I am drawn to them. The only problem really is out of state tuition. Yuck. I guess we will just have to wait and see where I get in and where I don't. I can already tell I am not stressing as much this time around about the application Which is good. I put together a binder to keep everything organized (since I am applying to more than one school this time) and have made many checklists. I would say it's overwhelming, but it's really not. I've done this once before, I can do it!

Summer at Purdue has been a good experience. When I got back from Romania, I stayed here and began working.  I wasn't exactly sure what that would look like the first week, but I quickly slipped into a "schedule." Quotations because, well, every week is different! Between the Homestead 120 calf study, the SIPAC calves and our new lactating cow study at the Purdue Dairy plus working with mice, biomed pigs and sheep in Animal House, I keep busy.  Lucky for me, life here hasn't been only work. There are a lot of my friends (and some new ones!) around and that's been good. There is usually someone to hang out with when I find the time, if that's a whole group cooking dinner or one on one at Greyhouse Coffee... Oh! And my favorite midweek activity is the Wednesday night Bible study at Campus House.

Still contemplating what my Romania page is going to look like....

Been playing my guitar a lot. Just by myself pretty much, but I have another friend now hooked on trying to learn with me. It's been quite entertaining! I think I'm getting better? :)

Summer Reading List
-Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen - great book! haven't seen the movie yet
-Fated by somone... - not recommended at all. not sure how I finished it
-Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks - always like this author. I predicted the ending though
In the works...
-Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti
-Lineage of Grace
-The Remarkable Story of Job
-A Knight of the Word

That's all for now. Off to church!

Yup... Still waiting

April 15th has come and gone.  Some people I know have received phone calls and gotten accepted into vet school.  I am not one of them.  I keep reminding myself that it could still happen, I could still get that phone call.  I mean, the summer has only just begun.  Plus, I will be at Purdue either way next fall.  I can always apply again, right? Right.

But man, do I just want an answer NOW!  But that is the total opposite of the mentality I need to have.  There's a reason I am being made to wait.  Perhaps it's because this is simply not my year.  Maybe it's something more.  What am I supposed to see through the smoke? Hmm...

In the meantime, I'm preparing to leave the country. Physically and mentally checking out of America for a while.  I will be spending 3 weeks in Romania, starting Monday, learning all I can soak up about the culture, life and agriculture over there.  This is promising to be a very cool and worthwhile experience.  Both from the perspective as a Purdue student, but also as an aspiring production veterinarian with an interest in international agriculture and advocacy.  Wow.  I don't think I've put those words together in that way before, but it does pretty well sum up me at this point in time with my academic career.

When contemplating things like my career path, I can't help but pray about it and ask God, "Is this Your path for me?"  Finding, acting and living for Him is my number one priority.  Using my talents, gifts, interests and passion for Him wherever that may lead me. Romania? Ok Haiti again? Hmm...

Oh yea, I do have another opportunity to travel to Haiti.  I've been on the fence about this decision for quite some time and I can not pinpoint a reason as to way. How about a pro-con list.

Pros:  another opportunity to serve in this devastated country, opportunity to love people, opportunity to educated about agriculture, chance to make a difference with projects that will be a continual tie with Purdue, academic credit

Cons:  chunk out of my Christmas break, financial cost (although airfare will be paid for)

Hmm, that's all I have for now.  Writing it out really helps.  Maybe if I come back in a few days, I can think over it again.

Thanks for reading if you have made it this far!

Destruction of Post-it notes

My method for getting things done is largely comprised of making lists and writing post-it notes.  Sometimes, the wall here in front of my computer may as well be wall papered with the amount of sticky notes up there.  Anyway, lately I have been awesome-ly efficient at getting things accomplished and throwing those suckers away.  Today alone, I took down 4 post-its, each with a task written on it!  I get the same sense of enjoyment whenever I mark tasks of my list, which resides next to my computer (it is also a Post-it, only with lines).  Call me a nerd, oh well

I have just added a tab, as you can see above.  "Romania Maymester 2011."  I am pretty excited about this trip, the opportunity itself and the team of people I get to go with.  Look forward to reading more about it after wards!

In vet school news, I am still waiting, but I will reiterate that that is okay.  The deadline for acceptances is coming up (April 15th) and I assume the will beginning filling spots from the alternate list after that point.  Could I get a call next week?  It's a possibility.  Could I get a call in August?  That is possible too.  Guess we will just have to wait and see! :)

Submit

"Congratulations!

You have successfully e-submitted your application to VMCAS."

You know what that means. That means I was up until 3 am last night staring at my computer screen trying to decided if I was finished with my veterinary application. I'd read all of the instructions, twice. I'd rechecked my courses work, probably five times. I'd read, edited, reread and edited my personal statement possibly a hundred times.

So there I sat.  Almost confident that I was done. Earlier in the night I was feeling so overwhelmed and stressed about the whole ordeal. But by 3 am, I was calm and I slowly looked through everything a last time, said a prayer and hit 'Submit.'

Out of my hands now! As someone once told me (yesterday), if I'm meant to get in this year, it will happen. Guess we will just wait and see (and try not to stalk the mailman).

Gymnast is to Veterinarian as...

"I stand off of the mat, awaiting the judge’s signal.  The sun coming through a window illuminates the uneven parallel bars and you can see chalk floating in the air. Level 8 gymnastics state championships. My heart is pounding.  The judge raises her hand, signaling me to go."

In retrospect, it is really cool to see how gymnastics has shaped me.  At this point in my life, 50% has been spent participating and 75% total time spent associated with the sport (I have coached for going on 5 years now).  It doesn't just teach you strength, endurance, flexibility and cool physics-defying skills. No. It is so much more than that. Just a few things I know I have taken from gymnastics include: teamwork, goal-setting, mental strength, determination, dedication... the list goes on and on.

When thinking about my personal statement for vet school, I realized how applicable and important this non-veterinary interest was to me.  The paragraph above is actually the first paragraph of my personal statement, which I plan to submit to VMCAS next week.  I decided to weave gymnastics into my statement, starting with that true story from my last competitive year. 

Veterinary medicine requires basically all the skills I outlined above that gymnastics helped develop in me.  I am not saying I am at an advantage, just that I am grateful for the opportunities I had as a kid. I always find myself telling my girls that I coach that they will learn SO much more after they are out of the sport. And it's true!

Gymnastics is a big part of who I am. I know it has and will pay off for my future in veterinary medicine.

I thought I would share some of my old gymnastics pictures as well :-)

Level 4 competition (wonder how many points I lost for that toe point!)

 I met Olympic gymnast Amanda Borden at a gymnastics camp!

My first Level 7 floor routine was to Ricky Martin's "The Dub of Life"

Level 7 Beam

Level 8 Floor

Climbing Fences

Vet School Checkpoint #1

Every new obstacle in life could be compared to climbing over a fence. You see it. You take it one step at a time to the top and eventually make it over. If you take it too fast, you could fall. If you are scared, you won't make it at all.

My biggest fence of the coming year is going to be veterinary school. The application has officially begun for me. I am considering my first checkpoint towards admission to be the GRE. I finished it last week. Pwhoooh!

Purdue's deadline is October 1st. I hope it doesn't come too fast! There is a lot to get done between now and then! I will keep posting about my journey towards vet school.

Here are 5 blogs by 4th year Purdue students about their fences in vet school. I have found them really interesting and they certainly get me excited about vet med!

I have been climbing fences for a long time...