Week one.

Everyone always talks about how hard it is to get into vet school. It's so competitive, so few spots for so many applicants, etc. What you very rarely hear about is how hard vet school is once you're in.

I just completed my first week of vet school and I feel like I've been repeatedly thwacked in the head with a copy of Dorland's Medical Dictionary. Information hits you hard and fast here and you're expected to sink or swim. Point in fact, it's only the first week and I'm giving up my Saturday to a review session and a tutoring session (yes, I'm already paying for a tutor) this afternoon and then on Sunday will be essentially locking myself in my room to draw and label bones and review muscle attachments. And that's just for two classes; I'm taking five.

It's a little overwhelming and more than one of us broke down in tears this week. I think the combination of stress over our course load and being thousands of miles away from everything familiar is certainly something that causes many Ross students to pack it in. Luckily for me, I have two roommates who are equally as devoted to their grades as I am. If one of us slacks the other two will be there to keep them motivated.

ETA: Just had my first Histology TA session and am breathing a huge sigh of relief. She had a set of mock exam questions at the end that put a lot of us at ease. I knew 3 out of 4 of them, and that was because the TA was going a little too fast for me to fully read the answer set of the other one. Phew!

ETA 2: The Anatomy tutor session was a lifesaver. Well worth the $30 EC. Going over bones and muscles with someone pointing out prominences and attachments on a skeleton/cadaver right in front of you is supremely more helpful than looking at diagrams in a textbook.