The Chicken-scratch Declaration of ME

From the notebook mentioned earlier in my blog that my friend bought me. I decided to start out with an easy page: I am.
I apologize for my chicken scratch writing and clear lack of planning and organizational skills.

3 minutes of my dogs

Looking to waste 3 minutes of your day? You've come to the right place.
My dogs are hilarious, also, I am easily entertained.
Silly pups.

Uncreative drugs

I woke up today and I was 21 years old. :) How exciting, lol. I had an exam today so the most exciting parts of my day was free lunch thanks to my friends and some presents, including a silly little notebook that I shall doodle in and upload pages of, and gift cards cause I can always use those.
Yesterday night my dad and I set up my easel which was my gift from my parents, I'm excited!

delicious strawberry cake, made from scratch thanks to my dad! He might suck at decorating but it tasted nummy.

Hehe, I had to use Fei for a size comparison. :)

I have not consumed alcohol today. I am a lame-o. But as one of my bio-friends said (and I'm paraphrasing), "ethanol is such a boring drug. 2 carbons and an alcohol group? Get more creative people." Of course, its true. Compared to the beautiful ring structure of LSD, heroin, and cocaine which at least has a chair conformation in it, ethanol is boring. But enough of that chemistry nonsense, don't do drugs kids.

Commentary on "High Debt and Falling Demand Trap New Vets"

A fellow blogger (Claws Paws and Scales) just posted this article, titled High Debt and Falling Demand Trap New Vets.

“I have said it over and over to myself and friends, ‘This is as close to predatory lending as anything I’ve ever seen,’ ” Dr. Wilson continues. “The only reason it’s not a high-profile crime in 2013 is because income-based repayment and pay as you earn have postponed the reality and pain for 20 to 30 years.”

What Dr. Wilson learned long ago is that it is hard to talk anyone out of vet school. Many students, like Dr. Schafer, set their hearts on the job at an early age. If you are doing what you have always wanted, and you find it fulfilling, the numbers don’t seem relevant. At least initially.

“It comes down to this,” Dr. Schafer says. “Is there anything else I’d be happy doing? No. Is there any way around paying off the loans? No. So, what the heck? A lot of it is just trying to put it out of your mind and maybe it’ll disappear.”

Aaaah, so why was Bewildermunster able to change her mind about going to vet school? Well. I have many loves, and veterinary medicine was not the only thing. I love nature, animals (not just domestic ones!), art, traveling, science, and my family. And yes, I love Doom. If I were to go to vet school, not only would I be trapping myself into lifelong debt, but I would be trapping Doom and any children I choose to have as well. Personally, I can't do it.  It frightened me. And I have to think down to the 'bear necessities' and realize what I want in my life. I would NEVER do anything just for a title. I wouldn't ever endanger my family just to be called 'doctor'. I want to be happy, I want to have a home, and some animals, and maybe a kid. I want to travel, I want to work with my hands, and preferably I'd like to do something science related. Can I do all these things without going to vet school? Yes, and I feel like I'm more likely to do them.
I wouldn't criticize anyone else who is or has chosen to go to vet school, but I do feel like the profession needs to be better informed. I'm glad I did my research. Cause the statistics on the BLS website aren't necessarily true, and the idea that there is a shortage of veterinarians is a lie. What we are in a shortage of is clients seeking veterinary services. But you can't force a client to pay.
I am more at peace with my decision now. In another time, another economy, sure, I may have become "Dr. Bewildermunster, DVM", but not today. And that's okay. I just want happiness, and a life full of love and beautiful experiences.

Bite the head off first, my love.

I don't know why, but I woke up today, still tired, I ate breakfast and lunch and then knocked out for a couple hours! I woke up, still tired AGAIN, wandered into the kitchen, and SURPRISE! I saw a package waiting for me. :) My dear friend Blogadog had sent me a package! Cheered me right up, and after half a cup of super bitter nasty coffee, I was awake enough to take pics! <3

The cutest doggie chew sticks I ever did see! The dogs loved them! Titus chewed his nice and slow, and Feivel chewed his relatively slow for once, haha.

