Wonderful Random Moments

These past two weeks have not been particularly fun, with several tests and quizzes coming along in quick succession. However, the past couple days have been great, definitely making up for all of it.

Thursday morning began with our Pathology test, which most of us were very excited to be done with. It was the last one in the string of tests we've been having, and it preceded a (sort of) three day weekend for us. Once the test was over, however, we still had a full day of class until 5 to get through, including the dreaded double lab sessions (which seem to be more and more frequent these days). With most of us running on only a few hours of sleep, this was not a particularly exciting prospect. By the time my group had gotten through parasitology lab and had to face our final two hours of anatomy lab, we were all slightly giddy with exhaustion. Thankfully, the lab didn't require too much brain power, since Dr. Eng's method of going through the muscles of the thoracic limb involves slowly and carefully explaining and going through each of the muscles one at a time as we dissected them out on our dog cadavers. So in the end, the lab itself wasn't too bad. What made it memorable, however, occurred about halfway through the lab when I started to hear scattered snickers and giggling throughout the classroom as Dr. Eng described the actions of various muscles. Finally, I realized that the laughs were due to Dr. Freeman, who, behind Dr. Eng's back, was demonstrating the actions of each of the muscles with wildly exaggerated movements (the best one being a rapid succession of fist pumps). Finally, Belinda, the MDL lady who was operating the video camera on Dr. Eng's dog cadaver, just broke down into uncontrollable laughter, which seemed to be the signal that set the entire lab laughing. If this doesn't seem like that big of a deal, you must understand that anatomy lab is usually a relatively serious affair, so the whole thing was pretty amusing. Despite the entertainment provided by Dr. Freeman, we were all still very happy to leave, and it was the first time a professor announcing the end of a lab session has been greeted with applause.

To cap off the weirdness that was Thursday, as Alex, Candace, and I were heading out of the building, we ran into Dr. Klein, our neurobiology professor. We already knew that Dr. Klein was a little strange (he brought a saw to class one day so that he could hold it up to his own head in order to demonstrate the different kinds of sections that can be made of the brain), but we were slightly concerned when we saw that he seemed to be staring into a closed doorway. Noticing us coming, he pointed at the doorway. Confused, we looked and realized that he was pointing at a mouse, which was skittering nervously around the crevice of the door. All four of us watched as the mouse hurried by us and turned down the next hallway, checking each doorway for a potential escape. I don't know why, but it was kind of a weird, surreal moment. Probably just because I was so tired. Perhaps also because it brought back flashbacks of the mice that escaped during my research in undergrad, causing me to have to crawl around on the floor to catch them. Anyway, after a moment of intense interest, we continued on our way, finally heading home.

Yesterday, we did not have classes, but were all strongly encouraged to attend the VA Veterinary Medical Association conference being held in Roanoke. Although it involved waking up earlier than usual, it was a really fun experience. I attended a series of lectures on cat and dog behavior and aggression, got a pretty delicious breakfast and lunch, and got to go around the exhibit hall collecting a bunch a free stuff branded with vet supply company and drug names. I mean, who wouldn't want a baseball cap that says "Prevent the Ulcer" on it? It's the height of stylishness. If there's one thing I've learned from vet school so far, it's that if I stay in this profession, I'm probably never going to have to buy another pen for the rest of my life. As long as I don't mind using pens that say "K9 Advantix" or "Purina" on them, I'm pretty much set.