Light at the end of the tunnel (kind of)

Sorry for my delay in posts lately.. second took over my life. I am pretty sure I have never been more exhausted in my life. March crammed us with exam after exam and as of today we only have only 10 days until our first final. Study time is running out so I wanted to post now before all hell breaks loose. Not only was March crazy busy with one week having 3 exams in it at once but I always find myself volunteering myself for all sorts of things during these time frames. This week me and my 3 friends made 50 lbs of pulled pork for our semester bake sale and in the same day I fed over 150+ people for the Josh Project Cook Off. I literally cooked for 24 straight hours. Each was a success and I even took home the first-runner up spot in the cook-off. I try to balance school work with other things so my brain won't completely crap out on me. I even was elected fundraising chair for next semester so I am super excited to help my class raise tons of money for our 7th semester banquet. For those who don't know what that is, it's a huge party each semester has right before they leave the island. It basically celebrates the end of their time here and we spend all 7 semesters trying to raise money for it by selling shirts and doing bake sales so I am excited to be in that position for my class.

I have been so swept up in this semesters I can't even believe how quickly it has flown by (which I am happy it is). In just 3 weeks, I will be home! Without my pups though :( my friend is pet sitting and I will miss them terribly. But I am kind of glad to go home especially after what happened 2 nights ago. Before coming to St. Kitts I had heard stories about break-ins and robberies and definitely was scared of getting my stuff stolen. I had heard that St. Kitts has an issue with petty theft and people trying to steal stuff just to make a quick buck and most of the time that stuff ends up coming from students. What I have come to realize is that your stuff can all be replaced but your life cannot. Around 8 PM on Thursday our friends who live up the road called us screaming that someone had been shot in front of their house. Now being so close to them I heard a few loud shots go off a little before they called but living so close to the Marriott I just thought it was fireworks because they shoot them off sometimes. What I did not realize at the time is that those were gun shots and not fireworks. Completely panicked my roommate and I locked all windows and doors until we got some more info on what was going on. Living in Manahawkin stuff like this just DOESN'T happen and with a murder taking place right up the road from us I was a little terrified. When my roommate and I were picking an apartment we just wanted to feel safe and I really did feel safe in our area. I would walk outside at night with my dogs and no one ever bothered me; I always felt safe. Now these last two days I feel just an overwhelming sense of panic but do feel a little better with the amount of police and Ross security who are patrolling our entire area. The sad part about this all is that a man lost his life that night and although I only saw him when we stopped by our friends house because he lived next door his kids will no longer grow up with a father and his wife will have to raise their kids alone. The investigation is ongoing right now but as far as I am concerned I won't feel better until someone is caught. Here is the article about the murder:

http://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/86457

Mentally exhausted

Yup this semester SUCKS. I was forewarned and it is true. Second is known as the make it or break it semester and your grades literally go from good in first to EH not so hot. You put in double the work and after the first two exams you really question your confidence and ability. The morale of our class has gone down as a whole and you can really see the exhaustion setting in. Our days start everyday at 8 am and go to around 5 or 6 and could even be longer if you have tutoring or TA sessions (which I do). Most of the TA sessions are on Saturdays and Sundays so we are basically in school 7 days a week. My glorious beach life that I portray has completely subsided until further notice. I am doing whatever I can to make it through this semester and move onto third, it is definitely going to be a rough one. To go along with not having a life my family thinks I have completely disappeared off of the face of the earth which is also due to the semester. I feel horrible but it is the price I pay to being here and I have to keep reminding myself that this is only temporary. Before I came to Ross I was warned about hell weeks and last week I can say was an absolute hell week. We had a Physiology exam on Monday and a Parasitology exam Wednesday, everyday I was gone for almost 12 hours, and I found out my pups have gotten Coccidia from being here (we have only been here for a month). I am hoping that I don't have anymore hell weeks this semester but I doubt it lol. On the bright side, in about 2 more weeks we will officially be half way through the semester THANK GOD and a little bit closer to being home in April. This month also marks 6 months since I moved here which I cannot believe and almost one year since I got the phone call that I was accepted into school. No matter how hard my days are I can't forget how lucky I am to be here.

