Class of 2020... how you doin?

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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katashark said:
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Why would anyone waste delicious popcorn like that
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Jesus Christ. I'm all for competitive posting against the up coming first years, but I need some gifs apparently.
 
Everyone's spending this break doing amazing things and I'm just like...
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Three quizzes and two exams down this week, six quizzes and two more exams next week before break :(
 
Caiter92 said:
Three quizzes and two exams down this week, six quizzes and two more exams next week before break :(
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I feel you, Caiter. That's about where we're at, too. Spring break really couldn't come any sooner... starting to lose steam.

Annnnnnd anatomy exam tomorrow. Blah.
 
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SandstormDVM said:
I feel you, Caiter. That's about where we're at, too. Spring break really couldn't come any sooner... starting to lose steam.

Annnnnnd anatomy exam tomorrow. Blah.
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Good luck tomorrow! :)

We had our second anatomy exam today and I think it went better than last time, so fingers crossed I can break 80 (will make sure I'm fully out of the marginal zone after failing my first).

We have immuno Monday and I'm so nervous. I barely passed the first one and half the class failed. Hopefully the exam will be a bit less intense this time.
 
Yo guys. It's day 200. Well, if you started on the 14th (which I count cause orientation counts).
 
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Got a 95 on my pathology exam... but I'm pretty sure I'm about to get a 59 on this physiology exam. I love vet school.
 
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Reading through the 2021-ers talking about what they are looking forward to about vet school

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I am so angry and upset right now. I've put probably 30-40 collective hours into studying for this anatomy test... and I made almost exactly the same crappy D grade that I made on the first test which I put maybe a couple of days into. I studied with groups, put together and utilized my own study guide and Anki decks, drewbout structures, and looked at old tests... I just... I am so incredibly frustrated at myself right now and I don't even know what went wrong. I mean, I didn't feel great about it but I assumed that I'd get at least a C.

Kill. Me. I guess I'll look into a tutor because clearly I cannot crack anatomy for whatever reason. I'm doing better overall in my other classes for the most part, at least...

I just wish I knew what I was doing wrong.
 
SandstormDVM said:
I am so angry and upset right now. I've put probably 30-40 collective hours into studying for this anatomy test... and I made almost exactly the same crappy D grade that I made on the first test which I put maybe a couple of days into. I studied with groups, put together and utilized my own study guide and Anki decks, drewbout structures, and looked at old tests... I just... I am so incredibly frustrated at myself right now and I don't even know what went wrong. I mean, I didn't feel great about it but I assumed that I'd get at least a C.

Kill. Me. I guess I'll look into a tutor because clearly I cannot crack anatomy for whatever reason. I'm doing better overall in my other classes for the most part, at least...

I just wish I knew what I was doing wrong.
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So sorry Sandstorm. :( Are you able to go over your test with your professor to see which questions you missed? Maybe it's something like you're second guessing yourself and changing answers to the wrong ones. Getting a tutor definitely sounds like a good idea, I hate to see you struggling so much.
 
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LyraGardenia said:
So sorry Sandstorm. :( Are you able to go over your test with your professor to see which questions you missed? Maybe it's something like you're second guessing yourself and changing answers to the wrong ones. Getting a tutor definitely sounds like a good idea, I hate to see you struggling so much.
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Yeah, I met with him over the first test and I might look into doing that again. There were a few questions where I did have the correct answer but started doubting myself and changed.

I guess it's just that there is clearly something very wrong with either me or my study methods if I spent over a week more studying for this second test but still made virtually the same grade that I did for the first one which I crammed for. Blah.

I am doing much better this semester overall but anatomy is still obviously a major struggle.
 
SandstormDVM said:
There were a few questions where I did have the correct answer but started doubting myself and changed.
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Nooo that is the worst. Maybe part of it is building your confidence a bit? Or just telling yourself not to change your answers unless you can list several good reasons for it.
 
