Soooo this week started out like any other week, except for the fact that I would be attending the Coachella Music Festival that weekend, something I had been waiting for since literally junior year. Maddie and I, or rather our parents as a Christmas/graduation gift, had gotten us tickets to weekend 1, pre-sale. This meant we weren't frantically clicking reload, praying we didn't lose internet connection, or having a mild panic attack, the day the actual tickets came out, like a few of our other friends. Coachella was absolutely amazing. For three days I was in heaven, a whole separate world. Usually when people describe an amazing event or part of their life, they say how it goes by in the blink of an eye. Coachella did not. Three days was the perfect amount, and I came back feeling like I had been gone for months. I felt more knowledgable and experienced, and even enlightened. It wasn't because I saw any life-changing or jaw-dropping things, but the connections and friendships I made were incredible. Everyone looked out for each other, and Maddie and I became even closer. Coachella was another thing that connected us, and connected us to so many other people. After the third day, I was absolutely dead, and while I wouldn't describe it as ready to come home, I was looking forward to getting more than a few hours of sleep and partaking in some day-to-day activities. I just realized while typing this that Coachella and OPI affected me in somewhat similar ways. I would never have seen the connection, as they are completely different, but both hold very special places in my heart because of the power they shared to bring people closer together.
Now back to my third space, and my dilemma, telling them about the cat. I walked in sheepishly and exchanged some "hello"'s and "how are you"'s and then cut to the chase. I quietly confessed, just loud enough for them to hear. I still remember the exact words I used: "sooo, I have some bad news.. the cat escaped.." I explained my story and everyone was very understanding and actually felt bad for me! Everyone but Dr. Hagler. I had talked to Madi before going to the vet, and we kind of planned what I would say, and their reactions. We both predicted Dr. Hagler would give me the cold shoulder, and he did just that. For about an half an hour Dr. Hagler did not say a word to me. Maybe it was because he was busy, but still, I was worried and felt very awkward. Kim helped by telling me the cat would come back, and asking me about lacrosse and things like that, and I asked Edward a few questions about Santa Cruz, and shared some new knowledge. At the vet they call Santa Cruz "UC Summer Camp" because UCSC, while at Santa Cruz I learned perhaps an even more fitting nick name: "UC Sexy Calves" because of all the walking. After a while Dr. Hagler started talking again, and he was even nicer than before. That same day I got to fill up syringes with vitamin B12 for someone to give to their dog. Prior to this I had been doing very little, and nothing that posed any danger. This time I was using needles and doing some actual sciencey stuff!! I loved it! The Thursday before I left for Coachella I met with Mr. Fitz, my mentor. In the past we have talked about religion and bigger themes, and go off on, what some would call, tangents. every time, however, these are vital to my wise experience. More importantly, when I meet with Mr. Fitz, I feel like he challenges me to look within myself. A couple of weeks ago while talking about religion, Mr. Fitz asked me why I talk about it so much if its something I claim to dislike, and asked if maybe I wanted to believe. This is something I have thought about at various keystone moments of my life, in Honors English, over summer while in italy surrounded by religion, my favorite book is actually heavily influenced by the religion. This Thursday he asked me what I have learned about myself. Fitz always has the best, but the hardest questions! I didn't know how to answer for a while, I answered very narrowly, focusing only on what I had learned about the career I wanted to pursue. I said that I wanted to do something engaging, something new (not routine, same thing day-after-day stuff, that I see at the vet), and something meaningful. I am very thankful to have such a skilled and invested mentor, and am incredibly incredibly lucky to have Mr. Fitz as my mentor. Goals and reflection: During the week I had been feeling a lot closer with the vet, and more like a family, but typing this now and talking about the Santa Cruz jokes, I really feel like a part of the vet. I honestly don't know if I could be in a better spot with the people at the vet than I am right now. They trust me, they bring me into their consulting rooms, and every week they give me more opportunities. This summer I want to come, even just once a week, and help out and shadow surgeries, and just do small things to repay them for the opportunity they allowed me to have. Obviously, moving forward, I would love to have even more responsibilities, but I would say that I am at a pretty good place with my third space. And now a Coachella picture, or three :)
