Right now, we second-years don't have another test until
finals. It's quiet…a little too quiet. But I'm making
the most of this lull in stress and studying by… studying? I
know, it sounds weird and nerdy. I have good reasons,
though. For one thing, it makes it easy for me to study when
both of my roommates are also studying. The only difference
is that they actually do have exams coming up this week. I
feel guilty if I'm sitting around watching TV while they are
diligently making flashcards and charts. Also, for the first
time in a very long time I can study without a deadline. I can take
more breaks, get on Facebook, and zone out a little more often than
if I were stressing about a test coming up. It's easier to
learn for life and not for a test this way. And finally, I
find myself studying this weekend because, frankly, finals scare
me. How many times have I had to take finals? And it
still feels like they sneak up on me every time. So I'm being
proactive and getting some studying in now to avoid the inevitable
surprise of finals.
Studying isn't the only task I have this weekend. In
between the bouts of studying and fun with friends, I finally have
time to do some things that I have been meaning to do all
semester. One of these tasks fits somewhere between going out
with friends and studying on the fun spectrum. That task is
searching for and applying to externships for this summer. On
the one hand, searching for an unpaid summer job, updating my
resume, and writing letters of intent can be tedious and
tiring. On the other hand, I get so excited thinking about
all the cool, different things I might get to do and see next
summer, my last summer. This summer will be my last chance to
immerse myself for two whole months in a completely new
experience. When my third year ends in May 2013, I won't get
a summer break to prepare for fourth year, which starts the week
after third year finals. So that means I have to get it right
this summer.
Step one of this process is deciding what kind of externship I
want to do. This semester my interests have been shifting
toward wildlife medicine and an emerging field known as
conservation medicine. Instead of focusing on individual
animals, the veterinarians in these fields treat whole populations
of animals and assess their impact on humans and natural
resources. So I've been researching wildlife externships that
do just that. Step two is deciding where I want to go.
Since there aren't really any of these opportunities in Texas, for
the first time in my life I will be spending more than two weeks
outside of Texas. The US Geological Survey in Madison,
Wisconsin, for example, has an externship at their National
Wildlife Health Center. Or then, there is the Wildlife
Disease Extern Vet Program at the University of Wyoming in
Laramie. The third step is the most difficult though:
applying. That's the step I finally have time to work
on. So apparently, although I get to take a break, it seems I
still don't have much free time.