Would like to share my good news with my farmer friends

Best wishes as you adjust to the new schedule, learn new information and meet new people.

 

Congratulations. Wishing you good luck with the course fifitrixiebell and hope you have an enjoyable time too.

 

Thank you Tinni, and everyone else for your well wishes.

We've got into doing all the 'proper' stuff now so my head wants to explode and I wonder why I decided to go back to education at my age . It's been a long time since I've been surrounded by so many sweaty hormonal teens.....

Seriously though, I'm enjoying learning about a subject that really interests me. Some subjects are obviously more interesting than others and after a full day of lectures on a Wednesday, I usually have a stonking headache and by the end of a Thursday I feel worn out! I am literally stopping myself from getting snuggled up on my settee and having a 'power nap' .

Lots to learn, lots to take in and I'm just hoping that by some miracle I will find a way of retaining enough information to get me through the course and pass all the modules.

I've made a nice group of friends of mixed age and background. One in particular who has become a great bud already .

We get very little time actually in with any of the animals doing practical hands on stuff which I'm really disappointed about and the Science stuff is scary as my interest in it is limited but most of the other stuff I enjoy learning.
So far the only animal I've come into contact with is a gerbil but there are plenty more to come yet, I think it's one animal a week we will learn.

I love rats and can't wait to be able to hold one! (Yes I really did say that, I love rats! Yes wild ones are vermin but tame ones I think are just lovely. Speaking of which, I was watching this one rat in particular sitting in this tube thing and myself and a fellow student became rather concerned, as it looked (from the back) as if it had a large growth on it's back end. So as we were conferring and about to get the tutor, one of the students informed us that it wasn't a growth but merely just a male rat........so, without using terms that aren't suitable for the younger players on here, let's just say my response went along the lines of "my goodness, fancy having to drag those around with you all the time"........I think you get the gist .

 

Love hearing about your new educational experiences!

Tame rats are fun to watch. As a member of my school's science club, one of my best memories is traveling to a science fair in another city with a rat cage in my lap. Wasn't my project (I loved physics and earth/space) but I was the only one willing to hold the cage!

Don't worry about absorbing the info; you will do fine. Remember: smarter not harder! You don't have all those distractions the teens have to handle either!

 

Ahahahahaa!
Dang it hurts to spew coffee out of both nostrils at once!
Just wait 'til you meet the billy goats "up close and personal like" Fifi , lol (if you do).
Congrats and good luck

 

Thanks @GuineaUp . Tbh I'm not sure there are goats at the College I'm at. They have a proper working farm but I've only spotted cows, pigs and sheep so far. I'm sure there'll be lots of interesting and amusing 'tales' (excuse the pun ) to come!!

 

Thanks for the update It can seem overwhelming at first but you will find as you go along that you are probably learning/retaining more than you think.

 

Oh I do hope so pnp !!

 

Congratulates on exploring your dream and learning about something you love.

 

Wow ! That's really great. learning about animals & working with them is really a enriching experience. You have chosen a good field. Congrats & Shine in your endeavour. I love animals & birds too.

Its the interest & involvement along with hard work that really matters to achieve great levels. Keeps us informed the things you learn about animals. If possible post some photos here. I will be waiting.

 

Thanks 12ss12. It is certainly a lot to take in at this level and some of it might as well be Japanese


Next lot of news but got to edit this as no other post after mine.

So this week guys, I will be doing something I have never done before nor wanted to. I will be dissecting. I would've had issues on principle but we have been told that the animals used have not been killed for vivisection. However it is something I never thought I would have to do. I am going to try and give it a go. I am interested to see what things look like in the flesh and hopefully it will help make sense of the anatomy/phys info and to help remember what is where on certain parts. I think I'll be okay to cut and 'prod' but I'm fairly sure if any gooeyness of any kind oozes out, I will be hurling on the spot .

On the lighter side of things, this week we learnt about rabbits and my new found love...guinea pigs! They are just ace! I wish we had more time to practise handling and checking the animals though. There are so many of us and so little time that it's all quite rushed which is a real negative for me .

I definitely need to up my game on getting more work and studying done at home! It is a very odd 'routine' to be in and I'm still getting used to it.
Like a prat I did try and access a HE learning room with my debit card instead of my student I.D card . My friend and I thought this was hilarious .

 

Thanks for the updates Fifi! I'm still chuckling over your rat "discovery".

