Any Tips for First Year?

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Relationships?

I've heard all sorts of horror stories. What's everyone else's take?

Coming in with one, dating someone in your class, dating someone outside your class... etc.

I just got out of a pretty serious relationship. And he'll still be in undergrad here while I'm starting vet school (I'm graduating early...). I love the guy but it's been straight drama and stress for the last 7 months. I'm pretty sure he thinks we're going to try to "start over again" and try to date next year. But after reading all this I'm feeling like I should keep him at a pole length distance away! He can be a little selfish sometimes and I'm worried he really isn't going to understand the perpetual statement "I can't right now, I need to study" :laugh:

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Relationships?

I've heard all sorts of horror stories. What's everyone else's take?

Coming in with one, dating someone in your class, dating someone outside your class... etc.

I just got out of a pretty serious relationship. And he'll still be in undergrad here while I'm starting vet school (I'm graduating early...). I love the guy but it's been straight drama and stress for the last 7 months. I'm pretty sure he thinks we're going to try to "start over again" and try to date next year. But after reading all this I'm feeling like I should keep him at a pole length distance away! He can be a little selfish sometimes and I'm worried he really isn't going to understand the perpetual statement "I can't right now, I need to study" :laugh:

I would err on the side of stay away, but my previous post made that pretty clear. A few of my friends really struggled with and were distracted by dramatic relationships that ultimately ended. A few classmates had really public break ups.

But if you genuinely believe it's a good thing... Stick with it. My own relationship and many others are still intact. I don't want anyone to think I'm anti-relationship in vet school... I just think people should be realistic if they think things might not be healthy or work out with their partner.

And don't date your classmates. Unless you're our second year class... They're all marrying each other. Which is cool.
 
And don't date your classmates. Unless you're our second year class... They're all marrying each other. Which is cool.

Dunno what it is about the class of 2014 but we have a lot of relationships in my class too. And only one was a relationship when vet school started, most of the others were, er, in relationships with other people when we started.
 
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:love: cowgirla's advice on cooking. I think I'm going to start doing this for the rest of the quarter! I'm a pretty hopeless cook/baker so I could use the extra practice.

:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Dunno what it is about the class of 2014 but we have a lot of relationships in my class too. And only one was a relationship when vet school started, most of the others were, er, in relationships with other people when we started.

Yeah, I dunno! I think our class has only two couples.

Funny it's that way at another school!
 
Many of my classmates came in with a relationship, some are still in it, some aren't. A lot of them broke up with their SO in late September/October. There are several couples in my class (dating each other), wouldn't really recommend it since you'll literally spend 8 h a day together but it depends on the couple I guess. I wouldn't want to spend that much time with an SO though. Plus it could get really awkward if/when a breakup occurs and you still have to see/work with them every day.
 
wow!!! we have TONS of relationships in my class! i'd say at least 2/3s (of 76) are either married, engaged, or in a relationship. and most of these are long distance. all of the married/engaged couples are long distance except for 1. i think we have 1 intraclass relationship, and a couple of interclass relationships. i know there are a few intra turned marriages in some of the upper terms (can't imagine that though!! that is WAY too much time with someone else for me). no one in my class has young kids (one has late teens and another has one of her 12ish yr old here and her other slightly older son in the US).
 
There's enough guys in vet school for that many relationships????
 
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Don't feel bad about skipping. If you don't feel like going and need a mental day off, just stay home or do whatever. That saved my sanity years 1-3. In 4th year that's not really an option unfortunately.

But really, the world isn't going to end if you don't hear about obscure cow diseases at that moment! You may benefit more from a day of luxurious sleep, a home made brunch, and a book you actually like to read.

Don't feel bad about taking a day off just for you once in a while. You'll need it.
 
There's enough guys in vet school for that many relationships????

My class has 23 guys (out of 117 total). We have the most guys in our year out of all of OVC lol. I think OVC 2014 only has 14 guys.
 
wow!!! we have TONS of relationships in my class! i'd say at least 2/3s (of 76) are either married, engaged, or in a relationship. and most of these are long distance.