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WildZoo said:
Nooo that is the worst. Maybe part of it is building your confidence a bit? Or just telling yourself not to change your answers unless you can list several good reasons for it.
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It's especially funny because I told a friend who was doubting herself before the test to make sure that she trusts her gut. :/

But, yeah, I need to work on my confidence.
 
We paired up to do nerve blocks in anesthesia lab today, and @flameshock and I nailed our supraorbital block but crashed and burned on the radial block. Apparently, the radial nerve is not nearly as superficial as we thought it was. Whoops. :laugh:
 
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SandstormDVM said:
It's especially funny because I told a friend who was doubting herself before the test to make sure that she trusts her gut. :/

But, yeah, I need to work on my confidence.
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I feel you. This term, physiology is where I struggle the most. We have a test every week. She covers an incredible amount of material in one week and her testing style is all over the place. One week I studied for 1 full day, got a 60. The next week I studied for 5 days and I got that same 60. It's incredibly frustrating. I meet with a tutor once per week and I got to my professor's review sessions every week as well. I study on my own, with groups, etc. I'm just trying to pass her class and move on. I am constantly below the mean in that class, which is so stressful. I just want to pass and run in the middle of the pack. I've never scored above a 75 on anything in her class, but there are a few folks who haven't scored above an F either which just breaks my heart. All you can do is try your very best, trust your gut, hope you have enough time on the test, pass and move the hell on. We won't be in these classes forever.
 
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@SandstormDVM (don't know why it wouldn't let me quote you but...)

If this is something you do often, like every exam, it might be worth making the rule for yourself to NEVER change an answer. One of my closest friends in vet school has been doing this since our 1st semester and has had 3 semesters she barely passed because of it.... unfortunately she is also stubborn and won't listen to my advice because we are in 6th semester now and she already failed 3/4 of our first round of midterms because of self doubt and changing her answers. I know you didn't ask for it but I'm gonna lay the advice on you now that she won't take:

1. Never make a decision on a question based on what you DON'T know, only make decisions based on what you DO know. When I follow this advice to myself I am much more likely to get questions I am unsure about (or between two answers on) correct that incorrect. My friend very often will have chosen the correct answer but the info in another answer choice will be something she didn't study thoroughly or maybe doesn't even recognize at all.... so when she is rechecking answers she will come back, get paranoid about that knowledge gap, and change it. Ask yourself... if I am only answering this based on what I KNOW, how would I answer it. Yes, maybe you have never even heard of option C before but if you studied a lot and studied hard and it was relevant, you would have at least read the words somewhere, right?

2. Don't ever let yourself change an answer. Some people add to this "unless...." for example "unless you have a major thought process break through that allows you to be 100% certain of your new answer".... but if you're one of those people that isn't simply waffling unsure but REALLY talking yourself thoroughly into an incorrect answer choice, you're better off just never changing an answer. Of 3 three she failed so far this semester, if she had not changed ANY answers she would have gotten 1-2 more incorrect per exam (i.e. she made 1-2 changes TO THE CORRECT ANSWER per exam, exams being 35, 40, or 50 questions) but she would have gotten 8-15 more CORRECT because that is how dang many she changed from correct to incorrect. If she literally changed zero answers she would have passed all three exams she failed, two of them with a solid B.

I hope this helps you in some way.... its been a solid two years now that I have been trying to help her thru this because I am a good test taker and she tends to have a lot of test anxiety. She knows what she does wrong and yet every exam she still lets her nerves take over and choose the wrong answer. Just hoping maybe SOMEONE can be helped by all the work I have put into her and research I have done on test taking strategies :p
 
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katashark said:
I feel you. This term, physiology is where I struggle the most. We have a test every week. She covers an incredible amount of material in one week and her testing style is all over the place. One week I studied for 1 full day, got a 60. The next week I studied for 5 days and I got that same 60. It's incredibly frustrating. I meet with a tutor once per week and I got to my professor's review sessions every week as well. I study on my own, with groups, etc. I'm just trying to pass her class and move on. I am constantly below the mean in that class, which is so stressful. I just want to pass and run in the middle of the pack. I've never scored above a 75 on anything in her class, but there are a few folks who haven't scored above an F either which just breaks my heart. All you can do is try your very best, trust your gut, hope you have enough time on the test, pass and move the hell on. We won't be in these classes forever.
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WeimMama said:
@SandstormDVM (don't know why it wouldn't let me quote you but...)

