So its been about 3 weeks since my last blog - and a lot has happened since!! I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST! but apart from that the next most exciting maybe is that I finished my AS exams!! best day of my life (: I didn't think that any went particularly amazing, especially physics. I actually cried about that one. Finishing them was great but we were all back to school on the following Monday, no rest for the wicked!
Luckily me and 3 friends had booked a week away in Mallorca which was AWESOME. best holiday ever (also the first one without parents!) it was sooo good and we all really needed a break.
Only downer is now we're back at school and catching up A Level physics is no party. I've already dropped English - the school recommends you wait till results day to decide but I figure that all vet uni's prefer physics to english - especially Cambridge - and although my grade may actually be better in english than physics, I enjoy physics more so why wait?!
Some really really good news is my contact at the zoo nearby has got permission for me to help out in the primates section - I'm so happy about this because getting work experience there is normally impossible, they like you to be doing some kind of course (veterinary, zoology, animal handling etc) at uni or college and be at least 18 - neither of which I am.
People keep mentioning personal statements and CV's to me... but so far I'm being quite successful at pushing them to the back of my mind. I've made a little start, and to be fair my CV just needs touching up and updating but my personal statement is going to take A LOT of time.
The EPQ (extended project qualification) is getting into full swing now - I still have to properly decide what I'm doing but I'm pretty sure I'm going to focus on the human-animal interface in a certain situation - probably using my D of E African expedition to base it on... but maybe using the war in Afghanistan... I'm not decided yet.
I'd LOVE the summer holiday to be now, I'm going to be struggling through the last 4 weeks of school. I miss the long GCSE holiday! Instead I'm now back to catching up on quarks and leptons, on which I have a test tomorrow...
roll on the holiday!
Tomorrow is my last day of exams! Thank GOD - I'm so tired. Today I've had an hour and a half biology exam, 2 hours of English exam and then straight onto my physics tutor. My brain is fried and I only had 5hours sleep last night so I can hardly keep my eyes open.
Overall I'd say that exams have gone ok... not good and a long way from amazing, but definitely ok. Apart from physics. Physics was NOT good. and tomorrow I've got my final physics one which I really really want to do well in. I want to carry on with physics next year - after the english exam I've just done I never want to write again! well - possibly thats a slight exaggeration but not much. definitely not about Enduring Love or Robert Browning anyway. I just hope I've done enough to get to uni.
My exams tomorrow are physics and my Biology GCSE core, which I'm resitting after getting a B last year. Its stupid - I got full marks in the additional paper that actually requires you to know stuff but in the 'easy' paper I got a B! insane. so hopefully that can be rectified tomorrow...
I'm so tired and can't revise but I'm too scared that if I nap I won't be able to sleep which is what happened yesterday... a true dilemma.
OH GOD. chemistry exam in 2days. some kind of MIRACLE is needed ASAP. everything is crossed for just a paper of mole calculations and not a single definition. Of the 153 definitions that there are in total... I learnt about 10. uh oh.
study leave started last friday and I was bored of it by lunch-time on saturday. so instead of revising chemistry (which I really really really need to do) I'm off to see my best-friends new king charles spaniel puppy!! I've already told her I'm going to steal it.
But before I go- I AM going to do a past paper (:
Good luck to everyone who is doing exams!!
A few days ago the most awful thing happened - we arrived home to find the vet out in our field with the owners of one of the livery horses. Turns out 20 year old Breeze had gone down with colic. Because of her age and the severity of the problem she was sent pretty much straight away to a surgery to be operated on. Sadly although she made it through the operation, her condition deteriorated and she had to be put down.
Watching the vet trying to stabilise Breeze's condition and deal with the situation made me even more sure that this is the career I want to go into. Breeze was a one of a kind pony and everyone misses her.
I just wish I could hurry up and be a vet already.
Today I passed my driving theory test and have been appointed Head Girl of my school after a long interview process, so I'm feeling pretty happy! One problem is that I'm meant to be at the abattoir tomorrow but we're being introduced to the whole school so I'm not sure I can go... and they're not answering the phone!
Last weekend I went to Manor Vets on Saturday and had another amazing day. I saw a rectal prolapse which was pretty grim but is rare so I'm glad that I had the chance to see it. They didn't have a puppy party at the end of the day which was sad because the puppies are SO cute but it meant I finished a bit earlier than usual so had more time to do the insane amount of work I have piled up.
