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!!
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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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