Fall Semester CORE Complete! (Week 11)

Week’s Itinerary = Pharmacology Final, Pathology Final, and Behind-the-Scenes field trip to GA’s Aquarium

Yes Lord, yes Lord, Yes YES Lord!!  I am so happy to be done with this intense, action-packed semester.  This past week was exhausting, frustrating, and surprisingly enlightening.  We ended this semester of core classes with our Pharmacology and Pathology finals.  Let’s just say I’m glad Pathology was the last one.  Studying for Pharmacology was PAINFUL!  I was just totally drained from any ounce of enthusiasm to continue studying for this class.  Fortunately, I studied with a group of my classmates, which encouraged me to not give up, pass out, and to just laugh once in a while.  I really needed that extra boost and motivation.  For this final, it was thankfully not cumulative, but it again had way too many teachers to adapt to (close to 6 total).  Each style was again very different plus there was more math involved.  It should not be too difficult though.  You just need to not have that mindset of feeling drained and feeling tired of the material like I was beginning to unearth.

The Pathology final was a much better studying experience.  The material was just 10x more interesting to learn about.  It was heavily focusing on metastasis and neoplasia as it relates to malignancy and benign cancer developments in animals.  I have never passed a pre-test in this class all semester, so I was determined to Ace this last one.  Guess what . . . I got an A on the pre-test!!!!

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/gallery?id=7493087&photo=1

*Tear* 🙂

It just ended so beautifully after hearing these news.  Oh yeah, & have fun with your performances 🙂  Just let yourself go, and enjoy yourself!

All right, now for the enlightening moments of this week.  Guys, my field trip to the GA Aquarium was FANTASTIC!!  I will honestly say that my experience doing a behind-the-scenes tour there was a 10 out of 10 score!  It was hands down one of the best field trips I have ever attended.  The next one is going to have to be at Elijay Wildlife Center with my 5^th grade elementary class 🙂

                                                                                            http://www.thewildlifesanctuary.com/

I will cherish these moments with classmates.  We all just look relieved and refreshed that day, and the weather was perfect!

This is the area where they monitor water filtration in all the tanks

Aah…rest day 🙂

Behind me is Centennial Park in Atlanta

Free food!!

Through Him,

~Camille

Matthew 1:22-24

“And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

One More Week to Go! (Week 10)

Week’s Itinerary = Pathology Exam 3 and Parasitology Final

I think this was my motto for the majority of the week, or that’s what I kept telling myself.  I am so looking forward to electives!  This week welcomed me with my 3^rd Pathology Exam and my Parasitology FINAL!

So my experience with the 3^rd Pathology exam was not fun at all.  After taking the pre-test, the grade of a D showed before my eyes.  I was distraught, but it kept me motivated to not give up.  Fortunately, a friend told me a couple hours later to check my grade again because apparently the numbers were screwed up (if I did not tell you before, the pre-test and actual exam are done online.  Guys, my actual grade was a nice, solid B.  Talk about messing up my insides!!  I’m glad I was focusing solely for my Parasitology final after taking the pre-test though.  I still did not pass the pre-test, but this time the professor said we could keep our grades if we felt good about our pre-test grade.  I’m keeping that good passing grade!!

Now for the Parasitology final.  What can I say, I always feel like I need one more extra day to study all the thes parasite names.  It was tough like always but with a grand finale of DOOM for the cumulative questions. The cumulative portion was brutal (very specific).  I still happened to keep a B in the class!!  Praise the Lord!

Just 1 more week of finals until electives freedom!!  It honestly felt like finals weeks since mid August.  This semester was intense.  Gotta finish strong though!

WTC started up again! I got to take care of a Screech Owl & a Chipmunk:

Through Him,

~Camille

Psalm 51:12– Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

2 Frustrating Courses Done (Week 9)

Week’s Itinerary= Epidemiology Final, Applied Preventive Health Final, and Day at the Fair

Yes!  Epidemiology and Applied Preventive Health courses are finished, done, CAPUT!!  I had my final for Applied Preventive Health on Monday, and  it was difficult to me.  I personally felt like the lectures did not successfully prepare me for the exams.  I decided to listen to Echo recordings for all the lectures, but it was the most painful and wasteful experience because most of the lectures consisted of the professor expounding upon many examples and many questions asked in class.  I was unsure if the test would then have material from the questions classmates asked or not.  Fortunately, they did not, but the frustration during studying was a big distraction for me.  He did a TON of clinical scenarios for us to figure out what we as future veterinarians should do.  They were tricky in my opinion.  There were also fill in the blank questions that tested what he specifically told us to know for the exam.  Don’t goof off in this class.

If you remember from last year around this time, the vet school hosted a mandatory science research symposium on Thursday where all students had to listen to many research presentations.  I had no problems with it last year, but I was incredibly sick and did not want to be there this year.  If you cannot make it due to illness or whatever, they force you to go to a research presentation on your own time and write a paper on it . . . no thank you!  It was very long, and I could not focus on any presentation.  I could not even eat the free Subway boxed lunch . . . that’s unheard of!