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This spring break I visited Santa Cruz, where I am going to school next year. I loved it!! The campus is absolutely beautiful, it's a three minute shuttle ride to the ocean, it's super vegan friendly, and I just got the best vibes from the campus and the people. On Monday, Mia and Maddie drove down and we went on an informal tour, lead by an ex-miramontean and some of his friends, and the next day went on a formal tour and saw a bit more of the campus. We stayed at a house right by the ocean. One morning I went for a walk along a path overlooking the sea. Surfers dotted the blue water, and it was easy to separate the pros from the amateurs. It was beautiful. The temperature, the sun, everything. Even though it is easy to get discouraged about the school you end up at, everyone will find their place and learn to love all the quirks, for me that's Santa Cruz's mascot, the Banana Slug, which funnily enough is growing on me already. This week I didn't go to the vet because I was in Santa Cruz on one of the days, and on Friday the veterinarian I shadow, Dr. Hagler, wasn't in. Now for some not so good news.. The cat I was fostering escaped. Easter Sunday, after dinner, I went up to my room and plopped on my bed.I looked across my room to the door that leads to my balcony and noticed it was cracked open. I jumped out of bed and ran outside to check, she was gone. My whole family searched inside and outside, but there was no trace of her. I was sad she left and very worried about the kittens. She must've been about to have them. Mostly I was worried about what I was going to say to Dr. Hagler and the rest of the team at Mt. Diablo veterinary clinic. What were they going to think about me after I told them I had lost their cat!!!! View from my walk! Such a beautiful day. This is why I love Santa Cruz! (Well one of the reasons) This week in particular was a stressful one. Not because of school, although with preparation for the AP exams my workload was increasing in size exponentially, but because it was a week of revealings. Not in an exciting way, but in a small envelope in the letter box way, in an "After carefully reviewing your application we are sorry to inform you that there is not room for you in our Freshman class of 2019" way. This life-shattering news is then followed by a half hearted consolation that went something like "We have no doubt that a student as bright as you will be accepted into other Universities that are right for you". Now I take pride in the fact that I didn't let this piece of paper telling me I'm not good enough to go to a University as prestigious as their's, put me in a damper for too long. I will admit I did cry one night, but as always life goes on and I got into a school that will be good for me! This topic of college brings me to an event that happened at the vet. That day I walked into the vet, knowing that the decisions for UC Davis were coming out within the next hour. Coincidentally I ended up having a 30 minute conversation with a man that went to Davis for college. As I was coming back to the vet after having thrown away some trash in the bins around the corner, a huge fluffy dog propped himself up on the door to one of the waiting rooms. I stopped to pet the dog and started talking to the owner. He was wearing a Davis Lacrosse sweatshirt, so I asked if he went to Davis, which he did, and he also played club lacrosse there. He went into Davis with the intention of majoring in the Biological Sciences, which, another coincidence, is what I applied for. He's originally from the bay area and grew up in concord, and now works as a tech guy for a company. I'm not sure why, but I really liked talking to him and hearing about Davis and his experience at the college. Shortly after hearing all the great things about Davis I decided to refresh my "admission status" page which went from "status pending" to "We're sorry.....". I immediately wished I hand't checked, at least not at the vet. The second I read it my face dropped and i felt a shock go through out my body. It was my first rejection and Davis was also a school I thought I would get into without much difficulty. Thankfully everyone else was either on lunch break or talking to patients, except Edward, the youngest technician. A few moments passed, and with it my dissatisfaction. I looked up from my phone and said to Edward "well, I just got denied from Davis". That's how I tend to handle most things. Laugh it off, or pretend like it doesn't bother me until it actually doesn't or until I have the time to deal with it.