Sea weed! Should be interesting!

These things are amazing.

 

 

ATC! Yaaay!

I'm gonna smell like the wildest ginger sensual plum EVER. :D

OMG I love these so much. Doggie christmas jammies! I don't care what month it is, hahah.

And of course CHOCOLATE. We feed into each others chocolate addictions, don't we, blogadog? ;) Don't worry, I was humane and ate him head first.

In addition to this I got my dad to give me one of my presents early as I already knew what it was! My old kindle (a kindle keyboard) died, I was quite sad about it. I had loved that thing for ~3 years! I even called amazons tech support but no luck. Soooooo my dad was nice and bought me a new one, and I love it! Its the kindle paperwhite, and its got a built in light which is really nice. I can't listen to audiobooks on this one but I guess I can do that on my phone.
Now I must stop this napping nonsense and get back to studying! I have an exam tomorrow that I would hate to muck up.

Why I'm a Bum & Other Pics of Doggies

I wish I had more interesting things to blog about, but my life is pretty lame right now. I need to learn some stress management, maybe do some yoga, take a walk in the woods... oh wait, its a desert out there. -_-'
Anyway, enough about my saltiness.
This was a good week, I got an A on my first biochem 2 exam, which made me quite happy. I also got an A on my history/geography test, and an A on my other history paper. So atleast I can justify my bumminess and non-workyness with my grades. :) I've also completed one application for a summer research scholarship, just waiting on my professors approval to submit it!
I've got an animal physiology exam on monday, which is also my birthday. Yay for turning 21! My friends will probably make me drink, but I don't like alcohol much so I'm mostly looking forward to the SUSHI!
I'm always in some kind of mini-freak-out-mode, and this week, its the whole "when do I wanna graduate/when do I wanna apply to grad schools" thing, and it honestly all depends on if I can complete all the classes I need by next spring or not. I need to meet with science advising and honors advising, and until then I don't know if I'm gonna go ahead and take my GRE exams. I hate being uncertain...
If I'm stressing you out by being stressed out, here are some cute pics of my doggies to calm all of us down ;)

Looooong weekend!

Well, its nearing the end of my lovely 4 day weekend. Well, actually, 5 day weekend as I didn't go to class last Thursday cause I was feeling icky. I'm proud of myself, I was able to write a 1,000 word essay, type up some animal phys notes, study for my biochem test (its tomorrow!) and prepare most of my application for a summer research scholarship. Cooperating with my research professor seems to be going well, she helped me quite a bit on my proposal.
While procrastinating from the productiveness I mentioned earlier, I started searching for masters programs! There's a lot out there, which is exciting. I've also pondered some artwork I'd like to make, but at this rate who knows when I'll get time to paint next.
I'm more optimistic now, though I had a long discussion with Doom last night about what's gonna be happening within the next year or two. Somehow, we have to save up money for applications, moving costs, apartment costs, a new car (Doom's car has been used and abused)... aaah my brain's going to explode just thinking about it!
I gotta remind myself to take everything one step at a time.

The door's wide open

I can't say for certain yet, but I'm pretty sure at this point that I want to pursue a masters in biology, instead of going to vet school. There are many reasons behind it, mostly concerning what kind of life I want to have, and my interests. I guess, after working at the animal hospital, I could see that small animal isn't for me. And considering small animal medicine is like 80% of the profession, I didn't want to risk being 'stuck' doing something I didn't enjoy, especially after 8+ years of education and an accumulation of ~$140,000  worth of debt. Doom and I aren't overly ambitious with our lives, we both just want somewhere that we can live (with trees, and seasons, and for Doom: internet) and maybe have a kid (waaaay down the road, lol).
I still love biology, and animals, and I know I can have that and more without a DVM. I think I'll enjoy research, the idea of being in a laboratory appeals to me.
So... there it is. I don't know where my sudden decisiveness came from, but I've been pondering the question, on the fence, unsure. I feel better about my future now, even if nothing's certain yet.
I may apply this winter for admission to the fall of 2014, I may not. We'll see. The door's wide open.