Round 2

Welp.. I am back for round 2. My break went ridiculously fast and I wish I really could have enjoyed it more by the time I got home it was time for me to leave again. And for new readers possibly interested in going to Ross..the second time saying goodbye sucks equally as bad as the first time. I always say I won't cry but I do anyway it is just a give in. Well this time it wasn't just me traveling to St. Kitts but my two dogs Peanut and Pebbles also. I think traveling in general is stressful let alone traveling to a different country with two dogs who have never been on a plane before talk about STRESSFUL. St. Kitts has an absurd amount of requirements for allowing pets into their country. The paperwork at times to get them here seemed never ending but after months of working on it I got them here and cleared by the CVO (chief veterinary officer) of St. Kitts. All I can say is thank goodness for my friends who helped me the entire time with my dogs. I really wouldn't have been able to do it without them! They are finally adjusting nicely after a rough first few days. Once we got to the airport in St. Kitts with the pups my roommate Michelle and I went straight to our new apartment. Our landlord greeted us with the keys and made sure everything was all set up for us. That next morning I finally got my car aka minion Stu! He was waiting for me on campus where the former owner left him for me to pick up. I cannot believe my friends and I all finally have cars. Relying on the taxi service here got really old really fast and we can finally go wherever we want whenever we want which is awesome. After getting our boxes out of storage and moving into our apartment it seems pretty much all set it and all I can say is the place is gorgeous. I could live here for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. The area is safe and just beautiful we got seriously lucky finding this place! My roomie and I are having a housewarming party this weekend. As for school, this semester I am taking Anatomy II, Physiology II, Immunology, Parasitology, and a vet skills class. This semester is known for being one of the toughest and a killer so lets hope all goes well I am a little nervous considering our class has gotten smaller from last semester to this semester. Some people drop out and some people have to repeat the semester because they failed a certain class. I refuse to let this semester beat me though I am ready to go at it full force.

Birthday, Cook-off, Cars, Finals OH MY

So, first I wanted to apologize for my lack of posts the last few weeks. School took over my life. I am going to bring it back to my birthday though! It was my first birthday ever being away from home which was tough for me but my Ross friends and family at home really made it special. I woke up first thing on my birthday to an awesome birthday cake from the bread chick! Now for those of you who don't go to Ross the bread chick is literally a gift from god. Every Wednesday at our farmers market she comes and brings her fresh made rolls, bread, and cupcakes. We all carbo-load on Wednesday but it doesn't matter everything she bakes is delicious! Well my awesome mom found her on Facebook and got her to bake me a  birthday cake which she delivered to my dorm. I couldn't believe it. The day went on with flowers and balloons sent to school from Jesse and a full out party that night in front of the dorms which all of my friends organized. I really couldn't ask for a better people in my life. My family also mailed me a package that had TONS of birthday gifts in it. Even though I was thousands of miles away from home they did the best job trying to make my birthday great. The day after my birthday though was really amazing! Every semester an organization called Josh Project puts on a school cook-off. The money goes to an awesome cause and people pay to sample food cooked by students, staff, professors and VIPs. FYI: A VIP is someone who comes to St. Kitts to live with a student i.e. husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend. I decided I wanted to enter with my BBQ pineapple pulled chicken recipe. I was up against a bunch of other contestants who could either cook an appetizer, dinner, dessert, or drink. Tons of people came out to sample the food and after only about an hour I was completely out of food and I made 2 crock pots filled with it. I felt bad turning about 10 people away because I didn't have any left but at the end of the night everyone voted for me as the winner! I placed 1st in the cook-off which I think is pretty awesome for a first semester student who has never entered one before. My family was shocked when I called them and told them because they all think I cannot cook. But hey maybe I will be a chef by the time this is over. After the cook-off, the last few weeks of classes dwindled down as I started to plow through tons of material so I wasn't cramming during finals week. I had done okay so far with my classes but I knew I wanted to hit certain marks on my finals in order to get the grades I wanted. Before I knew it the week before finals showed up at my door and I was definitely feeling the pressure. And what do I decide is a perfect idea to do during finals week? BUY A CAR! My apartment is about 10-15 minutes away from campus so a car is definitely a necessity. I had been putting off the whole process because it is notorious for being a pain in the butt. But I knew I needed one so after test driving a few I finally found the perfect one a 2006 Daihatsu Charade! You've probably never heard of it which is normal LOL the island has weird and bizarre cars. The girl I was buying the car from was extremely organized so luckily I finished the whole process quickly and stress free. Only I decide to buy a car during finals but now it is finished and I pick it up when I fly back on January 4th. Just a little fact- car insurance in St. Kitts is $350 for the year..YUP the year. And they drive on the other side of the road..my mother is a nervous wreck lol. Well the dreaded finals week began and my schedule was Anatomy lab portion, Anatomy lecture portion, Microanatomy, Physiology, and Nutrition. Each final was a day apart and all but one were cumulative on information given from day 1. It was a lot to cram into our brains and every day left me absolutely drained. I didn't have time to do anything but study and I completely neglected everyone. I would wake up study ALL day take a little break to eat lunch/dinner and study ALL night. I walked out of my last nutrition final on Thursday and bawled my eyes out on the phone with my mom. I didn't know how I did on any of my exams. I felt nothing but pure exhaustion. I had a meltdown and all I wanted to do was know my fate. One mistake could cost you $17,000 to repeat a semester if you fail and make you stay on the island 4 more months delaying your graduation. It is a lot of pressure. I knew I couldn't enjoy my break until I found out my grades. So, I went back to my dorm and started the whole packing process. I couldn't wait to fly home and stayed up until 2 AM to finish my packing and cleaning. Friday came and I was so excited to leave the island for a little bit! My first flight was from St. Kitts to Miami followed by a second flight from Miami to Newark. The entire plane leaving St. Kitts was filled with Ross students and as soon as we landed in Miami the entire plane announced that grades were posted. I was literally nauseous and couldn't look just yet. I went through customs, rechecked my luggage, and went through security still not knowing where I stood. I eventually got to the gate, grabbed some food, and called my mom. After getting off the phone with my mom while sitting at gate D-43 I finally worked up the courage to check my grades. I was shaking and one by one looked at each of my grades and PASSED!!!! Not only did I pass but I actually did really well!! I called my mom right back and started hysterically crying tears of happiness on the phone with her LOL I cry a lot. I was so proud of myself and couldn't believe it. All my studying paid off and I am officially going into second semester which is notorious for being a killer I think I am ready though I just need a little break first. Well I officially made it home and was reunited with everyone and now I start my break of sitting on the couch and watching copious amounts of Chopped, Pawn Stars, Hardcore Pawn, Walking Dead, Shark Tank, and Long Island Medium. It is well deserved and I apologize in advance for my grammar during this post. Ross stole my brain cells. Oh and the video below is how I feel right now about being done with school! 

