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