Prior to all this a little puppy was brought into the vet (the owner is the guy that went to Davis mentioned above, the puppy's older brother is the large husky-looking dog). This puppy was the absolute cutest dog I had EVER seen. I pet her and played with her and as I did, I felt my affection towards dogs grow. I am much more of a cat person, and am not a huge fan of dogs. On a bad day, I stereotype dogs as big, smelly, rowdy, loud, and uncontrollable. This little pup was quite the opposite, minus uncontrollable. She jumped all over me and I didn't mind at all. I realized that dogs really aren't that bad, and believe it or not, after that encounter I have a newly found soft spot for dogs (especially puppies). Towards the end of the day on Friday, a Doberman Pinscher stopped by to have his ears taped. I was a little confused because I had never heard of a dog having cosmetic surgery. Now obviously I had, I knew that owners frequently chopped their dogs tails to a more desirable length, I just hand't put two and two together until this point. So basically the jist of the situation was that the owner of the dog had been generous enough to surgically alter the puppy's ears so that they stood straight up. I was immediately filled with joy, and the idea that their are some truly good pet owners out there, that have their pets best interest at heart swam through my brain. Kidding. If this thought had crossed my mind it would have been shot down instantly. I was upset to say the least. In fact I would have loved to go out to the room the selfish woman was waiting in and offer to surgically manipulate her ears to point straight out and then continue to tape them for weeks on end after the surgery. The best part is, the only reason she started coming to our vet was because her old veterinarian wouldn't tape the ears anymore! I felt so bad for the puppy who had absolutely no say in the situation, and who was being put through pain and annoyance for the sole purpose of his owner preferring to look at him with pointy ears instead of floppy. It is a common practice to do this to Doberman Pinschers and in my opinion it is cruel. I looked up pictures of Doberman Pinschers with floppy ears, and they are so much cuter without the pointless ear alterations. Below are the pictures of the puppy, the Doberman Pinscher that came into the vet, and a picture of a Doberman Pinscher with floppy ears. Update: This past month I fell behind on my journal entries, not because cool things didn't happen at the vet, but because I simply didn't have the discipline to sit myself down and bang out 1000 words, which turned into 2000. The thought of sitting down for a few hours and writing about the past weeks events is much more daunting than the actual doing of it. Working at the vet has solidified that I absolutely do not want to be a vet, at least not a generic "cats and dogs" vet. There is so much tedious paperwork, like filling out drug logs, which is a BIG problem if you're off by even 2 mL, which happened recently. Also a lot of busy work in dealing with the patient's owners. They are often times rude, and uneducated about the situation, yet act with such a sense of arrogance that you'd think they'd studied veterinary medicine for the past twenty years. I feel bad for the veterinarians and technicians, they do their best to keep the clients happy, while trying to do what's best for the animal (usually). I feel like the day to day life of the vets and technicians gets monotonous. I hope they find Madi and I refreshing. Now I'm sure you're wondering about this "celebrity encounter" I had at the vet. It started off as a regular day. Animals coming in for check ups, or minor procedures. A few minutes in I was introduced to Mr. Gomez (pictured below). I'm not sure what type of dog he is, but he had just had a major operation that had to do with his bladder or kidneys I think. I took a liking to him because he was so cute and friendly but a little happy. Also Mr. Gomez is such a great name, seriously one of the best names I've heard so far. Then I found out who Mr. Gomez belonged to, and was so surprised. I liked him even more after that haha. I was told that Mr. Gomez's owners were going to pick him up around 3:30, which would allow me to sit in on the conversation Dr. Hagler would have with them about what was going on with Mr. Gomez. 3:30 turned into 3:45 and I became worried I would't be able to meet this celebrity and hear the diagnostic, since I had to leave at 4 because of my Lacrosse game. I asked again when the owners were coming in and Dr. Hagler said "when he leaves school" (hint). Unfortunately they didn't arrive at the vet until just after 4, so I was only able to chat with them very briefly before rushing off. Luckily, or unluckily, Mr. Gomez was back later that week and I was able to sit in then and hear all about the procedure. The next week at school, I talked to this celebrity about Mr. Gomez and my time at the vet. I was so happy that he brought it up with me as he is usually a very quiet man. This "celebrity" is Mr. Shortenhaus. I had him for physics last year and everyone loves him, at least everyone in my grade. It was so cool seeing Mr. Shortenhaus outside of a school setting (I didn't see him much on OPI), and to see how interested he was in Mr. Gomez's health. Also Mrs. Shortenhaus is very fashionable, just throwin' that in there. I loved the journal sharing WISE lunch. Not only was it very cool to be back in the room again with everyone, but there was also a sense of nostalgia. Our