Takes All Types

Just a follow up from yesterday's post, reminding myself that it takes all sorts of people to make this world of ours go 'round. We need single-minded people to be as dedicated to one thing like many of my classmates are--because otherwise I doubt there'd be as many veterinarians in the world. And there's already a shortage. I venture to say the same about most hell-long professional paths. Just because my "worthwhile" is not their "worthwhile" doesn't mean they are bad people. In fact, they are very good people. It's not worth putting effort into worrying about.

Smart does not equal Intellectual

Vet schools are really good at getting "smart" kids to come join in. Good ACT, good SAT, good college grades, good GRE score, good writing skills for the entrance essays--impressive enough to convince college professors to write good recommendations. These kids are pretty much really smart (then there's a few like me that were good at convincing people that they were smart, but really, they were just good students. There's a difference). However, being smart is not synonymous with being intellectual. Something I miss in many (not all) of my classmates (future collegues) is a certain maturity that comes from self-reflection, reflection on the world around them, innate curiosity, interest in things they're not good at as well as those they are good at, genuine care for things like history, literature, politics, the environment, epicurean endeavors, art, and so on. And most of all, discussion--real conversations about these kinds of things.

13 hours

of straight, hard-core, good studying!

Microbiology 9-10
Respiratory Physiology 10-12
(took a shower, ate lunch)
Epidemiology/Biostatistics 12:30-2:30
Resp. Phys. 3-4
Pharmacology 4-5:45
Micro. 5:50-7
(dinner)
Holistic Club presentation 7:20-10:40
(talk to Ben til 11)

Housewarming!

Our housewarming party included a fire and fire-play (and glowing hulahooping) next to the pond in our back yard. Good new home.
[Dave and Illysse duet with poi, Mitara and I play around the fire, Good ol fashioned drum circle, Jessamyn with upright posture and poi, Ursula in her silvery galaxy girl hoop attire]

Reformatting My Time

Ben introduced an idea to me from the book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Basically, things can be divided into combinations of Urgent/Not Urgent, and Important/Not Important. The idea is to do important/not urgent things so that things don't become important/urgent. Even more so, the idea is to cut out things that are not important whether urgent or not. This totally makes sense, and I think my tendency has always been to confuse "urgent" with "important," thereby wasting hours filling out forms or picking at zits that'll go away if I don't get them right now or vacuuming the house again because there is another cat hair ball in the corner....
In an effort to change these ways, I am cutting out many things that not urgent or not important in favor of studying. This includes nearly all phone calls. I am seeing the fruits of this change, though making the change has its consequences too--it's not like me to ignore friends! So if you are on the brunt end of this change in my life, please respect that this is neccessary for me to do to get through school, and that I will be here for you--just maybe not Right Now. I'm just asking for patience. I'm someone who is generally there for other people, no matter what. And saying "No" is difficult for me because I love my friends and WANT to be there for them. But to be an effective student.....sigh.....I have to be just as dedicated. And I really am dedicated to becoming a vet, despite my creative and recreational callings. So, for now, creativity and recreation are on the back burner with occassional allotted times to be dabbled in. Okay.