It has come to my attention that the video I embedded in the "Sunday Share" post isn't showing up on some browsers, so if you can't see it on the page this is the link:
Click Me!!
Enjoy :)
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Weekly Update
Happy Wednesday! Hope you are all enjoying this shorter week!
A little more information to add to my previous update - I have since learned some startling information about the dropout rate at the EATM program. The class of 2014 (one year above me) has lost over a quarter of their class in the first year. Most students I have heard from attribute this huge loss to one particular professor, whose tests are notoriously difficult.
I have decided, along with many of my fellow 2015-ers, to get a jump start on studying to ease the load of this coming semester. Part of our first year involves memorizing the latin names of over 400 species. We have gotten hold of list of about a hundred to get started on, given to us by an older student. I'm hoping that by memorizing at least some of these names this summer, I'll have more study time and brain power to devote to this particular professor's lectures. Anything to lighten the academic load!! :)
A little more information to add to my previous update - I have since learned some startling information about the dropout rate at the EATM program. The class of 2014 (one year above me) has lost over a quarter of their class in the first year. Most students I have heard from attribute this huge loss to one particular professor, whose tests are notoriously difficult.
I have decided, along with many of my fellow 2015-ers, to get a jump start on studying to ease the load of this coming semester. Part of our first year involves memorizing the latin names of over 400 species. We have gotten hold of list of about a hundred to get started on, given to us by an older student. I'm hoping that by memorizing at least some of these names this summer, I'll have more study time and brain power to devote to this particular professor's lectures. Anything to lighten the academic load!! :)
I now have over a hundred beautifully color-coded flash cards!
For the most part, though, I'm only allowing myself to stress about one thing at a time. If I'm focused on academics-related worries, I won't let myself dwell on transportation. If I'm stressed about money, I'll ignore the thought of saying goodbye to loved ones in two months.
For now, my brain is pretty focused on the very basic problem of getting myself to California. (yes, still.) I do try to have faith in my car, but sometimes I worry that I'll end up stranded in the middle of nowhere. I will of course get my car thoroughly checked out before I leave, and if my mechanic declares it unfit for a cross country journey I'll bite the bullet and pay for a U-Haul. Not ideal, but worth the security of knowing I'll get there safely.
Don't worry - despite the anxiety I am still super excited about this next chapter in life! And I know as soon as I arrive safely and at least one major worry is taken care of, I'll be able to truly enjoy my excitement :)
Love and Bellyrubs,
Christy
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Sunday Share
Hey all! I decided to introduce a new feature to the blog that I'm going to call "Sunday Share!" Obviously it is no longer Sunday but I got too excited to wait until next week.
Every Sunday I'm going to try and share a cool/interesting/funny animal related tidbit. It could be a video or an article or anything that strikes my fancy. The purpose of this is to provide my audience with laughs and entertainment and to demonstrate the many things I find fascinating and inspirational about the animal world.
This week's share comes from my dear mother. She sent me this video and I think it is SO cool. This is exactly the kind of thing I can see myself doing for the rest of my life.
Check it out!
Every Sunday I'm going to try and share a cool/interesting/funny animal related tidbit. It could be a video or an article or anything that strikes my fancy. The purpose of this is to provide my audience with laughs and entertainment and to demonstrate the many things I find fascinating and inspirational about the animal world.
This week's share comes from my dear mother. She sent me this video and I think it is SO cool. This is exactly the kind of thing I can see myself doing for the rest of my life.
Check it out!
Can't you just see me training sea otters for the rest of my life?? I love finding videos like this because the more I research, the more post-EATM possibilities open up for me. I had no idea coming into this how many amazing options I would have upon graduating. There's a whole crazy world of animal-related careers out there!
Till next time,
Love and Bellyrubs!
Christy
P.S. Weekly Updates will now be a Wednesday thing :) Stay tuned!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Weekly Update
I've been in a state of almost denial about the difficulty of this program. Sure, in my head I know it's going to be an extremely taxing two years, but it never crossed my mind that I wouldn't do well.
This week final grades came out for the new second years, and a guy I had been chatting with found he had to drop the program. It is a heartbreaking reality for the incoming first years to face, and I'm sure even more heartbreaking for his classmates who had spent the last year with him bonding over the difficult classes and the manual labor we'll have to do. I'm well aware, of course, of the dangers of getting dropped from the program. They covered all of that at the Applicant Information Meeting back in March. You will get dropped if you have too many U3s (unethical, unprofessional, unsafe points), if your grades fall below a C average, if you REEEALLY mess up... but I couldn't even imagine that that would happen all that often. I figured that the students who dropped did so by choice, because they made the difficult decision that they just couldn't handle the workload, or the finances. On top of that, the thought of letting myself fall below a 2.0 GPA was laughable, even more laughable than the idea that I would lose points for being unsafe or unethical.