My Epidemiology final was on Friday, and I was not ready for it.  I could not focus the night before because I was so sick and exhausted.  I decided to just go to bed early and wake up early to study, which helped a little.   Before the professor told us to begin the final that morning, he surprised us with something.  Miracles just keep pouring for Class of 2016!  1^st Parasitology, and now this!?  Reeve’s math portion changed to bonus questions!  I almost fell out my chair the way I was praising Jesus 🙂  The exam was not too bad, but I of course know I got some questions wrong.  But, now there are bonus points.  Yes!

After this ridiculously long and tedious week,  I was invited by some of my classmates to go to a fair.  Oh, but not just any fair.  It is the largest fair in Georgia! (Georgia National Fair in Perry, GA)  You have no idea how much I needed this break.  I always feel like a kid again whenever I go to places like this.  The weather was so perfect and I enjoyed the ambience and time with my classmates.  Thank you for the invite!!

We got to see some beautiful horse shows!

We went to the back of the arena and were introduced to a very sweet veterinarian who owns 12 Belgian horses!!  She said we can have dinner with her the next time we come to visit 🙂

We stayed until it was dark.  We had a great time!

Now, just behind us was a really cool scene that I have never observed before…

http://patrickdove.blogspot.com/2012_02_01_archive.html

By far,  the cutest thing I have ever seen!  They were holding on for dear life 🙂

Through Him,

~Camille

Psalm 27:4

“One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”

Uncovering the Veil (Week 8)

Week’s Itinerary: Parasitology Exam 3 and Personal testimony

Hey guys! This will be a short post as far as what went on school-wise this week.  I will  also share a testimony of my past.  I promise it’s not too random.  But first, let me share with you how my week went:

Remember I said last week that the professors and administrators were so kind to allow our Class to postpone the Parasitology exam to Tuesday instead of Monday?  Well, I wish I can give them each a huge hug after that challenging experience without being too creepy.  If it wasn’t moved, I would have failed it without a doubt!  There were a voluminous amount of parasites as usual, but I was struggling like with Epidemiology by keeping it ingrained in my mind.  The disease names were ridiculously long too!!  But I passed (B).  Yes Lord!!

No news for Pharmacology yet.  It has been over a week, and I am a little nervous but will not let that rattle me.  (Later found out that I got the same grade as my Parasitology grade.)

Guess what!?  That was it for the rest of the week!!  Relaxation time, YES! After the lecture exam for Parasitology, I was invited by some classmates to go have dinner at Los Coyotes, paint nails, and watch a reality show that they like which was “Bad Girls Club”.

http://www.wondaland.com/?attachment_id=1823

That was the only thing that evening that I am trying to deplete from my existence.  It was honestly an hour of my life that was wasted 🙂  Still had fun guys!

During the night, we had a lot of intense discussions about life in general.  One discussion that was directed towards me was how I needed to open up more and come out of my shell.  Everything that they were encouraging me to do, I took to heart, and I had the opportunity to share my past with them for why I am so distant with people I meet for the first time.

I joined an organization called “The BULLY Project” where I shared my testimony on the site.  ((http://www.thebullyproject.com/))  I would be more than happy to share it with you on my blog too:

I never thought I would have the guts to share my past experiences of once being bullied.  I am now in my 20s having an incredible life, but the scar that bullying leaves with you is so powerful.  If sharing my story helps just one person, my mission will have been accomplished.

My story begins in my elementary school years where most people would only have distant memories of playing in the dirt during recess or learning how to add and multiply.  I, on the other hand, have detailed memories of rejection.  My elementary school was surprisingly notorious for children having hickeys and experimenting sexual immoralities at such an early age.  I just wanted to be a kid.  Classmates would see me playing basketball and tackling boys in a football match during recess time and just enjoying life.  Yes, I was proud of being called a Tom Boy. 

One day during lunch at the cafeteria, I sat next to some girls and was asked a question, “Do you like boys?”  Now remember, I am just a little girl (this was 3^rd grade), so my immediate thought process was “Ewww gross! Cooties!”  So, I responded with a simple “No.”  Right after that day, I heard rumors of me being gay.  That news left me distraught for months.  I cried for many nights because I was accused of being something I was not.  I had strange interactions with people after these rumors were spread.  One time during recess, a photographer for our yearbook gathered me with some girls to take a picture of us.  When we were about to take the picture, I just naturally put my hand on a girl’s shoulder and she screamed “I don’t hang with you people!” in front of the whole group.  I was paralyzed for a second and then I just walked away because I did not know what to do.

I was never physically bullied, but I was mentally destroyed through gossip and hurtful words.  For the first time in my life, I knew what it felt like to want to end my life in order to get rid of the pain of rejection.  The choice I made in the end is what kept me alive today, and that was trusting in the magnificent strength and power of Jesus Christ.  He was and is my hero.  I just began casually talking with Him and asking God to be my armor and protector, and He did just that.  I began sharing His love with everyone I met, and people would start saying, “Naw, she’s just a Christian”, and the rumors and cold stares ceased because they finally knew my true identity, a child of God. 

Well, there you go.  I hope my testimony encourages those who have once been hurt by people in the past or are still going through rejection.  You don’t have to feel so alone when people do not like you.  Who cares what they think!  You have a powerful King of kings who will always protect you and never leave your side.

Through Him,

~Camille

Romans 15:1-2

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.