All in all I am so pleased with how my WISE presentation and evaluation went. The entire day and weekend before I was so nervous. As I left fifth period on senior skip day I went straight to Fitz's room. There were only 4ish students in there and they all got to listen to my freakout before my presentation. During my presentation I didn't think I was doing well, but the feedback I got afterwards was almost entirely positive. Something I believe Ms. Flores commented on was that in the workforce you have to start at the bottom and do grunt work and then work your way up. This was something I feel that I knew, but at the same time didn't take into consideration, and it's definitely helpful to know for the future. A lot of times I have trouble seeing that a situation can and will change. I get discouraged and kind of stuck in a rut. I experienced this at the vet, where I eventually stopped expecting the situation to get better and more exciting, and also had a hard time, at the beginning, seeing myself going back to vet every week for the rest of the semester. I think I could've probably made my situation better at the vet if I had taken it upon myself to ask to do more. A few of my evaluators brought this up. I'm not always the kind of person to put myself out there because I am afraid of being shut down. I always say, somewhat jokingly but secretly mean it, "if ya never try, you can't fail". It's probably the stupidest thing to live by, and I don't, but in certain situations I do, like at the vet. I think in the future it's definitely better to take the chance and risk being shut down, than just being unhappy in a situation. It's easy to see this in hindsight, but when I think about applying this in the future it makes me anxious. I kind of see as risking a mediocre situation for either a better situation or a much worse situation and a lot of embarrassment. It's definitely something I need to and will work on in the future. I think the most valuable things I got out of my WISE experience were the relationships I formed with my "co-workers" at the vet and with Mr. Fitz and Mr. Poling. These relationships are what made the time worthwhile. It will be something I look for in future career opportunities because even if you love what you do it doesn't matter if you don't love the people you're doing it with.
Thank you to everyone who helped make my WISE experience what it was. :)
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Articles:
"100 Years of Breed "Improvement"" Science and Dogs. N.p., 29 Sept. 2012. Web. 08 June 2015. "PetMD." Mixed or Purebred Puppy: Which Is Better? N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2015. "The Purebred Paradox : The Humane Society of the United States." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2015. Books: Clutton-Brock, Juliet, and Dave King. Cat. New York: Knopf, 1991. Print. Croke, Vicki. Animal ER: Extraordinary Stories of Hope and Healing from One of the World's Leading Veterinary Hospitals. New York: Dutton, 1999. Print. Media sources: Cowspiracy. Prod. Keegan Kuhn. Perf. Kip Andersen. 2015. DVD. To fill my other research requirements I watched three documentaries and read another book. First I'll talk about the documentaries.
The documentaries I selected loosely tie in to my WISE project. Two of them relate to my interest in environment and animals rights, and the third has to do with the anatomy of different sea animals. I selected these documentaries primarily because they cover topics I am interested in and I feel that when I'm watching something I'm interested in I retain a lot more of the information. So here goes. The first documentary I watched I had actually seen before, it's called food inc. Rewatching it as an older wiser version of my younger self, I picked up on new things. Firstly I noticed that it was much more policy centered than I remembered it to be. The movie mostly focuses on factory farming, from the horrendous treatment of the animals, to the terrible treatment of the owners, to the immense power these corporations possess. It shocked me again of the reality of the situation and the helplessness so many people learn to accept as part of their career. This part I can actually tie into the Vet. Dr. Hagler and Marilyn often times had to crunch numbers or settle for old machines that occasionally stopped working altogether, all because they were under the watch of the owners of the vet. The second documentary I watched was called Cowspiracy. This documentary was so eye opening and I'm sure if I wasn't already vegan, it would have the power to turn me veg. Cowspiracy unveiled the slimy and unethical politics that go on behind the scenes. The emphasis is placed on the environment and the detrimental effects livestock and meat production are having on the planet. It also shows how difficult it is to actually get anyone to talk about the pollution the meat industry produces. Also we're in a major drought right now, and you would be shocked by some of the statistics about water usage that are highlighted and analyzed in this documentary. The third documentary I watched is actually an episode of "Animal Superpowers" called extreme survivors. This covers a lot of the anatomy and abilities of some amazing life that lives in water like octopi, electric eels, and salamanders. At first I didn't think this would be too interesting, but it ended up being really cool and very engaging. Since this is one of my last entries I feel as though I should talk about my mentor Mr. Fitz. When I start to describe him a million positive adjectives dart through my brain, and when I settle on a few good ones I feel like I am leaving out some huge part of who he is and how he has helped me. I'll start with some background. I had Mr. Fitz sophomore year for AP European History. It was a very hard class, and I struggled. Even at that point, when I was doing worse than I ever had in a class (literally ever), I still had so much respect and gratitude for Mr. Fitz and the class. I learned so much, and the style of teaching was so different and effective(a lot of discussion, tying events in history to the present, drawing parallels), it became something I'd search for when selecting classes. I had Fitz again for APUSH, but didn't end up getting him for psych. When I found out Mr. Fitz was my mentor I was absolutely ecstatic. Throughout my second semester I met with Fitz pretty frequently and by the end of this semester met with him about once a week or more. A lot of times we would go off on tangents that stemmed from a specific situation at the vet, but every time I left Fitz's room I was wiser, happier, and more aware of myself and the situation I was in. A lot of times I would leave with one or more difficult questions to answer, not for Mr. Fitz, because he didn't usually follow up on them, but for myself. These questions proved crucial to my reflection process. Mr. Fitz was a mentor or role model to me long before my WISE journey. With Mr. Fitz I know I can be honest, and that's not something I would be able to say about another teacher. Mr. Fitz has seen my more radical side (you may have seen it a few times through out the blog) and that is a side I seldom show people. This paragraph does not begin to give Mr. Fitz justice for all that he's done for me and in his life. My WISE experience would not be the same if I had had any other person as my mentor.