But it happens. For this guy, it happened JUST before he could be rewarded for his first year of grueling zoo work and labor and finally be paired with his animals. All of us are here because we desperately want to be here. We can relate to the heartbreak that would come of having to say goodbye to this dream. Or maybe it's just me, but there has been a somber, heavy note in the air since I found out.
However, I'm going to turn this around and use it to motivate me. No matter what, this is not an option for me. I will do whatever it takes to get through my program, and I will do it at the top of my class.
On a lighter note, I've gotten through some big things in the past week. I'm switching to AT&T today to save (wait for it) ninety dollars a month on my phone bill. I'll be saying goodbye to my lovely smartphone, but on the bright side I have bought a very nice used Garmin GPS on Craigslist to save me from getting lost on my road trip.
I also went school supply shopping last night, which is one of my favorite things in the WORLD. I feel so prepared!
Last but not least, this morning I bit the bullet and made hotel reservations for my road trip. I will be staying in Sutton, Nebraska; Grand Junction, Colorado; and St. George, Utah on my way to Moorpark. I probably could have saved some money if I had really pushed the trip and driven 10+ hours a day, but I decided I really want to take this opportunity to SEE the country, not just drive through it. So, I have a few sightseeing stops planned along the way. One more night in a hotel is definitely worth being able to see cool and beautiful parts of the country.
That's all for today.
Love and bellyrubs,
Christy
This week final grades came out for the new second years, and a guy I had been chatting with found he had to drop the program. It is a heartbreaking reality for the incoming first years to face, and I'm sure even more heartbreaking for his classmates who had spent the last year with him bonding over the difficult classes and the manual labor we'll have to do. I'm well aware, of course, of the dangers of getting dropped from the program. They covered all of that at the Applicant Information Meeting back in March. You will get dropped if you have too many U3s (unethical, unprofessional, unsafe points), if your grades fall below a C average, if you REEEALLY mess up... but I couldn't even imagine that that would happen all that often. I figured that the students who dropped did so by choice, because they made the difficult decision that they just couldn't handle the workload, or the finances. On top of that, the thought of letting myself fall below a 2.0 GPA was laughable, even more laughable than the idea that I would lose points for being unsafe or unethical.
But it happens. For this guy, it happened JUST before he could be rewarded for his first year of grueling zoo work and labor and finally be paired with his animals. All of us are here because we desperately want to be here. We can relate to the heartbreak that would come of having to say goodbye to this dream. Or maybe it's just me, but there has been a somber, heavy note in the air since I found out.
However, I'm going to turn this around and use it to motivate me. No matter what, this is not an option for me. I will do whatever it takes to get through my program, and I will do it at the top of my class.
On a lighter note, I've gotten through some big things in the past week. I'm switching to AT&T today to save (wait for it) ninety dollars a month on my phone bill. I'll be saying goodbye to my lovely smartphone, but on the bright side I have bought a very nice used Garmin GPS on Craigslist to save me from getting lost on my road trip.
I also went school supply shopping last night, which is one of my favorite things in the WORLD. I feel so prepared!
Last but not least, this morning I bit the bullet and made hotel reservations for my road trip. I will be staying in Sutton, Nebraska; Grand Junction, Colorado; and St. George, Utah on my way to Moorpark. I probably could have saved some money if I had really pushed the trip and driven 10+ hours a day, but I decided I really want to take this opportunity to SEE the country, not just drive through it. So, I have a few sightseeing stops planned along the way. One more night in a hotel is definitely worth being able to see cool and beautiful parts of the country.
That's all for today.
Love and bellyrubs,
Christy
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Weekly Update
Hello all!
This week I have a few more things taken care of, yet a lot more left to do.
So far I have...
~Bought a bed! It is being delivered to my new house today!
~Bought cute cozy bedding for my new bed!
~Bought a rat maze! Second semester we will need to train a rat to navigate a maze, and I was able to buy one from an older student for 20 bucks. It sounds really cool - four stories and lots of obstacles. She's also dropping it off with my roommate today.
~Worked on finalizing my road trip plans!
Aaaaand.... *drumroll*...
SIGNED A LEASE!
Yes, I have finally put my little scribble on my very first lease. It's official! I've been messaging with my other roomies on Facebook to get to know them a little and to talk about what we're contributing to the house. Looks like it's going to be a really great place to live.