If this is something you do often, like every exam, it might be worth making the rule for yourself to NEVER change an answer. One of my closest friends in vet school has been doing this since our 1st semester and has had 3 semesters she barely passed because of it.... unfortunately she is also stubborn and won't listen to my advice because we are in 6th semester now and she already failed 3/4 of our first round of midterms because of self doubt and changing her answers. I know you didn't ask for it but I'm gonna lay the advice on you now that she won't take:

1. Never make a decision on a question based on what you DON'T know, only make decisions based on what you DO know. When I follow this advice to myself I am much more likely to get questions I am unsure about (or between two answers on) correct that incorrect. My friend very often will have chosen the correct answer but the info in another answer choice will be something she didn't study thoroughly or maybe doesn't even recognize at all.... so when she is rechecking answers she will come back, get paranoid about that knowledge gap, and change it. Ask yourself... if I am only answering this based on what I KNOW, how would I answer it. Yes, maybe you have never even heard of option C before but if you studied a lot and studied hard and it was relevant, you would have at least read the words somewhere, right?

2. Don't ever let yourself change an answer. Some people add to this "unless...." for example "unless you have a major thought process break through that allows you to be 100% certain of your new answer".... but if you're one of those people that isn't simply waffling unsure but REALLY talking yourself thoroughly into an incorrect answer choice, you're better off just never changing an answer. Of 3 three she failed so far this semester, if she had not changed ANY answers she would have gotten 1-2 more incorrect per exam (i.e. she made 1-2 changes TO THE CORRECT ANSWER per exam, exams being 35, 40, or 50 questions) but she would have gotten 8-15 more CORRECT because that is how dang many she changed from correct to incorrect. If she literally changed zero answers she would have passed all three exams she failed, two of them with a solid B.

I hope this helps you in some way.... its been a solid two years now that I have been trying to help her thru this because I am a good test taker and she tends to have a lot of test anxiety. She knows what she does wrong and yet every exam she still lets her nerves take over and choose the wrong answer. Just hoping maybe SOMEONE can be helped by all the work I have put into her and research I have done on test taking strategies :p
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Thanks, guys. This is some great advice and I'm definitely going to make an effort to follow it from now on.

To be completely honest, there were very few questions on the test that I just flat-out did not know the answer to. Most of the ones that I missed, I had some idea, formulated an answer based off of that, but then checked it all again on another run through the questions, and changed the answers. According to the answer key, almost every single time that I did that, I missed it and I initially had the correct answer. Ugh! Probably the most frustrating one was a pin on the lab portion that was in the middle tracheobronchial lymph node of a horse. I wrote down "middle tracheobronchial lymph node", but then thought "Well, that's way too obvious to be it... he wouldn't make it that easy". Needless to say, it really was that easy. There was another instance of this happening with a pinned superficial cervical a. on a cow; I initially thought that it was superficial cervical but then at the last second WAY overthought the way that the vessels and muscles of that region were reflected and changed my answer to common carotid based on that. :(

It's very frustrating. I guess I just need to trust that I do know the material (I did spend a pretty large chunk of time studying it!) and go with my first instinct. I was upset last night because I couldn't believe that I'd made virtually the same grade on a test that I crammed literally one day for and one that I'd been preparing for for about two weeks.

The good news, I suppose, is that my other classes are going SO much better this semester than last. It's basically only anatomy at this point giving me issues (well, and immuno---didn't too well on the first exam but that was my fault for leaving it until just a few hours prior and hoping that my having taken it in undergrad would carry me through).

I will say that, from what I have heard through the grapevine, most of my classmates also are not feeling that they did well on this test. So at least it seems that I'm not alone? :shrug: Still not an excuse, though. I need to continue tweaking my study habits and trust in myself more, especially when I spend so many hours studying well in advance. Trying to remain positive.
 
