Note to Self

There is a serious lack of available literature on diseases of Orcinus orca.  Most of it is on Tursiops which is great because they make a great model species, but come on, lets get a little more specific.  

In the future, I want to do research on the diseases in wild Killer Whale populations, I think we might find some interesting trends (any information would be interesting at this point).  Also, I want to do research on husbandry methods and disease pathology of captive killer whales, because the last major study on that was done back in the 70s where whales were still being taken from the wild and acquired all sorts of ailments due to poor husbandry methods coupled with a severe lack of knowledge of the species (yay for more arguments regarding the ethics of acquiring knowledge at the expense of animal welfare...).  I want to see what has been happening now, to see if any improvements have been made in the management of these animals, or what diseases have emerged or disappeared....ANYTHING!!

I'm going to have a lot of work cut out for me....on the brightside, I'm going to have a lot of ideas for research papers if I do want to get board certified in zoological medicine. 

http://www.aczm.org/content.aspx?page_id=1&club_id=366916&item_id=2609

=)

Dear WDCS

I have a few complaints regarding "Captive Cetaceans: a handbook for Campaigners".

First of all, please update your material.  The most recent version is from 1998 which in my opinion is grossly out of date considering that the current year is 2012, and presumably statistics have changed and more research has been conducted and published.  This is important because if you actually expect people to use this, then at least arm them with correct, scientifically up to date information; especially since the pdf document is particularly popular with the google search engine.  The popularity makes the average person vulnerable to old information that would not hold any water against "the industry".

Second, please make sure the edit your manual thoroughly.  In my honest attempt at taking the manual seriously I came across basic spelling errors indicative of a lack of professionalism.  In scientific literature, an article is extensively proofread to avoid making the research look like a petty backyard operation.  So if you want this manual to look like more than just liberal animal rights activism and have more credibility, then please, please, proofread.

-a scientifically literate person, that wants to save the whales too

Small Rant

Dear World,

I may not the best person out there.  I'm not the prettiest, or the smartest, or anything-est, but I'm still a person just trying to live my life in the best way I can.  I may not scale mountains on the weekends or have people begging to date me or get the best grade point average, but I'm doing my absolute best.

I've been given a lot of privileges in this life and I continue to strive to deserve them.

I just got accepted into veterinary school, on top of that, they are giving me a $1000 grant for my first year there.  Did I have a 4.0 gpa? No. Did I have spectacular GRE scores? No. Did I, on paper, look like the best candidate? Probably not.

But I have remained faithful to the goal of becoming a veterinarian for most of my life, and I have done nothing but prepare for it since my senior year of high school.  I've never been the smartest, or have gotten the best grades, but I knew what I wanted and tried my absolute best to achieve it.

Now am I worth it?  I don't know, but now is my time to prove it so even though I feel like some people may look on me with disdain Why did SHE get an offer? or jealousy, How did she get in, I'm so much better than her! I'm going to do my best.  I personally like to think that I'm brave enough to continue despite the overwhelming amount of self doubt that I have about my abilities.  But I suppose I should have faith that the admissions committee was right about me, and that I deserve my spot in the class of 2016.

Veterinary School

Yep, I got in.  I really wanted to make sure I didn't forget to mark this momentous occasion with a blog post.  I don't have time to fully paint the picture of my udder happiness right now, but rest assured, I will soon.  It actually happened yesterday Friday the 13th.  My lucky day =)

New Years Resolutions!

Yep, here is another blogger blogging about her New Years Resolutions. I can feel my uniqueness just oozing out of my pores....anyway.

1. Show myself more self respect - the kind from the new movie Jane Eyre (LOVED IT). Despite wanting something deeply and badly but would have come at great cost to her sense of self, she abstained.  I want to respect myself like she respected herself.
2. Participate in a Triathlon - there is one locally, that I've been wanting to try for the last couple of years.  As soon as I get back to school I'm going to start training.  Its going to be epic, I promise.
3. Get more LIVE animal veterinary experience - Pathology has been the most training I've had in veterinary medicine.  Granted its been great and I've learned a lot, but I do really want to learn about live animals too.
4. Do an exciting Internship/volunteer opp./study experience - I would really love to do a marine mammal internship and so I'm hoping it would be something along those lines.
5. FINISH MY RESEARCH PROJECT - started last summer....sigh.  Still working on it.  Its a lot of data and a lot of medical terminology and interpretation for someone who is not a pathologist, but I'm doing my best.
6. Blog more - its therapeutic, enough said.

I can't think of anything else in particular for that.... but here is another list

Some fun things that I may or may not get too!

1. Finish the scarf I started to knit.  Thanks to my old roommate's prompting, I started knitting. Yup, knitting.
2. Do a trans-state motorcycle ride.  I'm hoping that when I graduate, I'll take my motorcycle and ride down the west coast.  It'll be a super long trip, but epic at the same time.
3. Join a cuban salsa dance team.  Yeah, would be FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. Get a dog.  This would require a whole bunch of things to happen which makes it unlikely to happen this year, but who knows.

eh, thats all for now.  If I think of anything else, I'll just add on.

Big Pet Peeve

Now that I am finally finished with fall term I have a little more time to write something for this blog of mine.  I find it a little ironic that I say I have time and yet I'm writing this blog post at 12 in the morning.  Its because of my family, I love them to death, but they require a lot of time from me on vacation and I just can't really write in front of them.  But, as a friend of mine once said, that's neither here nor there.

Tonight I want to write about something that has been bothering me for a while, one of my biggest pet peeves: condescension.  Whats funny to me is that I can stand this kind of behavior from some kinds of people but not from others.  My tolerance for this kind of thing depends heavily on the context and situation.  For example, I can stand being treated like a child with my elders, but not with those I deem within my peer group.  But condescension in its many forms bothers me and most of the time I find it deeply insulting, whether it happens to me or someone else.

The form of condescension that really touches a nerve for me is the kind where one person talks down to another person because of their status in life; they are younger, older, they are a different sex, marital status, religion, race or education.  Tonight I'm going to focus on the age condescension because I feel that is the most relevant to me.

Because I have grown up both looking young and being one of the youngest in my family, there have been many instances where I have been treated differently because of my age and/or lack of maturity. (Note: I am going to use younger and lack of maturity interchangeably).  Most of the time this kind of treatment comes from my elders, which, as I have said before, is more or less tolerable.  I feel justified for being able to tolerate it from them because in this way I'm being respectful to my elders while at the same time acknowledging that they indeed have more experience than me.  But if I'm treated in that way by someone who is in my peer group, I feel extremely insulted and am more likely to lash out.

My reasoning for this sensitivity is because now, I am more and less, an adult, and I strongly feel that I should be treated with all the respect due to someone of my age and maturity.

Will continue tomorrow morning because I'm too tired to write anything more coherent tonight.

A short blog post

I really think I should blog more.  I like it as an outlet for the upsetting feelings I have on occasion, but its tragic because when I feel the most inspired, articulate, and the great desire for blogging I force myself not to because I have other obligations to attend to...namely my studies.  I turn towards my studies because blogging for me has proven itself to be a very time consuming activity and many times I really do not have the time it takes to construct something that closely captures how I feel.  

THUS I am writing a short blog post about writing a short blog post to prove to myself that I can indeed write something less than a Russian novel and still post it.  Call it, breaking through a mental barrier.

Hopefully this will help me to write more often because I won't be afraid of equating a short post to an arbitrary post.  I'll be able to ask questions, give short blurbs, and even some rants thrown in.  So hurrah!