first semester together was over and even though we had only been away from each other for about a month, it felt like much longer. My group was Virginia, Sophia, and Elijah. They were all awesome. I had just been on OPI with Virginia and we both talked about OPI, and our love for it, and the memories, and what an amazing experience it was, in our journals. I loved reading Virginia's journal entries, especially the one mostly about OPI. Sophia's WISE third space is very cool. Even though I personally don't have any interest in web design, nor do I have any idea how to even go about that, I thought the responsibility she was given at her third space was awesome. Although our topics are very very different, I was a little envious of all the things she was doing, instead of just watching other people do them. I read Elijah's journal last, and his third space is by far the coolest I have heard of. His radio-broadcast thing is so perfect for him. I'm not sure how he was able to land such an awesome third space, but congrats to him on that. Numerous times I felt my jaw drop in amazement as I read what he was doing and receiving. Hi journal was filled with so much excitement and energy, and it was a little scattered like any artists brain is, and it just said a lot about who he is. I enjoyed giving Virginia, Sophia, and Elijah feedback. It was hard to say anything negative about their journals because everyone's journal is so individual and everyone has their own unique way of telling their story, and I loved them all! I was kinda worried that I would have some criticism about mine, since I am not the best writer, and perhaps to some people my WISE topic isn't the most interesting, but when I read them it was actually a huge confidence boost. Almost all the feedback was very positive and they all wrote so much about my journal. They took so much time to read through them and write all these positive things that made me feel like I was doing a really good job with things. I liked the journal sharing idea and the groupings because if they hadn't been assigned I would have been in a group with people I already know too well, and not realize how great other people in the class are.
For my second research book I read about the anatomy, nature, and history of cats. From the outside this book titled: Cat, looks childish and uninformative. It does contain a lot of pictures, but I don't think that makes it less informational. Unfortunately "picture books" are stereotyped as unprofessional and unsophisticated. After having read my last book: Animal ER, and comparing it to this book, I would say I got a lot more out of this second book than the first. The first one was interesting and an alright read, but I felt as thought I was reading more of a story than actually gaining a lot of new information that I could apply to my time at the vet and elsewhere. With this book, I feel as though with each page I'm getting new knowledge, and learning. Whether it be about the different types of cats, what makes them up, or how they came into human lives (the taming of cats), I was learning something new. Not only was this new information, but it was knowledge I could use at the vet. I am now much better at identifying the different cats that come into the vet, and am slowly picking up on the body parts, and those specific areas that are more prone to injury. It is also just a nice thing to have in my back pocket and even though it may be a nerdy or weird thing to bring up, I could probably hold a conversation about cats with ease. In fact, it has come up more than once that I have told people that Calico Cats are actually the most vicious by nature, although I have a calico cat that is the sweetest thing in the world. This book not only talks about domestic cats, but about large cats like cougars, bobcats, pumas, tigers, leopards, and so on. There are SO many different kinds of cats, and cats I had never even heard of. My favorite part of the book was reading about the relationships between cats. Like the male cat courting the female, and how the mother treats and takes care of her kittens. I thought it was very cool that even with no outside connection, the mother and babies still know what to do instinctually. I much prefer reading and doing things where I feel I am learning valuable information that can be applied to a broad number of scenarios or situations. With this book I have already used the information in it in day to day conversation, and apply this knowledge at the vet too, which I really like. I find myself frequently bringing up the movements and behaviors of the cats while on ketamine. This week, one of the cats was waking up from a declaw. His name was Jan (pronounced yan). I really liked this cat. Not only was he a beautiful white color, with soft silky hair, and not only did he have the coolest eyes, but he was also absolutely ginormously fat. And there's nothing I like more than a fat cat. I took many videos of Jan while he was coming off of ketamine, but unfortunately this blog site won't let me upload videos, so if you are interested in seeing this cat, which I am haha, I have the videos on my phone and would be happy to show you. I forgot to say what ketamine is. Ketamine is a veterinary tranquilizer used to anesthetize animals. I think my vet uses a mix of valium and ketamine to knock out their animals. I've watched a documentary on the human use of ketamine, so I kind of understand what the animals are feeling, to a degree of course. Anyway, what happens with the