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SandstormDVM said:
Ugh! Probably the most frustrating one was a pin on the lab portion that was in the middle tracheobronchial lymph node of a horse. I wrote down "middle tracheobronchial lymph node", but then thought "Well, that's way too obvious to be it... he wouldn't make it that easy".
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THIS! When we were in anatomy and had lab exams we would look back over my friend's answer sheet and she would literally have written the correct answer and then.... chosen something else because it was too easy/another bad reason. Same deal on some of our physio exams with a notoriously tricky question writing professor... she would have the correct answer or correct ailment written in the margins and then choose something totally different because obviously if it came to mind right away for her it can't be right.

SandstormDVM said:
Most of the ones that I missed, I had some idea, formulated an answer based off of that, but then checked it all again on another run through the questions, and changed the answers. According to the answer key, almost every single time that I did that, I missed it and I initially had the correct answer.
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Sounds like you're a perfect candidate for the "NEVER CHANGE YOUR ANSWER" rule.

No matter what and no matter whether your class is struggling with it too, it sucks big time to know that you KNEW the info and still ended up with the grade you did. Reading your reply literally feels like I am talking to my friend.... lots of overthinking and "why the heck did I change that, I KNEW that".... I'm sure you've heard the saying "think horses not zebras" so yeah if you have 10 reasons to think the answer is A and A happens to be something the professor harped on, is clinically relevant, etc etc but you have a nagging feeling in the back of your mind that its B... sorry brain, its probably still A.
 
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SandstormDVM said:
. According to the answer key, almost every single time that I did that, I missed it and I initially had the correct answer.
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I think this is really important to highlight.

You knew the things, which means you are studying more effectively and retaining more things - and that's awesome! Now it's just a matter of confidence and test taking skills so that knowledge is also reflected by your grades.

I do feel ya, though - I also tend to screw myself over by changing answers, and learned the hard way that I had to go with my first answer and move on. It was definitely a training process of sorts for my brain.

I would also like to note that it's been neat to see how much you've grown this year in terms of studying well and persevering in that. You're on a great trajectory -- continue on. :)
 
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@WeimMama, I'm definitely going to take your advice and start next week with our final. Thanks for putting that input out there.
 
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This is what happens when SDN drops off of my tabbed favorite site list and it only consists of Blackboard, Canvas, our intranet site, Google, Google Scholar, my bank website, and barely hanging on at the end is FB.... I forget my username, password, address, cell number, my own na... wait, who am I? Who are you people? Why am I not studying???

I'll try to get back on here more so @WildZoo has another reason to be annoyed with me :poke::rofl:
 
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FeartheDogMonky said:
This is what happens when SDN drops off of my tabbed favorite site list and it only consists of Blackboard, Canvas, our intranet site, Google, Google Scholar, my bank website, and barely hanging on at the end is FB.... I forget my username, password, address, cell number, my own na... wait, who am I? Who are you people? Why am I not studying???

I'll try to get back on here more so @WildZoo has another reason to be annoyed with me :poke::rofl:
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Yes, join us, help us in the fight to keep the c/o 2021 thread from passing us in page numbers ;)

(Who needs to study anyway?)
 
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WildZoo said:
Yes, join us, help us in the fight to keep the c/o 2021 thread from passing us in page numbers ;)

(Who needs to study anyway?)
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Studie? I know study so gud NEwayz.

Hm, I shall see what I can do... Shall we talk about adenoviridae? :barf: Or shall we talk about this awesome sunny weather that I see from my office window as I type this in an effort to procrastinate virology and the 99 other things I have to deal with? I do think I will brush my dog out so he doesn't look neglected and bring him with my pile of study stuff downtown today to get out of the house. Kinda pissed I missed Mardi Growl yesterday since I was fingers deep in necks all morning :shrug:
 
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FeartheDogMonky said:
Studie? I know study so gud NEwayz.