I know of quite a few people in my class who are either married, engaged, or in a relationship. I went through a breakup pretty soon in first year after a 4 year relationship, but it was never a good relationship to begin with (drama, lack of support, etc.). It is way too distracting to try to deal with relationship drama when you are trying to figure out first year of vet school. If you fight all the time, it's only going to get worse with vet school. Now, however, I've been with the same person for a little over a year. He's already out of school, and he is very supportive of me being in vet school. Relationships in vet school aren't impossible, but it does require a commitment from both people involved.
 
:love: cowgirla's advice on cooking. I think I'm going to start doing this for the rest of the quarter! I'm a pretty hopeless cook/baker so I could use the extra practice.

:thumbup::thumbup:

I do actually make almost all my weekday breakfasts and dinners for the semester ahead of time. If you google OAMC or OAWC cooking, that can help (once-a-month/week-cooking.) I also do a lot of casseroles. I cook ahead for a lot of reasons; I love to cook, and I am a bit of a foodie, so I want really good food. Cooking ahead lets me prep meals with veggies during peak seasons, and use spices and herbs that are fresh (rather than sitting on shelves for 6 months.) It saves me money (cheaper to buy 1/4 grass fed cow from one of the farmers at the local market than to buy as I need) in the long run. I am also working on staying at a healthy weight despite having some allergic reactions that put me on pred more frequently than is desirable.

For breakfast, I make mini baked omelets, muffins, baked french toast in muffin pans....individual servings. When they are done baking, I cool them, then individually wrap them in either vac bags or press-n-seal plastic wrap, then toss them in an appropriate ziplock bag with nutrition info on the bag. I'm on WW, so I also write the points on each individual piece.

For dinner, I will have a casserole (lasagna, veggie bakes, grain bakes, roasts, etc) that I prepped (generally 2-3 servings, using a big casserole recipe that I divided up into loaf pans) wrapped in tinfoil (line the loaf pans with tin foil) then in plastic wrap, labeled with cooking directions, points, and name/info. I can take it out of the freezer, remove the plastic, pop it back into the loaf pan in the tinfoil, defrost in the fridge for a day or three, toss in the oven when I get home, and the foil allows for easy clean up. I also have salmon pot pies and strudels, desserts, fish in steam packets, etc. I dish up the extra serving or two into lunch containers. Other than that, I have salad for lunch.

I still cook during the semester, but it tend to be things that are in season, or especially good quality/price, or that i'm really craving. No one realizes, when they are eating the red pepper and roasted tomato lasagna, that it was made 2 months ago. I can always cook more, and use the extra prepped food for parties or holidays. Just rotate if doing another big cooking day. What Cowgirl does is a bit less obsessive! Anything that gives you the space to not have to cook or shop when you are super stressed and struggling to get enough sleep is what you are aiming for!
 
I think 2/3 of our class are in relationships. Several folks married during vet school (though with individuals outside of school, or at least our class.) I don't think any of the long-term marriages dissolved (IE folks with kids, >5yr marriage, etc) but there were a few divorces (2 or 3?). I'd say ~50% of the non-engaged/non-married relationships that folks started with a relationship have since broken up. I think whether people are in relationships or not seems to have more to do with the individuals; I feel like a lot of folks that came to school in relationsihps are still in relationships, just not with the same folks. I have also noticed that several classmates that started dating during school didn't have the relationships last very long. We haven't had any major in-class drama, though we have had several folks date and break up within the class.

If the relationship is strained and the commitments questionable, vet school may be too much additional pressure. Having said that, my husband had a lot of problems health and career wise throughout vet school (banking industry = 3 layoffs in 3 years) and there were a lot of really hard times, but we would let those problems shift into low priority until we had time to address them (breaks, long weekends) and that worked well for us. Now that much of that is resolved (please, no more layoffs) we are both doing better. Personally, if your partner isn't supportive of your options, move on, because they won't be supportive of the committment you will make to get through school.
 