animals is that they wake up, and at first don't move much, because they can't. Then after a little while they start to move their heads around in a swaying bobbing motion. They are always so out of it, and I'm not sure why, but I think it is so cool. Something I learned from my experience with Jan, is that white cats can either have two blue eyes, one blue eye and one green eye, or two green eyes. Jan had one blue eye and one green eye. Dr. Hagler told me that if a white cat was born with two blue eyes the cat would be deaf, but if the cat was born with one blue eye and one green eye, or two green eyes, the cat would be just fine. This definitely has something to do with genetics which is what I'm doing in Bio, which is really cool how applicable it is. I feel like I always bring up bio because it just always pops up at not only the vet but also just everywhere! I like having the real life verification that what I'm doing in both Biology and the Vet is having a real world application (as I've mentioned before haha). Jan is pictured below, and feel free to ask me about the video!! On Tuesday I went into the Vet. I was anxious because I had a lacrosse game against Acalanes in just a few short hours. Acalanes is our biggest rival, they ended up winning, and we played blandly, it's hard to explain, but it was like we were all dull. Anyway, I spent a long time that day just talking with Edward about college. So far out of the few schools I was accepted to, Santa Cruz was my top pick, and Edward happened to have gone there! So I really appreciate having Edward tell me about it and give me pointers and tips and advice. Having someone close to you in age, but still old enough to be a sort of mentor is nice because they understand the world I live in and am going to live in better than someone who is much much older and experienced college many years ago. Edward is my unbiased look into the life of a Santa Cruz student. Even though some things probably have changed since he went to Santa Cruz, for the most part things are probably the same. At the moment I am trying to get excited about Santa Cruz. It definitely wasn't my first choice when applying to colleges, but now I am starting to see it as a real possibility and as somewhere I would fit in very well. I went to a presentation on Monday about UC Santa Cruz and found out that they are super vegan friendly and that they even do meat-free Mondays, where everything in the cafeteria is vegetarian.
Last week I had been told about two stray/feral cats that were both pregnant and had been brought into the vet. One was very sweet and gentle and calm, and the other was wild. Dr. Hagler asked me if I could foster one of them for six weeks, until the kittens can be adopted. I knew my parents were against getting anymore animals so I said I wasn't able to. Monday, I think, I found out Madi had taken home the sweet cat and was fostering her. Tuesday I went into the vet and Dr. Hagler told me that Madi was fostering the cat and again pushed me to take the other cat home. I was all for it, so I called my mom and dad, neither answered, and then my dad called back. He was in a good mood and said that if I took care of the cat completely, all by myself, I was allowed to bring her home, as long as my mom was okay with it of course. So I called my mom again and she finally answered. I could tell from her voice she wasn't too keen on me bringing the cat home. Since my dad had already basically said yes, she went along with it. I was so happy! I was excited and a little nervous. Kim and Marilyn got me food, and a makeshift litter box, along with boxes to put her in and a little cage. I put her in my car and the whole ride home I felt like my own baby was sitting in the car. I set her up a little nook in my closet with towels, a food and water bowl, a litter box, and a box lined with a blanket. It was so cozy and cute. Unfortunately she is the wild one, and even though I know I can't blame her for being mean and hissing, it makes me sad that she hasn't warmed up to me at all. When I got her, I was expecting her to have kittens within the next couple of days, but it has been a while now, and she hasn't had them yet. My family makes jokes that she isn't even pregnant and that they just wanted to get her out of the vet. Even though my parents said that I would be the only one looking after her and she was solely my responsibility, both my parents and my siblings frequently go in and check on her and fill her food or water bowl if I'm not there to do it. She still hates me, and hisses every time anyone opens the door. Today I was petting her and she almost bit me. My brother on the other hand, who I swear to God is a cat whisperer or something, can calm her down very easily. I'm scared that when she has her kittens she will be even more protective and hostile towards us, or worse, do something to her kittens. I am very excited for her to have her babies and seriously hope she has them soon. After the first day or so, the kittens become absolutely adorable, they put on a bit of weight and are totally dependent on their mother for food, warmth, etc. I hope my cat warms up to me eventually and doesn't attack me when I try and pet her kittens haha. I'll include a picture of her below. She looks scared even in the picture, but she's very pretty. |
AuthorMy name is Emily Burch. I am a student in the WISE program at Miramonte. This is my WISE journey (I think that's a good word for it). Archives
May 2015
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