I wrote about being unsure previously, with links to articles here.

Marching Bands of Manhattan

Happy valentines day, my lovelies. <3

One of my favorite songs for this holiday. :)
Enjoy.
Also, also, I promise I'll get to more art soon! But school is inevitably keeping me busy right now...

Research from scratch

I really do feel like I'm starting my whole research experience from scratch! Not only is my research professor brand spankin' new, but the lab is still in the process of being set up, and because I'm also inexperienced, there is a lot of confusion. I think my research professor is a little unsure of her role as a mentor/PI because she seems to overcompensate with what she wants us to do sometimes. Even her application process was pretty intense, and she wanted us to come up with our own research projects! However, I met with her today and we both came to the agreement that my research project should come from a proposal she's already written. So I now have a project! I just gotta write up my own proposal, then finish my scholarship application.
I'm excited to stop mucking with this paperwork and get to the actual hands on stuff!

Science is scary

I am currently applying for a couple of summer research scholarships, which means I have to write a research proposal, which I've never done before, and heck, let's face it, I've never even done research before (as the lab is still being set up)! I'm stressed. I just... I don't know how to self-direct myself on a project when I've never done anything like this before. I don't know the right hypothesis to formulate, when I don't understand enough to ask questions yet. On top of that, first round of exams and assignments are rapidly approaching.
I don't feel like a scientist yet. Maybe once I meet with my research professor tomorrow and iron things out, I'll be able to breathe. But for now, science is haaarrrddd!

My favorite GIF ever.

that is all.

Sculpting Ideas for my restless hands!

Although painting is my main love, every once in a while I get the itch to pick up some sculpey and make something, but everytime I make something I think "Now what the heck am I gonna do with this?" I can't just have random sculptures hanging around, clogging up my tiny rooms! So I decided to browse teh internet for some inspiration on functional ideas.
Cake toppers ;)

•  Metallic, nice!
•  Cute dragons
• Doggies! 
• Love birds 
• Cherry blossom birds! 

Jackalope jewelry holder

• Like this, but I just want an excuse to have a giant jackalope in my room  ;)

Pendants, of course.

• Wolf! 
• Its neat to find new designs! Never would've thought of this. 
• Yussss GoT! 

Light switch covers

• Eh 
•  Meh
• Cuuute 

Chess pieces (not that I play chess ever, but maybe I would if I made my own set!)

•  Pern!
• Eh 
• Unicorns! 
• Pokemon! 

Anyone got any other ideas?

Changes like seasons

Well, its been a busy week. How is it only the 2nd week of school and I've already gotten behind on assignments?! I'm loving animal physiology so far, my teacher is kind of eclectic and likes to show us bizarre animals and he's kind of all over the place in his lecturing, so studying will be difficult for that class, but hopefully I learn a lot. Biochemistry seems to be going well, though I miss my biochem 1 teacher.
However, I wanted to update that this week I've gone to a lab meeting! I've met the other students (fellow undergrads) who are in the lab, one of them is really nice and I can see myself working well with her, the other two are alright as well. I found out we'll be having individual projects/work when it starts, but I also found out the lab isn't even set up yet! We don't even have our organisms to work on, and a lot of our equipment hasn't been set up, or even arrived yet. So I'll have about a month of wait time, but in the meantime our professor wants us to start researching papers on our organism to become familiar with it. I guess I shouldn't complain, because I should hopefully utilize this time to get other things done. I am excited to start, though!
And to top it all off, I've just completed my last day of work at the animal hospital. It doesn't really feel like an ending, since I will continue to shadow there. I do feel like things are changing though, and hopefully for the better.