Do what you love.

I just came back from my second day shadowing Dr. Dowd. I've learned a lot in the 8 hours I've been watching her. I now know a lot of the causes for some of the problems my dog has every now and again. I saw my first cat client today, which was a change from the constant dogs. The vet techs are all nice, I haven't quite learned the names but there are two in particular that include me in a lot of the things they do. Perhaps this will be something I'd rather do. I think they don't have to go through the full length of vet school and it looks less stressful than diagnosing. I learned about hunting dogs and what goes on during the hunt. The big 'OH MY GOSH' moment was when Dr. Dowd revealed that she has 3 chickens! Almost just like me. My chickens woke me up at 7 today and I forgot to ask her how to get them to shut up.

Some issues arose with a few of my friends today. One in particular just pissed me off so much. She and I started hooping around the same time and while I know I was ecstatic about it, I don't think she felt the same way. We both attended a class together and I continued to practice while she was stuck without a hoop. She has been asking me to make her one but it's hard to find time and she doesn't talk to me- it seems like she only talks to me when she needs something. I can read a lot of friends and judge how often they check up on their friends and she doesn't ever check up on our friendship. She is now pursuing hooping for her theater project. She's going to buy a hoop (finally... although it has only been maybe 2-3 months since I started, but it seems like forever ago) and learn. I have nothing against her learning hooping because I LOVE it when people have similar interests, however it feels forced. I want her to love it too, I want everyone to burst with happiness. I guess I'll see where this goes. 

The three things I love:

Animals
Hooping
Food

--Make sure animals and food are NOT intertwined.   

BONUS SONG

Busy Weekend

Weekends are normally an exhale of relief. This weekend, however, has been non stop go go go-ing.

Friday was my first day at Tassajera Vet to intern with my mentor, Dr. Dowd. I went in and nothing was really busy. Starting at 2, however, Dr. Dowd starting getting patients every twenty minutes. It went as I expected, even if anything, I had some deja vu going on. Right away Dr. D immersed me in the medical language and it was hard to follow along without asking questions every five minutes. I watched and learned that non anesthetic teeth cleaning isn't as controversial as everyone makes it to be. I wore my fancy clothes and ended up putting a scrub shirt over it. A few things especially stood out to me in those hectic hours. An emergency dog came in with blood in his stomach and a dog came with maggots on its back. The emergency dog was diagnosed in less than five minutes and there wasn't much that the staff could do. He didn't die, but when I left he was in poor shape. He needed to be shuttled to the bigger hospital in Dublin. The dog with the maggots showed me how people are different from me. His maggots got shaved off and his diet was addressed as well as his future. He had a slipped disk in his spine and would become paralysed in a short duration of time. His owner didn't want back surgery. I left feeling tired, but right after the internship I went to babysitting three boys who did not give me respite when it came down to bedtime. I ended up coming home around 9 and was fast asleep by 9:30.

Saturday I woke up bright and early for the ACT. Afterwards I test drove a Honda Fit and attended an amazing concert with Twenty One Pilots, Panic! at the Disco, and Fall Out Boy. Everything went smooth, except the little hiccup which happened when we were on bart. My friend Madi got her brand new Iphone 5c stolen by a man with grills and a joint on top his ear. We filed a police report and moved on, quite irked by the experience. The concert was great. We met people and took pictures with photobombs all over behind us. In and Out ended my Saturday and started my Sunday.

Sunday I got to sleep in for the first time in weeks. Sunday is today and today I got a brand new car. No longer do I drive the space oddysey. Today we drove home with a brand new 2013 Honda Civic. White. I cannot wait to tell Tony. I will now be able to park in the Senior lot, drive over 100 miles more than my old car and feel okay driving as much as I do. I'm already missing my oddysey and all the memories I left behind. I feel bad because my parents have been spending so much money in the past year. I hope I can help pay for my growing insurance to lighten the thousands that are coming from this leased car.

I hope this relieves me of any desire to boast or moan or talk about my weekend. I've been very disconnected and I want to know why. I walk around dazed looking towards the future not really knowing what I'm doing in the present. I hope I can resolve this feeling and get back to focusing on others.

Long-Term

It’s very interesting to see how the different aspects of my life intertwine. Just last week I learned about goal setting in Social Psychology and now I’m doing just that. Although I touched on a few goals on my first post, I'd like to expand.

I said I wanted a strong follow through, but I learned that that’s an intangible goal and that I need to add small steps in order to achieve it. By the end of senior year I want to know what I want to do in college and maintain the grades to get into the college I want. I don’t’ want to go into college blind with no knowledge of myself and my preferences. I know I get really excited for things and drop others and this can be a huge pitfall in my success. Hopefully this blog and my friends can help me work through the large plates I tend to pile up.

In respect to IQuest, I would like to keep my internship no matter my feelings towards it and learn as much as I can. Knowledge is power. As before mentioned, my new discoveries and lack of attention to other activities in my life can lead to a minor disinterest in becoming a veterinarian. Once again, I hope to power through these struggles. 

I want to become a person who I can respect and whom others can respect. Someone who is well composed and knows what she wants in the moment and in the future. I know a lot of what I say is a reiteration of previous statements but to me it's important to find this balance of stability while doing what I love and believe in. Finding the "flow" not just in hooping, but in daily routines is going to be the key to achievement.

Bonus music track of the post: click here

The 30 Tips

An overview of How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie for my future use.

How I'm Starting Out

I had a blog before this but it didn't work out. I've been writing journals for the last five years but I never seem to finish any of them. I love learning and doing new things but it seems like the chemical reactions that take place in my brain never let me stay on one thing. My main (and first) goal in this class is to create a strong follow through. I want to be able to say that I finished my projects and had an awesome time doing it.

My main project this year is going to be an internship with a veterinary office. I'm excited to say that my initial meeting with Dr. Dowd will be in one week. It has been a dream since I was little to be a veterinarian. Although I see more doubt in the possibility of getting into vet school, I think this will be a stellar opportunity for me to see if I have what it takes to go through with six (to EIGHTTTT) years of college. I'm actually currently taking a class at DVC- social psychology. So far it's been easy and fun to learn about, which makes me draw a conclusion that the level of difficulty in college does not waver much from the difficulty of high school. The colleges I plan on applying to, I think, won't be as easy as DVC but I don't think I'm going to visit any one of those just yet. 

Most recently I got into a hobby that makes me feel good and empowered- hooping. Although it will not be my project, I want it to be seen by others so I can hold myself accountable to any thoughts of dropping the thing that I'm most proud of at this moment. The other thing on my fun plate is being an officer for E2. Everything environmental intrigues me and I hope that I'll be able to create that same emotion for others in our school.

I'm very scared of my time management this year and I think that figuring out my "flow" is crucial. I think when January comes around I need to focus most on keeping a strong GPA. I have a seasonal job at a Bretons School for Dogs and Cats with Jillian so I hope to squeeze extra money for extra concerts for the early 2014 year through my last summer as a free duckling.