stuDYING

Finals is kicking my butt. I will update as soon as they are over.

Study. Study. Study.

Yup. That is all I do. Our big stretch of exams is coming to an end with nutrition this Wednesday and histology next Wednesday. After that we get a few weeks off to study for our finals which are the second week of December. We have five days of one exam after the next but after that it is time for HOME! So what in the mean time have I been doing to keep sane? My friends and I on Friday went to an awesome restaurant on reggae beach where every week they do a lobster fest. It is all the way out at the peninsula which is about a half hour from school and it is beautiful there! It was really nice to get out and have fun! 

no words necessary for this. 

SCUBA

So everyone keeps asking about my experience scuba diving and I have to say I probably should have been born in the ocean. I can't believe it took me 22 years to actually get certified and I am SO happy I finally did it here where there is cool things to look at! Our whole certification course took 4 weeks where we split them up into 2 pool dives and 2 open water dives. Now going into this whole certification thing I thought it was just going to be us swimming around looking at cool things and BAM they hand you your certification but NO it was extremely difficult. Every week we had to do skills and complete them in order to move onto the next skill. Some of the things included having your air supply turned off 50 feet under so you know what it feels like, removing your mask completely while still trying to breath under the water AND putting it back on UNDER the water (sounds easy but it isn't), removing your equipment under water, and tons more. I feel really prepared though in case something were to happen that our instructor ran us through every possible scenario and how to fix it. Each week was pretty exhausting but my group and I made it through while seeing some amazing animals and shipwrecks along the way. Now in order to be a member of the scuba club you have to be certified so now that I am I can go on all the weekend dives the school runs so I can get more experience. This whole island is about pushing your limits and getting out of your comfort zone. Before coming to school I was terrified to leave home because I never really have before. But what Ross says really is true.. the best people to come to Ross are the ones who never want to leave home. So with that, I am making it my goal here to do something every semester that pushes my limits and takes me out of my comfort zone. So far it has been scuba but next on my list is a shark dive and a night dive! Being here is truly an experience and I am going to try my hardest to get as much out of it as possible.


PS I will have scuba pictures posted soon :)