This week was my final week at the vet. Since it was our final week, Madi and I decided to write a card and bring them some nice things. Friday is the day I usually go to the vet, and Madi stopped by towards the end of my time. I actually didn't want to leave. Everyone was so nice and thanked us for all the help we had been to them. This week I had been having a lot of deep talks with Edward, well not deep, but less forced. We talked a lot about Santa Cruz, as usual, and about this sandwich place he was going for his birthday. I actually got him to laugh with some sarcasm and sass! It's amazing that in such a short time you can become so close with people, especially when you only spend 5 hours a week with them. And now for some final thoughts on my time at Mt. Diablo Veterinary Clinic. At times through out the semester I really wanted to give up, or find a new third space. I thought I had made a mistake in choosing the vet. Even though a lot of the work I did was meaningless, I learned that I loved the people and that it is the people that make the experience. I have matured a lot from the beginning of the semester. One way I think I have matured is that I no longer think menial tasks are below me. Reading back on old journals I feel like at times I sounded bratty. I want to clarify that I am not opposed to tasks like taking out the trash, and understand that when starting out in positions, these tasks are necessary to earn your place and prove you belong. At first I was frustrated when assigned these jobs because I thought I should be doing more meaningful things with my time, and while I still believe this is true, I understand that doing things like cleaning up, taking out the trash, sweeping, etc, helped me belong and also led to me being treated as more of an equal (by most on the technicians at least). I have mixed feelings about my departure. On one hand I am relieved because I will have more time, and I won't be spending it taking out trash. On the other hand, I will really miss all the different personalities at the vet, and miss all their different beliefs. All in all I have made peace with my situation at the vet. Even though my WISE experience wasn't what I had hoped or had planned it to be, I am very thankful I was able to form the relationships I did with the people at the vet. A lot of animals come into the vet. These past two weeks probably had some of the strangest and surprising animals come in. First there was this beautiful black cat with bright orange eyes, brought in for a declaw. He had the most luscious coat, super thick and silky soft. I commented on how cool he was. Dr. Hagler responded by asking me if I knew what kind of cat it he was. It's always weird to me how there are different types of cats, for dogs it's normal, but cats I just don't think of being specific breeds. Anyway it turns out that this particular cat was a Scottish fold, and apparently, this cat cost $3,000. I mean seriously.. $3,000 for a cat. I'm such a cat person, but that just seems absolutely ludicrous. Going with the theme of cost, there was a very cute little Labradoodle girl puppy, these dogs are apparently very expensive. I am against breeding dogs, even though my family has a pure bread dog straight out of Italy, I personally would never go out of my way to contribute to the cruel industry of dog breeding. This little girl, still just a baby, could barely walk, when she moved she was in pain, and you could see that by looking at her mannerisms. Dr. Hagler said a while ago that the best way to tell if there's something wrong with a dog is just by looking at them. This puppy was dull and sad. Dog breeding, like many things, is run by money, the more dogs produced, the more money. This leads to inbreeding. When animals, of any kind, are inbred, the recessive traits of a "family" are brought to the surface. We recently covered this topic in AP Biology, so it is somewhat fresh in my mind. In zoos, cheetahs are being bred with horrible problems that shorten their life span, and would make it impossible to ever be released in the wild because they simply would not survive. The same is true for bulldogs, which have terrible hip and breathing problems, if you've ever heard a bulldog breath it sounds like an old man with emphysema and a terrible cold just finishing a marathon. Thanks to inbreeding practically all German Shepherd's suffer from hip dysplasia. And thanks to inbreeding, this poor baby girl would probably have to be put down, or live a life of pain and suffering.
