Always remember rule #6

Hi everyone! So I had this great opportunity to attend the VLE two weeks ago and I wanted to tell you guys about it and put up some pictures too. The VLE is the Veterinary Leadership Experience, hosted by Washington State University and held in Post Falls, ID. There were about 180 people there, with two students and one professor from each school, plus representatives from Hills, Novartis, Banfield, etc, some small animal practictioners & PhD speakers in fields of communication, psychology and the such. Also we did trust falls. :)
So I made a lot of great contacts and good friends, and it pretty much much made me feel like whereever I end up for my clinical year I will know people and be a part of a great program. I think all the schools have a lot going for them. Also Post Falls was beautiful, as was Spokane, WA, where the conference started. There's a picture of the grounds and across the lake at the conference center, and then one of my group that I spent most of my time with. Oh yeah- they gave us lots of free stuff- jackets, sweatshirts, tshirts, hats, and much more, which is why we all match like champs. I love it.
Getting back in gear on the island and catching up in classes kicked the crap out of me, but I think I may be getting close to back on track. Next week I'm going to try and start fresh. Yesterday I had my Thailand/Cambodia trip meeting to see the interest for traveling next winter break. Turns out I have a few more than I planned on, but I'm sure it will work out and be an amazing trip. Lots to do, lots to do. Miss you all!
ps: Rule #6 is don't take yourself so seriously. There isn't a 1-5.

Slip sliding away

I know, so soon so soon. I have actually had a couple exciting things happen in the past week, so I wanted to write about them and post some pictures. For starters, I am heading to the Veterinary Leadership Experience conference tomorrow in Spokane, WA for a week. It was an opportunity that was open to application for all students at the end of last semester – I remember seeing the email but didn’t apply at that time. Last Friday one of the deans called me into his office and said there had been a last minute dropout and he asked if I would consider applying for the spot. So I did, and now I’m going. I don’t know exactly what to expect, besides a lot of “leadership” and “team-building” exercises (greeeeat!), but I do know it will be a really good networking opportunity and a chance to meet vet students from all over the states. Every school will be sending two students and a faculty member, so I actually think it could be a lot of fun too.
In other news, I got to go sea turtle monitoring last Tuesday night. Basically, there are large numbers of leatherback and hawksbill sea turtles who nest on several beaches on St. Kitts, and there is a professor at Ross (who started her research and the entire project when she was a student!) who is now working on her PHD monitoring the activity of the turtles during the nesting season, which is now. To complete the research, large stretches of beaches have to be monitored for 10 hours a night to make sure no nesting females are missed when they come up on the shore to lay eggs. They crawl up on the beach, pit out a spot, dig a really deep hole, lay 100-150 eggs, pat sand delicately over them, fling huge amounts of sand on top with their back flippers to conceal the nest, then go back to water and swim away. It takes about an hour and a half and it is absolutely breathtaking. And as you can see from the pictures, they are HUGE. Wow. Oh, and while they are laying the eggs, they go into sort of an estrogen induced trance, so thats when the blood samples are taken, health and tags checked, measurements made, and the nest site is marked with GPS. Really cool to watch the team work- hopefully by monitoring on a regular schedule this semester I will eventually be able help with the work-up. Good times.
Yesterday we had another fun day though- I finally got to hike the d’os dane pond trail! That's the same trail I started with my dad but didn’t actually do a lot of because it took us so long to find the trailhead. It was Jenn, Maria, Renee, Brooke, Elizabeth and I who went – 2 hours up and about 1 ½ back down. I included some pictures, though it is probably hard to appreciate how steep and very very very muddy and overgrown the trail was. It was an experience for sure. We were looking way down on brimstone, so those who have been here can at least understand that. ☺ Next up is the volcano hike, which apparently makes this one look easy, and I think it is about 3 hours up. Can’t wait – maybe sometime in late July before the finals push. The first two pictures are from the midway point - one of the hill we were about climb and one of the view looking down, then Renee and I at the top, and then me on (in) the trail on our way down - mud mud mud!
Anyway, that’s my news. Talk to you when I do!