I do actually make almost all my weekday breakfasts and dinners for the semester ahead of time. If you google OAMC or OAWC cooking, that can help (once-a-month/week-cooking.) I also do a lot of casseroles. I cook ahead for a lot of reasons; I love to cook, and I am a bit of a foodie, so I want really good food. Cooking ahead lets me prep meals with veggies during peak seasons, and use spices and herbs that are fresh (rather than sitting on shelves for 6 months.) It saves me money (cheaper to buy 1/4 grass fed cow from one of the farmers at the local market than to buy as I need) in the long run. I am also working on staying at a healthy weight despite having some allergic reactions that put me on pred more frequently than is desirable.

For breakfast, I make mini baked omelets, muffins, baked french toast in muffin pans....individual servings. When they are done baking, I cool them, then individually wrap them in either vac bags or press-n-seal plastic wrap, then toss them in an appropriate ziplock bag with nutrition info on the bag. I'm on WW, so I also write the points on each individual piece.

For dinner, I will have a casserole (lasagna, veggie bakes, grain bakes, roasts, etc) that I prepped (generally 2-3 servings, using a big casserole recipe that I divided up into loaf pans) wrapped in tinfoil (line the loaf pans with tin foil) then in plastic wrap, labeled with cooking directions, points, and name/info. I can take it out of the freezer, remove the plastic, pop it back into the loaf pan in the tinfoil, defrost in the fridge for a day or three, toss in the oven when I get home, and the foil allows for easy clean up. I also have salmon pot pies and strudels, desserts, fish in steam packets, etc. I dish up the extra serving or two into lunch containers. Other than that, I have salad for lunch.

I still cook during the semester, but it tend to be things that are in season, or especially good quality/price, or that i'm really craving. No one realizes, when they are eating the red pepper and roasted tomato lasagna, that it was made 2 months ago. I can always cook more, and use the extra prepped food for parties or holidays. Just rotate if doing another big cooking day. What Cowgirl does is a bit less obsessive! Anything that gives you the space to not have to cook or shop when you are super stressed and struggling to get enough sleep is what you are aiming for!
Wow, that is some intense planning! I love soup in winter so I am planning on making a whole bunch in August and freezing. I wish my freezer were large enough to buy a 1/4 cow, but I can't really justify a chest freezer just for me.

This thread has some great advice! Keep it coming:D
 
I am pumped about all of this cooking advice! I am sooo tired of Hamburger Helper it's ridiculous, and whenever I get busy I never feel like cooking (which I'm sure I'll constantly be busy in vet school), so I am definitely going to try all of this! Keep it coming, for real! You all rock :claps:
 
I do a similar thing. I cook a bunch of meals to freeze at the beginning of the semester for when life gets rough. I like cooking though, so I usually cook everything for dinner/lunch for the week on Sunday, and freeze any extra. It works out well, and I still go out sometimes.

Also Scb44f and I like to have weekly potlucks with some other students. It's a cheap way to eat a lot of great food. :)
 
Also Scb44f and I like to have weekly potlucks with some other students. It's a cheap way to eat a lot of great food. :)

Definitely a fun way to go about having dinner with friends. There are some folks older than us who have bigger potlucks and make it a rule not to talk about vet school at all while they're together.

I don't cook a lot at once, but I keep things around that are easy to cook and that are not too awful for us. My fiance and I got a crock pot recently so we use that to make a giant meal, and then we eat off of it until it's gone.
 
Okay, here's one: I've heard from a lot of people to "get used to not getting a lot of sleep"- true or false? I can live with 5 hours a night, but would way rather have 7...:sleep:
 
Okay, here's one: I've heard from a lot of people to "get used to not getting a lot of sleep"- true or false? I can live with 5 hours a night, but would way rather have 7...:sleep:

For me and a lot of others, that's not true. There are days where I get less sleep than I'd like, but it's not typical. I'd say I get 6-7 hours usually. I'm sure I could make time for more if I wanted to.