Hm, I shall see what I can do... Shall we talk about adenoviridae? :barf: Or shall we talk about this awesome sunny weather that I see from my office window as I type this in an effort to procrastinate virology and the 99 other things I have to deal with? I do think I will brush my dog out so he doesn't look neglected and bring him with my pile of study stuff downtown today to get out of the house. Kinda pissed I missed Mardi Growl yesterday since I was fingers deep in necks all morning :shrug:
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It really is gorgeous out today. I'm avoiding the studying by doing other important things (mostly cleaning my apartment) and going to the zoo later. Gotta get those steps in!
I missed Mardi Growl too but got some really cute pics from people who went. At the time one of my cats had decided to fall asleep in my lap, so obviously I couldn't move.
 
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WildZoo said:
It really is gorgeous out today. I'm avoiding the studying by doing other important things (mostly cleaning my apartment) and going to the zoo later. Gotta get those steps in!
I missed Mardi Growl too but got some really cute pics from people who went. At the time one of my cats had decided to fall asleep in my lap, so obviously I couldn't move.
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Currently experiencing an iatrogenically induced adverse reaction to the pharm exam we took this morning...

Holy potato.
 
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First day back from spring break, don't have class until 1:00. Cool. Had all sorts of productive things planned for the morning: grocery shopping, organizing, maybe take a relaxing bath... but it's now 10:49 and I'm still in bed. BLACKOUT BLINDS ARE SO DANGEROUS
 
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Just what I was afraid of. Calculated my anatomy grade and at the moment I am just barely passing. Trying to be proactive about it. I've got a tutor set up and am going to utilize the lab more often outside of school hours. Still definitely really frustrated given how much time and effort I put into the last test that I still bombed it because I wasn't confident in my initial answers. Oh, well.

In slightly better news, took my neuro lecture midterm this morning and despite not putting probably nearly enough study time into it I think I actually did pretty decently (and it looks like I got very lucky on some of my guesses, too). Just path on Wednesday and GI phys on Thursday until spring break!
 
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SandstormDVM said:
Just what I was afraid of. Calculated my anatomy grade and at the moment I am just barely passing. Trying to be proactive about it. I've got a tutor set up and am going to utilize the lab more often outside of school hours. Still definitely really frustrated given how much time and effort I put into the last test that I still bombed it because I wasn't confident in my initial answers. Oh, well.

In slightly better news, took my neuro lecture midterm this morning and despite not putting probably nearly enough study time into it I think I actually did pretty decently (and it looks like I got very lucky on some of my guesses, too). Just path on Wednesday and GI phys on Thursday until spring break!
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Keep going, you can do it. You aren't the only one that has struggled with anatomy and you won't be the last one. Keep pushing through! :)
 
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SandstormDVM said:
Just what I was afraid of. Calculated my anatomy grade and at the moment I am just barely passing. Trying to be proactive about it. I've got a tutor set up and am going to utilize the lab more often outside of school hours. Still definitely really frustrated given how much time and effort I put into the last test that I still bombed it because I wasn't confident in my initial answers. Oh, well.

In slightly better news, took my neuro lecture midterm this morning and despite not putting probably nearly enough study time into it I think I actually did pretty decently (and it looks like I got very lucky on some of my guesses, too). Just path on Wednesday and GI phys on Thursday until spring break!
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Cheering for you sandy! :D
 
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SandstormDVM said:
Just what I was afraid of. Calculated my anatomy grade and at the moment I am just barely passing. Trying to be proactive about it. I've got a tutor set up and am going to utilize the lab more often outside of school hours. Still definitely really frustrated given how much time and effort I put into the last test that I still bombed it because I wasn't confident in my initial answers. Oh, well.

In slightly better news, took my neuro lecture midterm this morning and despite not putting probably nearly enough study time into it I think I actually did pretty decently (and it looks like I got very lucky on some of my guesses, too). Just path on Wednesday and GI phys on Thursday until spring break!
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Good luck! I did hate anatomy and it took me a lot longer to get it than others. This quarter is clinical anatomy so I'm hoping and praying it's much more interesting.
 
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