Two down...

... an awful lot to go.

Finished Block II, finally, and now it's off to distributions on Monday. The final wasn't nearly as exciting/stressful as Block I so I don't have any entertaining stories this time (other than the windchill being -10 degrees F... go ahead and laugh, all you people in reasonable climates...), just your basic reasonable multiple-choice exam. Woo.

For those wondering why the heck I just took a final when most college/grad students aren't even back in school yet, I can attempt to explain Cornell's schedule... but be warned, it's been known to make peoples' heads explode.

- There are seven foundation blocks (numbered 1-7), plus neuroanatomy and parasitology, that you must pass.
- These blocks are set lengths that are not the same as each other, and do not care that large vacations land in the middle of them.
- Block VII runs for 2.5 years, and is broken up into a, b, c, etc.- each segment runs alongside another foundation block (Block I with VIIa, II with VIIb, and so on)
- Block II runs right over the 2-week winter break, 3/4s before and 1/4 after... which is why I'm here.
- To make life interesting, there are things called "distribution periods" in the spring (where we take elective- i.e. "distribution"- classes). They are labelled A, B, C, and D, and they are the same time for all classes.
- Distributions can be A, B, C, D, AB, CD and there might even be some ABCDs. Head hurting yet?
- Several distributions don't even have to be completed in the distribution period- you have a year to complete the requirements. There's at least one held in the fall, when there is no distribution period.
- Neuroanatomy is not a distribution, but you have to take it in the AB period of your first year.
- Block III starts right after distributions, then you get 2 months of summer vacation and come back for a month of Block III and a final.
- Block IV runs concurrently with parasitology, because somebody out there is very, very mean. But at least you get a normal winter break after.
- I can see smoke coming out of your ears.
- Block VI is when things get really interesting, because it's clinics, so it gets broken up into 2-week chunks... and I haven't even tried to figure them out yet because I'm still stuck on the fact that my classes start Monday. But not all of them. And some have already started. And one I can't register for yet.

So the lesson of the day is... a large part of being a vet student, at least here, is figuring out where you're supposed to be on any given day :)