Sorry for the loooong delay :(

(See title.)

My apologies to those who read my blog- after Valentine's Day, things got very hectic very quickly! A little summary of all the things that have happened to me between then and now:

This picture ended up on Instagram of me looking like I just
took a leisurely stroll. My shirt ended up dark brown, and I'm
covered in sweat. I was 9 pounds less at the end of the hike.




1. I hiked up Mt. Liamuiga, one of the most challenging things I have ever done in my life. Here is some info if you are interested in hiking the volcano. I went with about 9 other girls who are all way more fit than I am, but we managed to do the hike without a tour guide (our crater descent only took 45 minutes, the ascent took 1 hour 35 min: apparently this is a pretty good time!). The views at the top though are totally worth the physical exertion. Once you reach the top, all I could feel was a sense of awe and extreme pride. But it got even better when we decided to climb down into the crater itself. The picture on the right makes it seem like like the crater is maybe 50 feet below the rock I'm standing on. It's actually greater than 1,000 feet, and the only way down- or up- it is by propelling down using ropes and roots to hold onto down an 80-85 degree slope. I have no idea how I made it back up the volcano to the peak again.
2. Went horseback riding on Nevis through the AAEP organization. We went riding on the beach, one of our tour guides took his horse swimming, and we only had one mishap throughout the entire trip. Best of all, the owner of the stables is originally from Pittsburgh, which was nice to have a little bit of home so far away! The horses were all Thoroughbreds from the racing tracks at Puerto Rico and St. Kitts, but they are very good mounts- most of them were bombproof, and while we had a beginner with us, everyone felt very safe throughout the ride.
3. Did very well on my last general block exam and the finals- ended up with 3 A's and a B for vet prep :)
4. Was able to go home and see my family, friends, and all my animals. Pretty much the entire break consisted of me traveling or riding (although there was one day I stayed at home because I FINALLY HAVE CABLE AT MY HOUSE YAYY) I also managed to fit in a horse show and managed to find a trailer, bring one experienced horse and one who had never been to a show ever, and two girls who have never shown before, and nobody panicked! And now I've given the girls the bug, because they've been messaging me with upcoming fun shows in their vicinity for when I come back to the States in August. (Rebecca and Carli- bring your A game!!)

The size of the crater. Girl is 5'1''.

So I guess it's about that time where I describe the classes in more detail and my advice regarding the professors and how to study for the block exams. I'll try and approach this class by class.

          Microbiology- Dr. Rajeev is new to the island, but don't let that fool you! She is one of my favorite professors because she likes to have fun and make the class interesting, but microbiology itself is almost entirely memorization. Go to the TA sessions- especially if Kristen is TA'ing. She is a fantastic TA who mostly uses shortcuts, mnemonics, and diagrams/pictures to get important concepts across. Even so, it's possible to do well- most of my peers got A's in this class. But she will call you out if you're not paying attention in class, and she remembers those who are disrespectful...

          Pharmacology- Dr. Shokry (conceptual topics)/Dr. Boots (most of the math portion) dual-teach this class. It may seem at first that all you're learning is verbatim off of the Powerpoints, but this class is challenging, especially if you have difficulty with math-based applications. The exams are 10 math problems (beginning with conversions) and 10 conceptual multiple choice questions. Essentially, you should memorize the book that Dr. Shokry gives you verbatim, and his examples in the book WILL show up on the exam. Dr. Boots uses a lot more examples than Dr. Shokry, and often times will come up with math problems in her head and works them out in class with you. She tries to make class fun by sorting you into Houses a la Harry Potter, and based on your groups clicker answers, the House with the most points at the end of the semester gets a surprise. Elliot was our TA and I urge everyone to always go to his sessions- they were so incredibly helpful! 

Two weeks after our cow lab, this happened. So cute!

          Case-Based/Clinical Applications- This class may seem tedious at first, but towards the end of the semester, you gain an appreciation for all that goes into evaluating, diagnosing, and treatment of patients of all species. The Case-Based portion is a group discussion focusing on one case for a minimum of 2 weeks, and is almost strictly participation-based. Usually there will be a 1-2 page paper due every week that will require you to use textbook references from the library, and most online publications will not be allowed. The Clinical Applications aspect is where you'll actually get hands-on experience (on real animals!) with physical exams and pinpointing out specific structures and landmarks. You'll start out with a dog physical exam, followed by cows, the famous sheep day, a 2-week equine lab depending on the schedule of the various professors, and then a debate or two. You'll meet a variety of different professors, but your only requirement is to show up. Clin. App. is the class you will need to wear scrubs, boots, and/or coveralls and you will need your stethoscope. I know there is conflicting advice about what to bring, but I strongly urge you to just bring your stuff down with you instead of waiting to buy it from students here like I did. I didn't get my coveralls until the last two weeks (and by then we didn't need them).

          Veterinary Terminology- Dr. Heyliger is like your favorite grandfather who tells the same stories every time you see him, but he's just so adorable that you can't get annoyed with him. This class was at 9:00 am on Fridays, and you will need a cup or two or ten of coffee to stay awake. But he pretty much gives you the answers to his exams, and he tells you exactly what material will be on there. I'll warn you that he very quickly learns students' names in his class, and if several people skip his class, he intentionally makes the exams much harder. Please just go to class.

          Cellular Physiology- Dr. Reich. The rumors are true.

In actuality, I loved having class with him. You'll hear the phrase, "The liver is a gracious and magnanimous organ" over and over and over again, and you'll finally get an appreciation of why the liver is so important. It's a shame that most of my previous classes ran out of time to teach about the liver, and merely saying "the liver clears toxins from the body" is a gross understatement to its capabilities and functions. However, this class is very fast-paced, and is the graveyard for many students. Many of my friends were very worried around finals about whether they would advance to 1st Semester because of this class. His exams are challenging- 15 multiple choice, 15 True/False questions. I'll let you guys know- he is not trying to trick you. You need to read the question literally, word for word, slow down, and just think about what he's asking you. Here are some example questions: 

1. What do the enzymes glucokinase and protein kinase A have in common? 
1. They catalyze reactions in the glycolytic pathway
2. They have an active site for ATP
3. One of the substrates in the reaction they catalyze is a protein
4. They catalyze the oxidation of one substrate and the reduction of another substrate
5. They are peptides

1. What are the two reabsorption pressures at capillary endothelium
1. Capillary hydrostatic pressure and plasma colloid oncotic pressure
2. Capillary hydrostatic pressure and interstitial fluid hydrostatic pressure
3. Plasma colloid oncotic pressure and interstitial fluid hydrostatic pressure
4. Plasma colloid oncotic pressure and interstitial fluid colloid pressure
5. Interstitial fluid hydrostatic pressure and interstitial fluid colloid oncotic pressure

1. IP₃ is an example of a calcium binding protein. 
1. True
2. False

1. Lactate is a gluconeogentic substrate
1. True
2. False

See? These aren't too bad.....

One of my favorite ladies in my life.

You'll cover all of these subjects by Week 14. Just stay on top of your studying- don't go out to the beaches every single weekend, and plan to study about an hour or two for every hour you're in class. I would study for about 4-5 hours per night and rewrite out the notes or listen to lectures again through Lecture Capture/Panopto. The weekend days were devoted to reviewing and cutting down my notes to eliminate concepts I knew very well and reviewing those I didn't. The night after our block final.....well we'll just say we were happy to be on an island and even more happy to be done studying for two weeks (Dad- I still did well in my classes).