ETA: There are folks in my class who pull all-nighters the night before exams (I think the least I've gotten was 4 hours but I did it to myself by not studying until last minute).
 
Okay, here's one: I've heard from a lot of people to "get used to not getting a lot of sleep"- true or false? I can live with 5 hours a night, but would way rather have 7...:sleep:


False. If you want sleep, make it a priority. If you know you do better with sleep, dont pull an all nighter the night before a big anatomy exam.

I had a few nights last year where I got ~4 hours of sleep. Looking back, prob would have been better off sleeping, for all the good that last bit of studying did! And I think Im getting old because I just can't seem to stay up past 12:30 anymore! I tend to average 7-9 hours now and don't think I've gone below 6 at all this semester (at least not for study related reasons- hello, occasional insomnia!)
 
That means Im getting super old. I tend to falter at 10:30 and wake up at 6. Back in UG I was TOTALLY different. 12/1-6 am.

Thanks everyone for the food advice! Also, I was told about some blog that looks really cool. Called "poor girl eats well." Totally going to start practicing being poorer than I am!
 
Okay, here's one: I've heard from a lot of people to "get used to not getting a lot of sleep"- true or false? I can live with 5 hours a night, but would way rather have 7...:sleep:

False except during exams. I get a standard 8 h throughout most of the school year (sleep at 11, wake up at 7). Since Monday (when exams started), that number has gone down to 4-6 h.
 
You get as much sleep as you want.

If you happen to be Breenie-like, you will sleep 8 hours a night, and then 1 hour in Anatomy lecture, 1 hour in Epidemiology lecture, and ~20 minutes in Immunology.

:sleep: I'm usually pretty well rested.
 
That means Im getting super old. I tend to falter at 10:30 and wake up at 6. Back in UG I was TOTALLY different. 12/1-6 am.

Thanks everyone for the food advice! Also, I was told about some blog that looks really cool. Called "poor girl eats well." Totally going to start practicing being poorer than I am!

:laugh: about practicing being poorer than you are :laugh:

Love all the advice on here. Luckily, I think food will be the least of my issues, both time and money wise. I'm a really picky eater and the things I do eat are all pretty quick (macaroni and cheese, spaghetti Os, PBJ, Pizza, instant mashed potatoes, Mrs. Grass's soup, fruits and veggies, nuts, cheese and crackers, grilled cheese, waffles, cereal, I think that sums it up well :) ).
 
You get as much sleep as you want.

If you happen to be Breenie-like, you will sleep 8 hours a night, and then 1 hour in Anatomy lecture, 1 hour in Epidemiology lecture, and ~20 minutes in Immunology.

:sleep: I'm usually pretty well rested.


:smuggrin:
 
Also, you can link your school email address to your dropbox to get doubled space.)

How do I do this? I originally made my account with my school address if that matters. when you say link your address to your dropbox, do you mean you "invite" your other email address to join, and then have to accept the invitation with that 2nd address? Or do you just add a second address to your original account?
 
For me and a lot of others, that's not true. There are days where I get less sleep than I'd like, but it's not typical. I'd say I get 6-7 hours usually. I'm sure I could make time for more if I wanted to.

ETA: There are folks in my class who pull all-nighters the night before exams (I think the least I've gotten was 4 hours but I did it to myself by not studying until last minute).

True - welcome to 4th year. The other years are more suited to a regular sleep pattern. Your clinical year is a can of worms re: sleep. I personally know I can do a week on 4 hours/night. Not that I wanted to find that out. You would be hard pressed to find anyone in 4th year who says they get enough sleep on a regular basis. It's dependent on the rotation, but some really kick your butt.
 
Don't kill yourself studying, yes its important but you will drive yourself mental. Take some time (probably plan it in) to have some fun, even if its going to the gym.
Don't be afraid of your professors, if you make an effort they will make an effort, they like students who show an interest and are willing to put in the work.
 
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True - welcome to 4th year. The other years are more suited to a regular sleep pattern. Your clinical year is a can of worms re: sleep. I personally know I can do a week on 4 hours/night. Not that I wanted to find that out. You would be hard pressed to find anyone in 4th year who says they get enough sleep on a regular basis. It's dependent on the rotation, but some really kick your butt.

