Crankin’ Competition #1 & 2

On November 5, 2010 I competed in my first rock climbing competition. The Crankin’ Competition is a series of three rock climbing competitions that take place every year at the Rocknasium in Davis, California. Climbers from near and far gather at the gym to get their hands on over 50 brand new climbing routes and Read More …

An Average Week in the Life of a Vet Student

I realize there are a lot of people who are curious as to what an average day is like for a vet student. Fact of the matter is: there are no average days  in vet school, at least not at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. At best we have an expectation that Read More …

Getting Competitive

I don’t consider myself a competitive person. I had my competitive streak many years ago, but that pretty much ended when I left high school and started my undergraduate studies at Pomona College, one of the least competitive, most collaborative and supportive environments I’ve ever been in. I even stopped competing in skiing and swimming Read More …

Second Year Takes Off

I almost failed to notice that my second year of vet school had started as I was so busy welcoming the Class of 2014 to the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Second year classes even started during orientation, so I was forced to split my time between the fun orientation activities and the more Read More …

My First Vet School Summer: What I Did

To be honest, I didn’t truly have a plan for this summer. During the winter and spring terms I made some plans. I applied for a research fellowship, expecting not to get it and made back up plans which included: An externship at the San Francisco SPCA Summer clinics in Neurology, Dermatology, and Oncology at Read More …

A First Year’s Guide to UCD SVM: Pre-Orientation

Advice for Pre-Orientation: Get your bearings. Journey over to the vet school. Walk around and become familiar with things now that you don’t have the anxiety from an upcoming interview weighing on you. Try and find all of the places listed here. If you can’t find something, ask someone around you — there are plenty Read More …

Bouldering with my Buddies

Most of you know that I rock climb — a lot! More specifically, I boulder — a lot! Bouldering (according to Wikipedia) is a “style of rock climbing undertaken without a rope and normally limited to very short climbs over a crash pad so that a fall will not result in serious injury.” So there Read More …

First Year of Vet School Completed!

That’s right, I’ve officially completed my first year of vet school! It was pretty anti-climatic as we completed a rather easy final exam in Renal Physiology to end the year. Nevertheless, Spring Quarter came to an end over a few weeks that seemed like they would be rather overwhelming and leave very little time for Read More …

Adapting to Life in Vet School

I know it may seem ironic that I am posting about adapting to life in vet school when I have less than 1 month remaining in my first year of vet school, but nevertheless, here it goes… I think this term I have demonstrated my ability to live my life happily and successfully while managing Read More …