Currently at the vet, my days consist of greeting the crew, waiting for them to finish declawing a cat or waking up a dog (the surgeries they do are almost always in the morning so I see the aftermath), and then being assigned a menial task. I don't want to sound bratty and entitled, but it seems that the newly earned responsibilities from the previous weeks have turned into tasks other technicians don't want to do. I am not opposed to taking out trash or sweeping up, but I didn't sign up for a janitor job. I would be very happy with taking out trash along with other things like drawing blood from animals, setting up slides to be looked at under microscopes, or running blood tests, but unfortunately taking out trash, sweeping, unloading boxes, and organizing products have been taking up all my hours. Recently I met with Mr. Fitz and talked about where I stand currently with my third space. I talked about how I felt like they may be taking advantage of the free labor and that I thought my time was kind of being wasted. Mr Fitz asked me if maybe it was me and not them, which is definitely a possibility. I guess I could ask for more opportunities, but it is difficult when I am constantly assigned other tasks. Here are some other questions Mr. Fitz asked me: Who am I to these people? Am I in any way an irritant? Am I in the way? Am I just there to do interesting work only when they are too busy to do it all themselves? After all, the rest of the time, it seems that they want me to do the boring stuff like clean up and trash collection while they are doing the interesting stuff. Have I done anything wrong socially or in my work or does the above really answer it? Obviously these are not questions I can answer, but I definitely need to consider these as my last few weeks come to an end. A couple of specific events stood out to me recently. The first was something that happened with a cat that had been brought in. I think the cat needed its teeth to be examined or cleaned so the veterinarians needed to nock him out. At the vet they frequently anesthetize animals but I had never seen one done like this. They basically cornered the cat into this tiny box and then put the lid on. the cat was terrified and was pressed up against the glass. I wanted to take a picture but was too afraid of getting in trouble. It was honestly shocking. The most frustrating part about all the things I've seen at the vet that I disagree with is, is that the animal never has a say and the animal is always at fault. I'm not saying that veterinarians are bad people, because what they do does usually help the animals, but humans in general just possess such a superiority over other animals we forget that we are animals ourselves. On a much happier note, a three legged dog came in. That kinda sounds bad.. I'm not happy that he has only three legs, but I am happy that he is doing so well. His leg had to be amputated because he had cancer in his femur (I believe). Missing a leg does not stop this dog at all. He wags his tail and runs around without a care in the world. He comes into the vet every now and again for check ups. They make sure his cancer isn't coming back and treat him like their own. It's definitely a more positive side to veterinary medicine that I easily forget happens. In a couple of weeks I have my presentation. I get absolutely terrible stage fright, so this presentation will be very difficult. I struggle doing 5 minute presentations with groups I don't know how I'm going to stand up in front of a group of people and talk for 40 minutes alone. Regardless of how prepared I am I know I will still be terrified. Recently I noticed, while I was giving feedback on another wise presentation, that I was talking very fast. Even in that situation I was pretty nervous, which is why I was talking so fast. Someone told me, after another wise presentation, that if you notice that you are talking to fast hold onto something and look around and you will slow down. That is definitely something I will do during my presentation. I need to do some research on how to be comfortable and confident, or at least seem like I am. This week at the vet some new things happened, that I wouldn't really have expected. The most important thing, and the thing that kind of shocked me, was that I was going to be given more responsibilities. Once Marilyn returned from lunch and after we greeted each other, she made an announcement to the vet that went something along the lines of "guys, Emily is going to be doing more around here. It's pointless for her to be here and not be able to do anything". I was so happy. It is true that at times the vet really did get boring, and when I was treated as a fly on the wall the hours barely trickled by. There were days where 5 minutes felt more like an hour, and those were usually the days when I wasn't mentally or physically engaged. Hearing that I was now allowed to help out and do some hands on/real life things made me excited. Not only was I going to be doing what I had hoped I would be able to do (run tests, help out with the animals, take blood, fill syringes with medication, but I was also now much more part of the vet. This new responsibility was their way of saying that they trusted me. At least that's how I interpreted it. The first task I was assigned was running "heart worm tests" basically, blood is taken from the animal (I did not do this), then put in these little tubes with a solution that keeps the blood from thickening (this is done whenever blood is drawn from an animal. Next the procedure is to take four drops of blood, add it to a small container thing with a pipet, and add 3 drops of another solution. Shake the mixture and pour it