Yeah, I don't plan on much being normal during those years. At least I get to watch my SO suffer through his rotations first, so I can learn from him.
 
Relationships? I've heard all sorts of horror stories. What's everyone else's take?

It really depends. My boyfriend and I went LD for the first time (after six years of dating) when I left for vet school. We're still together (a couple people had break ups this year), and it's been easier than I expected but not easy. I've made it a priority to see him on our time off, which I think has been important. We talk every night and Facetime/Skype on weekends. If the guy you are/were seeing is clingy and crazy and demanding, I would probably just make the break permanent and start school with a clean slate.

As for dating people within the class - not for me. I see the same people every day, work with them in projects, etc. I would get sick of seeing them, haha. Also, personal preference, but I wouldn't date another vet student, either. I can't imagine what we'd talk about besides vet stuff and that would drive me up the wall.

Okay, here's one: I've heard from a lot of people to "get used to not getting a lot of sleep"- true or false? I can live with 5 hours a night, but would way rather have 7...:sleep:
False. I get 8 hours easily, but that because sleep is super important to me. Stay on top of your work and you shouldn't have a mad rush to cram until 3am or whatever people do when they don't go to sleep :p
 
In a slightly better mood compared to my last post on this thread, so I thought I'd try to be a little more helpful.
From skimming through, most of this has probably already been said but here goes:

1) Make meals ahead of time, whether its weekly, monthly, semester-ly. It saves time, stress, and somewhat helps prevent the urge to eat out for 3 meals a day around finals week. I do a lot of chicken dishes, soups/stews, lasagna, etc in addition to freezing some basic ingredients, so that when I want to cook, I dont have to waste time running to the store for half an onion. I LOVE cooking, so making the meals is no hardship for me, which does help. Same goes for baking...I've got a large stash of cookie dough, apple pies, irish soda bread, pumpkin bread, apple bread, etc, all in the freezer for those moments of craving. :)
:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
You are an inspiration and my new domestic hero! I'm totally going to do this.
 
Okay, here's one: I've heard from a lot of people to "get used to not getting a lot of sleep"- true or false? I can live with 5 hours a night, but would way rather have 7...:sleep:

i'm gonna say true and false, because its definitely possibly to get the sleep you want. however, no matter how hard i try, i always end up losing track of time at the end of the evening and then am in bed too late to get more than 5.5-6.5 hrs.
 
then individually wrap them in either vac bags or press-n-seal plastic wrap, then toss them in an appropriate ziplock bag with nutrition info on the bag.

That's brilliant.
 
dropbox.com/school or dropbox.com/edu
Or something like that. I can look after the quiz from hell tomorrow is over if those dont work :)

Sad...I tried the dropbox.com/edu, and while it is an actual address, it looks like they've changed it since you did it. It just says you can get space for referring friends and having them except (just like anyone can). Oh well. Thanks though.
 
So, this whole freezing-a-ton-of-meals-at-the-beginning-of-the-semester deal:
I'm kind of a stickler for fresh eating. I love fresh fruits and vegetables. Do these foods that you freeze really taste THAT fresh when you reheat them? I mean, they have to lose some "oomph," right?? Not sure if I could go for that...
 
I wouldn't freeze fruits/veggies you want to eat raw. I use mine for stir fry, soup, smoothies, etc. Still has all the flavor, but the texture is wonky. Texture stays better if you flash freeze them, but the averagw student does not have access to that.
 
So, this whole freezing-a-ton-of-meals-at-the-beginning-of-the-semester deal:
I'm kind of a stickler for fresh eating. I love fresh fruits and vegetables. Do these foods that you freeze really taste THAT fresh when you reheat them? I mean, they have to lose some "oomph," right?? Not sure if I could go for that...

