Finals week

Here's a very short, very academic-related post, because I know there are people out there (person? A person, singular? Hi mum!) who are curious about school, as it's a relatively significant reason for me living in Oregon at the moment. There are a lot of other things going on this week, but I'll stick to school stuff for now.

I have five finals in five days coming up. This past Friday was the last day of classes (read: Examinable material), and come tomorrow morning, it's the beginning of the end. That wasn't supposed to sound so ominous, but take it as you will, haha. First up, it's Virology, which I suppose is nice because for me, it's the least petrifying. I have Pharmacology on Tuesday, Parasitology on Wednesday (which I'm actually excited to write...what's wrong with me?!), Bacteriology/Mycology on Thursday, and then, the icing on the Least Fun Cake Ever, is Systemic Pathology on Friday. There are two big bads for me this week, and they will be Pharm and Sys Path. They're not actually "bad" courses in any way- to be honest, I really enjoy both and they are actually the most important courses I'm taking this term. This, I suppose, is part of the problem- the pressure quotient gets upped and there is SO MUCH MATERIAL TO KNOW. Why do we have so many drugs?! It's staggering. I guess I'll appreciate that as a clinician, but as a wide-eyed baby vet student, it's a bit of a struggle. I haven't had a course so heavy on straight memorization since undergrad, so it's just a different learning style I am having to get used to again. 

Sys Path has been really interesting as well- I enjoy the labs and I love that we get to use the knowledge that we are gradually accruing to solve these medical mysteries. Still, there is no way to retain every single bit of material we've been taught for this exam. Instead, I am trying to focus on the most important concepts: The most common diseases that we'll see over and over, reportable stuff because it's so important for disease control and public health, etc. I will be so unbelievably glad to get this week over with. Ems is coming down here on Tuesday for some much-appreciated sisterly support, and then we'll drive home together on Friday with maybe a little stop overnight in Portland to do some Christmas shopping. I can't even really let myself get excited about that yet, because it feels like there is so, so much to do before I get there.

Ah well, one day at a time is all I can do. Now, it's time to stop procrastinating, skim over a few more notes for tomorrow, and get to bed. I'm pretty sure writing a blog entry was LITERALLY the very last thing I could justifiably do tonight to keep from continuing to study...I already did laundry, went to the gym, walked the dog, organized my textbooks, made several lists and study schedules to avoid actually having to *do* said study, etc. Sigh. Wish me luck!