into to blood test chamber, and once the blood is properly soaked in, snap the container. It may sound either complicated or easy. Honestly it's a ridiculously simple task and basically busy work to everyone else at the vet. I don't see it that way because it's a lot closer to the type of hands on work I want to experience than standing and watching. For a while after Coachella I didn't have my car because my accidentally broke it by pouring water in the engine of something. Anyways, since I didn't have a car I had to rely solely on other people for rides, which I didn't actually mind too much. It was kinda fun. I didn't mind adapting my schedule to fit theirs and walking different places and getting picked up at different spots by whoever I could convince to pick me up haha. It felt like hitch hiking. One day my dad picked me up from the vet. I asked the people at the vet if they would like to meet him and they enthusiastically responded with yes. So I bring my dad into the vet and he starts chatting with Dr. Hagler who is just gushing about how wonderful Madi (Gibson, another miramonte student shadowing at the vet) and I are, and how great it is to have us in at the vet. Then he meets Marilyn who says that I remind her of her daughter. I don't see Marilyn too often, but was so nice hearing her say that. I really felt like part of the veterinary family. Research: I have read 3 research articles all pertaining to pure bread dogs. For a while I have had issues with the pure bread dogs I see. Not only at the vet. Prior to the vet I wasn't all too aware of the issues of pure breeding and as part of the pure breeding process, inbreeding. We had covered the harmful effects of a limited gene pool in bio, which is basically where there are not enough animals in one species in a given area, for them not to reproduce with those they are in close relation too. Basically recessive traits or illnesses specific to one "family", have almost no chance of being presented phenotypically (which is seen or apparent) without some level of inbreeding. The reason for this is that someone can be a carrier for a recessive trait, but unless they mate with another that is also a carrier, the trait will not be phenotypically presented in the offspring. (Not entirely sure how to explain this). This is exactly what happens with pure breeding. The gene pool is so limited, and the animals are forced to reproduced so frequently, that sometimes brother and sister mate and produce offspring with a lot of issues. If pure breeding were a thing for humans, it would 1. be illegal (which it basically already is) and 2. we would look like aliens. Jokes aside, it is a pretty serious issue and should be considered animal cruelty. Before I talk about the research I did from people that know a lot more than me, I'll say that I am sort of stereotyping all pure breeding dog breeders, and I'm sure there are a few that put the welfare of the animal first, however I also know people in general, and have come to realize that money and self-interest is almost always put before animal rights and safety. First article: 100 Years of Breed “Improvement”. This article was really cool because it had a lot of visuals. You can read a whole paragraph about inbreeding and the detrimental effects, but unless you actually have evidence, chances are you're not going to believe it. Here are two of the most shocking ones. The first was a bull terrier and what the bull terrier has become. In addition to its largely frightening features, the bull terrier has other issues like compulsive tail-chasing and extra teeth. The second photo is the English Bulldog. The article says that this dog has almost every possible disease and can now rarely mate or birth without medical help. My next article is called: The Purebred Paradox.
Here is an excerpt that backs up my prior beliefs: "Brachycephalic (or short-faced) breeds like bulldogs and pugs suffer from breathing problems; Great Danes and other large dogs from joint problems; long dogs like dachshunds and basset hounds from back problems; wrinkly-faced dogs like boxers and shar-peis from skin and eye problems. And due to prolific production to meet public demand, the most coveted dogs tend to have the most genetic disorders; Labrador retrievers, who’ve topped the AKC’s popularity list for 19 years, are prone to around 50 inherited conditions." It really is sad to see the destruction pure breeding has brought to these beautiful animals. Dogs are forced to suffer lives of pain and constant medical attention solely for selfish reasons on behalf of their owners and breeders. I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad, I have pure bred dogs myself, it's just an issue people need to be educated on, in my opinion, so that this abuse can maybe come to an end. My third article is "Mixed or purebred puppy: which is better?" I was looking for an article to counter out all the negative things about pure breeding, if not simply to laugh at. I typed in "why is pure breeding good?' into google, and this was closest thing I got to an unbiased and somewhat factually correct article that gave both sides. Unfortunately however it mostly focuses on the human side of it, like costs/personality/expectations, instead of the welfare of the dog. It did mention that some breeders do genetic testing on the potential parents so that the chances of the puppies having genetic diseases is significantly reduced, which I think is a step in the right direction. 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 :) 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!! |
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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