On Sunday I went to Lord Whisky, same as I do every week!, and had a good time. I'm in love with a rabbit. Its so cute but I'm not sure what to name it... Peter (Rabbit) seems a bit predictable!
Nearly time for the Easter hols which means LAMBING AND CALVING! I am a little bit excited for that! It'll also be good to have time to catch up with some revision - apparently we're already meant to have started revising for our AS Levels which I may not have, oops!
I had my first (of many) easter eggs today! I'm part of Interact and we had a charity event to raise money for Help for Heroes and there were a few eggs left at the end which looked unloved, I'm going to try and not eat quite as much chocolate this year as normal but things aren't looking too promising.
Have a good Easter!
Last night I found myself at my schools Oxbridge talk. I'd never even considered Cambridge an option before I always just thought only true genius' or the exceptionally talented even thought about applying. but now all of a sudden... Cambridge is starting to look pretty nice. Its a 6 year course rather than 5 like the other vet unis which is because the 3rd is spent doing in-depth research on a certain area which I think is good. I like the sound of doing zoology.
well I'm now truly confused - I thought I'd finally managed to narrow down my choices to my final 4 (bristol, edinburgh, RVC and liverpool) and then cambridge came into consideration. when I was younger it was always my dream to be a vet and study at cambridge... It would mean a LOT of hard work.
I finally got round to checking the results of the BMAT test I took while at the Vet-Med Link course and turns out my results were in the top 25% which is pretty cool.
Last weekend I went to meet the farmer I'm doing my lambing and calving work experience with. I turned up on time Saturday morning and got a tour of the farm. some lambs had been born earlier that day and were so tiny and cute. I tried to impress with my (limited) sheep knowledge which was quite amusing but at least he knows I'm keen (:
can't wait till the easter holidays!!
Saturday at the Vets was really good fun. I forgot how much I really enjoy doing work experience there. I got several chances to see how to deal with clients; from an owner refusing to muzzle her staffie to a woman upset about having to decide whether to consider euthanasia for her elderly collie. Dealing with the owners is clearly as much a part of being a vet as making a diagnosis or surgery.
Sunday at Lord Whisky wasn't quite as good... mainly because it rained heavily the WHOLE time so I came home soaked and freezing. and of course it was the only time I've forgotten to take my gloves!
I spent most of Sunday night looking up university open days.
Its very scary that after researching all these vet things for so long its finally time for them to happen.
Recently I've been quite unmotivated at school. Its hard to put what I'm feeling into words but I think its roughly along the lines of 'I've worked so hard at school for 5 years, surely it must be time to actually live my life now.' If someone could just make me a vet without me having to go through another 6 years of education it would be much appreciated. Saying that though, I can't wait to go to university.
I spend so much time planning for the future (like the army), organising work experience, getting all the different uni prospectuses (whats the plural for prospectus?) that I keep having to remind myself that these are all going to be relevant if I get the right grades. Which at the moment I don't seem to be doing...
wow, this is a bit scary - what to write!
well a bit more about myself... I'm 17 and doing my first year of A Levels (I'm doing Biology, Chemistry, English and Physics) and finding it amazingly hard. I've actually just got home from my physics tutor which I organised after deciding 3 U's (ungradables) were just a few too many.
I should apologise now for the awful spelling that those who (hopefully!) read this will be subjected too because although I am taking English A Level and read copious numbers of books I just don't seem to be able to spell. So, sorry guys.
I've always wanted to be a vet and love that I'm finally old enough to be doing stuff about it. Like work experience - I love it! Although what's with the 18 age limit on everything? HOW IS ANYONE MEANT TO GET ANY PLACEMENTS! Hopefully though I've got a family friend who is also a zoo keeper to get me a week at my local zoo, fingers crossed for that!
I'm a bit of a Planner in that I'm slightly obsessed with organisation. My life plan (this does change on quite a regular basis) is to go to vet uni, join the RAVC (Royal Army Vet Corps) and then maybe become a zoo vet. But I don't know how one does this? I've spent literally hours looking for somewhere, anywhere! to tell me in simple words how to become a zoo vet. I've so far deduced that you have to go back to uni and take another course... more research needed I think.
So this is basically me- hopefully someone out there will find this blog useful.
Thanks for reading!
