And so it starts...

Just finished my 2^nd week of veterinary school at UCD and the last few weeks have been busy! With getting prepared to start classes – buying school supplies and outfitting my flat with the necessities I have been back and forth to town a number of times. I also ended up buying a few extra pieces for my wardrobe as I really did not have much in the way of suitable clothing for Irish weather coming over here from SoCal. The one notable item I bought was something I said that I would never be caught dead in – skinny jeans. Anyone who knows me well knows I am not a skinny jeans type of a girl, I wear flares. But it rains a fair bit here in Dublin and if you wear jeans that touch the ground well then you will end up quite soggy, so I had to invest in a few pairs of skinny jeans and some tall leather boots for those rainy days. I must say the look is growing on me and it has a bit of an equestrian feel to it.

The majority of my classes have hit the ground running, so to speak. Thankfully, most of the topics we are covering I have at least studied at some point in the past, so I just need to find out what dusty, dingy crevice in my brain the information is stored in. And if I can’t find it then I will have to relearn it! Throughout the semester we will have MCQ (multiple choice question) exams, but the majority of our grade will be based off of our final at the end of the semester. And by majority I mean like 70%!!! The grading and exam structure is completely different here, so it will take some getting used to. We even have oral exams here which they call “vivas”. Talk about being put on the spot.

I am the oldest person in my class – like ancient. Yeah. So in Ireland and pretty much everywhere else outside of the states a person can go to vet school right outside of high school. So that means the rest of my class is pretty much 18 & 19 year old Irish students except for a few English students (still 18 & 19) and one other American who is 25. That effectively makes me beyond old. But I am hoping that just gives me an edge as I have been through college before and I know what I need to do in order to make it out alive. I am mature, serious, and focused.

So I knew the Irish liked to drink (heck my family is Irish!), but I had no idea how centered around drinking vet school would be. In the first 2 weeks we have already had 3 nights out – thankfully one was on a Saturday. I am not a big drinker, so I went out to try and meet some people in other classes (people more around my age perhaps). On the Saturday night, I actually wore a slinky red dress which is completely unheard of for me…but even though that threw me a bit out of my comfort zone I ended up having some good craic with my roommate and neighbors!

And last night for Arthur’s Day I tried my 1^st pint of Guinness ever courtesy of my roommate Courtney at our local pub Kieley’s. It was definitely the best beer I have ever had, but I won’t be drinking a ton of them anytime soon. I am still a whiskey girl at heart. As all Irish girls should be.

A little lost...

I have been in Dublin for 2 weeks now and I can definitely say that I am still not completely settled in yet. I jumped the very large pond from the U.S. (Los Angeles to be exact) to come to the University College Dublin and study Veterinary Medicine for 5 years. My dream of becoming a vet has pushed me to completely uproot my life, my dogs, and move half way across the world away from my family in order to pursue the one career I know will make me happy.

So here I am…sitting all alone in a 2 bedroom flat in Dublin at 12 am wondering what the hell I was thinking. My dogs are curled up on the floor fast asleep and if it weren’t for them I would definitely not be here right now as they are the glue that holds me together. The last few months leading up to this move were beyond stressful and consumed my every waking moment. The past 2 weeks have been new and different and I have felt a vast array of emotions – the biggest one being loneliness. I have been on my own a lot which although I should be very much used to seeing as that was my daily life back home I think it feels like a huge empty hole here as everything is so foreign and I am out of my comfort zone. I am lost.

I have traveled so many places on my own and I have moved to new areas by myself in the past, so I know these feelings will pass. Once school starts and I am too busy to think about it then I will find a routine. And with time I will become more familiar with Dublin and it will become my home, so perhaps then I won’t be lost.

I am excited to start Vet School - to really start working towards my goal as it feels like it took such a long time to get here. And I hope to really experience all I can of Ireland while I am here and really make it my home. My plan through this blog is to chronicle not only my life in vet school, but my life in Ireland as well – through stories and photos. “Craic” (pronounced ‘crack’) in Ireland means fun, enjoyment, having a good time/laugh and that is exactly what I am hoping to find during my time here in Ireland.