Yeah I'm with you on the fruits and veggies thing, JMJ. Plus, there will be no more Wegmans for us.... :cry:

But I think the idea of freezing meals for those occasions when you really have no desire to cook (which is rare for me now, but I'm sure vet school is completely different lol) is a great idea. Not every single thing you ever eat, but even if there is a meal you can thaw once a week and eat a few times, I'm sure it's helpful. I :love: lasagna, so I'm sure I will be eating it way too much lol
 
So, this whole freezing-a-ton-of-meals-at-the-beginning-of-the-semester deal:
I'm kind of a stickler for fresh eating. I love fresh fruits and vegetables. Do these foods that you freeze really taste THAT fresh when you reheat them? I mean, they have to lose some "oomph," right?? Not sure if I could go for that...

in GND, pretty much the same fresh items are available every week. don't freeze them, thats silly :p however, the fruit and veggie (particularly the veggie) selection is substantially more limited or expensive than what you're used to (my best example is that asparagus is regularly ~$10US a bunch. heck no)
 
To clarify:

I don't freeze things like produce. I still go shopping once a week for those sorts of things/whatever else I need. I like to eat salads for lunch, so I get a bunch of lettuce, chop it all up on Sunday, and store it in a big container in my fridge for the week. Lately I've been eating a banana with breakfast, so I just buy a bunch of 5 bananas and hope they last through the week.

Can't freeze EVERYTHING. :p
 
To clarify:

I don't freeze things like produce. I still go shopping once a week for those sorts of things/whatever else I need. I like to eat salads for lunch, so I get a bunch of lettuce, chop it all up on Sunday, and store it in a big container in my fridge for the week. Lately I've been eating a banana with breakfast, so I just buy a bunch of 5 bananas and hope they last through the week.

Can't freeze EVERYTHING. :p

:thumbup: I still buy the things I want to eat fresh on a pretty regular basis. Lots of carrots and celery. They tend to lose that satisfying crunch after being frozen.

If it's going to be used for cooking, I generally freeze it just so I have some on hand- saves those last minute runs to the store for just one thing. Herbs, spinach, onions, scallions, tomatoes, lemons, peppers etc are all in the freezer, but the texture is pretty much only good for cooking. Its nice for a recipe that calls for half a lemon or half an onion - I don't need to run to the store, I can just pull the right amount out of the freezer. Lemons are frozen in halves, onions sliced into rings, peppers cut into strips.Most things I freeze on a cookie sheet, and then transfer to baggies so its easier to jsut take what I need and I'm not dealing with a giant clump. I've also got a ton of different berries frozen from the same method - great for smoothies! As well as yogurt cubes for me and the dogs, and pumpkin cubes for the dogs.
As more and more veggies come into season, I'm going to attempt to either freeze or can what I can, so I can at least minimize what I have to buy off season.
 
in GND, pretty much the same fresh items are available every week. don't freeze them, thats silly :p however, the fruit and veggie (particularly the veggie) selection is substantially more limited or expensive than what you're used to (my best example is that asparagus is regularly ~$10US a bunch. heck no)

There is no cheap seasonal produce? I love buying cheap strawberries in season and freezing them for later. Frozen, organic fruit is wicked expensive.
 
There is no cheap seasonal produce? I love buying cheap strawberries in season and freezing them for later. Frozen, organic fruit is wicked expensive.

sure, the local seasonal produce is cheap. but everything that has to get imported is wicked expensive (or some of it's just a little more pricey)
 
I can't remember if I posted in this thread or not. Old brain. No plasticity.

My suggestion that I didn't notice other people making is: Find yourself time to be active in whatever area of vet med you're planning to go into. Companion animal? Hang out in your teaching hospital, do club wet labs, get cozy with a local clinic. Production animal? Do whatever those people do.

Seriously. You'll make great contacts that will help you down the road. You'll get valuable real-world experience. And it'll help your attitude stay positive about school, because most of the time school doesn't feel very related to what you WANT to be doing.

Don't just make school about classes. Yes, you have to pass them. But if that's the extent of what you do: a) you'll be burned out before you ever graduate, and b) you won't be ready for a job.
 
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