However, the list of things I still need to do is a bit bigger:
~Find a cage for my rat.
~Call financial aid to see what's up with my status.
~Get my physical done and make an appointment with the Moorpark health center.
~Research places to sell my car once I arrive.
~Find someone on craigslist who wants to sell me their bike.
~Clean out my entire room so it can be used as a guest bedroom when I leave.
~Pack.
~Find a desk and maybe a nightstand.
Most of the to-do list mainly involves acquiring things, which I won't need to really worry about until August.
That's my status as of today! Slowly but surely checking off the to-do list :)
Till next time!
Love and Bellyrubs,
Christy
This week I have a few more things taken care of, yet a lot more left to do.
So far I have...
~Bought a bed! It is being delivered to my new house today!
~Bought cute cozy bedding for my new bed!
~Bought a rat maze! Second semester we will need to train a rat to navigate a maze, and I was able to buy one from an older student for 20 bucks. It sounds really cool - four stories and lots of obstacles. She's also dropping it off with my roommate today.
~Worked on finalizing my road trip plans!
Aaaaand.... *drumroll*...
SIGNED A LEASE!
Yes, I have finally put my little scribble on my very first lease. It's official! I've been messaging with my other roomies on Facebook to get to know them a little and to talk about what we're contributing to the house. Looks like it's going to be a really great place to live.
However, the list of things I still need to do is a bit bigger:
~Find a cage for my rat.
~Call financial aid to see what's up with my status.
~Get my physical done and make an appointment with the Moorpark health center.
~Research places to sell my car once I arrive.
~Find someone on craigslist who wants to sell me their bike.
~Clean out my entire room so it can be used as a guest bedroom when I leave.
~Pack.
~Find a desk and maybe a nightstand.
Most of the to-do list mainly involves acquiring things, which I won't need to really worry about until August.
That's my status as of today! Slowly but surely checking off the to-do list :)
Till next time!
Love and Bellyrubs,
Christy
Friday, May 10, 2013
Questions
I had not anticipated the sheer number of decisions involved in making a move this big.
First it was "where will I live?"
Then it was "when will I leave?"
Then it was "will I fly or will I drive?" THIS was the big one. There were a thousand tradeoffs of time, cost, ease of transport, etc etc etc. Tied into this question was another doozy: "will I sell my car??"
I had originally planned on taking a long cross country road trip with my geckos, doing lots of sightseeing along the way. I was thrilled with the idea of seeing parts of the country I had never been to, but a little worried about the cost and the question of whether my poor car would be able to make it.
After some discussion, my dad convinced me to look into the idea of selling my car, flying with the essentials, and shipping the rest of my things in a moving pod. I admit, the idea of a quick four hour flight was looking pretty good in comparison to a 30 hour drive, so I changed my plans. I would sell my car, pack up my things in a pod, fly to LA with the geckos, and wait for everything to arrive. Seemed perfect!
Then, of course, I made the horrible decision of researching costs and looking up flight policies for pets and calling moving pod companies and long story short, this was NOT going to work.
One mild panic attack later, I'm back on the road trip idea. JD, Kahlua, and I will pack up all our stuff and set off into the wild west on August 5th. We'll take our time, 3 or 4 days of driving, and arrive in California with a few days to spare before orientation starts. And then, once I'm all settled, I'll say goodbye to my wonderful car and be a few thousand dollars richer.
(plans will probably chance eighty more times before I leave, of course)
For now, it feels good to have at least one huge decision out of the way.
Until next time!
Love and bellyrubs,
Christy
First it was "where will I live?"
Then it was "when will I leave?"
Then it was "will I fly or will I drive?" THIS was the big one. There were a thousand tradeoffs of time, cost, ease of transport, etc etc etc. Tied into this question was another doozy: "will I sell my car??"
I had originally planned on taking a long cross country road trip with my geckos, doing lots of sightseeing along the way. I was thrilled with the idea of seeing parts of the country I had never been to, but a little worried about the cost and the question of whether my poor car would be able to make it.
After some discussion, my dad convinced me to look into the idea of selling my car, flying with the essentials, and shipping the rest of my things in a moving pod. I admit, the idea of a quick four hour flight was looking pretty good in comparison to a 30 hour drive, so I changed my plans. I would sell my car, pack up my things in a pod, fly to LA with the geckos, and wait for everything to arrive. Seemed perfect!
Then, of course, I made the horrible decision of researching costs and looking up flight policies for pets and calling moving pod companies and long story short, this was NOT going to work.
One mild panic attack later, I'm back on the road trip idea. JD, Kahlua, and I will pack up all our stuff and set off into the wild west on August 5th. We'll take our time, 3 or 4 days of driving, and arrive in California with a few days to spare before orientation starts. And then, once I'm all settled, I'll say goodbye to my wonderful car and be a few thousand dollars richer.
(plans will probably chance eighty more times before I leave, of course)
For now, it feels good to have at least one huge decision out of the way.
Until next time!
Love and bellyrubs,
Christy
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Weekly Update
Until I leave, I thought it would be nice to give weekly updates on how the moving/preparing process is going. There are SO many things happening so that will hopefully give me plenty of material to work with.
I am wildly excited about the class list for this semester, which I just received this weekend. Check it out: Animal Health and Safety, Animal Diversity & Lab, Mammal Anatomy & Physiology, Wildlife Conservation, Animal Care and Handling (and Lab), Zoo Work Skills (year 1), and Wildlife Education & Lab. I am going to learn so much! I don't think I've ever been so excited to go to school.
I've ordered two of the textbooks I need from Amazon (Wild Mammals in Captivity, 1st and 2nd editions), and have gotten in contact with a graduating student about buying some books from her, as well as some uniform shirts and sweatshirts.
Last bit of exciting news for the day... I'm signing a lease tonight! I'll be living in a beautiful townhouse with 3 other first years within walking distance of campus. Huge kitchen, cozy living room, community pool... I can't wait to move in!
Love and Bellyrubs,
Christy
I am wildly excited about the class list for this semester, which I just received this weekend. Check it out: Animal Health and Safety, Animal Diversity & Lab, Mammal Anatomy & Physiology, Wildlife Conservation, Animal Care and Handling (and Lab), Zoo Work Skills (year 1), and Wildlife Education & Lab. I am going to learn so much! I don't think I've ever been so excited to go to school.
I've ordered two of the textbooks I need from Amazon (Wild Mammals in Captivity, 1st and 2nd editions), and have gotten in contact with a graduating student about buying some books from her, as well as some uniform shirts and sweatshirts.
Last bit of exciting news for the day... I'm signing a lease tonight! I'll be living in a beautiful townhouse with 3 other first years within walking distance of campus. Huge kitchen, cozy living room, community pool... I can't wait to move in!
Love and Bellyrubs,
Christy
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Hello Friends!
At my dear mother's request, I've agreed to start a blog that will keep all my loved ones up-to-date on my awesome zoological adventures in California.
I'm three months away from departure, and I'm already hanging on an emotional thread. The thought of leaving everyone so soon is heartbreaking and terrifying, and at the same time I am getting so excited about my future classmates and the amazing apartment I found and my classes this semester and the whole world of possibilities this program will open up for me. It's amazing that one person can hold that many feelings. It's probably not very good for me. Is there some kind of emotional capacity that humans are capable of experiencing? Because I'm pretty sure I've surpassed it.
Well, if all these nerves and thoughts and feelings come exploding out of my brain in the form of an epic nervous breakdown likely culminating in my dramatic death... I will miss you all.
In the slightly more likely event that that DOESN'T happen, I will try to keep you all up to date on the moving process, the adjustment to life in sunny SoCal, the awesome things I'll be doing over there, and anything else I feel like sharing.
And of course, I will still miss you like crazy. Hopefully this will be a way to keep home a little closer :)
No promises on the frequency of updates. I got things to do, yo!
Love (to my human friends) and bellyrubs (to my non-humans),
Christy
I'm three months away from departure, and I'm already hanging on an emotional thread. The thought of leaving everyone so soon is heartbreaking and terrifying, and at the same time I am getting so excited about my future classmates and the amazing apartment I found and my classes this semester and the whole world of possibilities this program will open up for me. It's amazing that one person can hold that many feelings. It's probably not very good for me. Is there some kind of emotional capacity that humans are capable of experiencing? Because I'm pretty sure I've surpassed it.
Well, if all these nerves and thoughts and feelings come exploding out of my brain in the form of an epic nervous breakdown likely culminating in my dramatic death... I will miss you all.
In the slightly more likely event that that DOESN'T happen, I will try to keep you all up to date on the moving process, the adjustment to life in sunny SoCal, the awesome things I'll be doing over there, and anything else I feel like sharing.
And of course, I will still miss you like crazy. Hopefully this will be a way to keep home a little closer :)
No promises on the frequency of updates. I got things to do, yo!
Love (to my human friends) and bellyrubs (to my non-humans),
Christy
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