On a side note and just cause it's an amusing story I will share my experience with dissecting. I am possibly one of the most squeamish people you will ever meet. So much more so when I was 16 than now as life has a way of making you learn to deal with it. In the States we have what we call AP (advanced placement) courses in high school it's part of College prep. Basically they are upper level courses that give College credits. When we got to dissecting in AP Biology we started with a fetal pig. Now I told my teacher it wasn't a good idea and all that got me was being put on the scalpel end instead of my lab partner. So the big day comes and I really did try my best but only got as far as the first incision before I passed out, smacked my head hard when I want down and ended up with a concussion. Needless to say it was my last dissection. I was really glad as well since the next up on the list was a cat and I can only imagine how horrifying that would have been. Funny part is I ended up doing more than twice the work my classmates did to make up for it. Still got honors in the course so I got my College credits out of it anyway.

Good luck to you hope you do better than me with the lab work.

 

Urgh a fetal pig....nope, don't think I could do that and definitely not a cat!! I hope these cats weren't being bred for dissection @Clashstrummer ?? I shall update again properly soon. If I forget to mention it, remind me about the meerkat enclosure!
And well done for getting honors in the course! Whether I will get that far I don't know!

 

Fifi, they weren't bred for dissection, no. Good thing I never aspired to be a medical doctor it would have been a disaster.

 

Hey everyone,hope you are all well! I have less time now for being on here as the Uni work is now in full swing. I just get finished with one assignment and it's on to the next! A lack of time management on my part has meant lots of staying up til stupid o'clock in the morning to get my work done ! I might be a late starter but I do put a lot of effort in once I get started!
I'm really enjoying my course and learning about a subject that I'm so passionate about! Already I think I know which direction I will be heading in with all of this- Animal Welfare.
It's still mind blowing how fast the lecturers talk, it's a wonder you can't see steam coming off my notepad! On a Wednesday we have a full day of lectures. By the end of it we all either feel like this (we're supposed to remember how much stuff), (do they seriously think we can remember all this?), (do you really have to speak THAT quick ALL the time?), (we've got how many different projects to be sorting out?),(I'm never gonna remember all of this), but most definitely like this (OMG I need to sleep for about a week).

Today I did something I never thought I would do - a dissection. And these were full animals, not just some lungs. In all honestly I did very little of the actual cutting etc but I did have a go even though I didn't get far as I was being far too tentative with the scissors! The smell was the worst part . However, although I am still juggling with my personal opinions about the ethical side, I did find it interesting.

So far animal wise, aside from the 'usual' small domesticated furries we have here in the UK, I have been close to the meerkats, red ruff lemurs, ring-tail lemurs and the asian short clawed otter. I was beside myself in the meerkat enclosure as we were allowed to go in and clean up while they're roaming around. To be so close to these beautiful creatures is just such a privilege and by that I mean ALL these animals. I have watched wildlife programmes for years thinking how lucky these people are to work with all these wonderful creatures and now here I am kind of living my dream, all be it in a small way .

Now I'm not a fan of slimey, creepy crawly things but I pushed out my comfort zone and in one lesson picked up a tree frog, a tiger salamander and a cricket. I also discovered an usual creature called an Axolotyl. I can't say I'd ever heard of one let alone seen what one looked like but we have two at Uni. For those of you who don't know what it is and are curious, I urge you to Google it! It is an odd looking thing but kinda cute in a strange way, probably because it looks like it is smiling! It looks alienish . If you check it out, let me know what you think!

I have spent little time here on the farm recently and didn't participate in the last event and maybe the one before, I can't remember. I missed G&T as well. Time is very precious now but I will pop on when I can.
If I've missed any interesting stories or news please feel free to tell me about it on here on add a link as I just don't have the time to scout the forum now.(@BoHoKaren ,hope all your reindeers are fine and dandy and the rut went successfully??x)

Good luck everyone for the next event, especially those of you going all out for the Top 1000!

 

Thanks for giving us an update on your educational experiences. So happy you are getting to live your dream! I love reading about what is happening with you, so check in when you can. Many blessings as you continue to pursue your goals!

 

It all sounds so interesting Fifi! Do they not let you record the lectures? It's been a long time but I know when I went to College in the large lectures most of us recorded it and then took notes from the playback.

Good luck to you!

 

@Willow , thank you so much! and @LDCrow , yes we can use dictaphones and I fully intended to get one at the beginning. Then I couldn't decide which one to get, and before I knew it we were a few weeks in. I now have one but haven't got around to using it yet. Thing is, I do take a lot of notes as I have a terrible memory and I'm worried that if it doesn't work one time and then I won't have any notes or anything to take notes from!

 

fifi, if you're anything like me, I recorded and took notes. Wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything.

 

Fifi it's so great you like what you are doing and you enjoy it! I wish I also knew what I want to study and what's my dream but... I haven't found it yet.
What animals did you open up?
Good luck and keep studying! I know how it not to have time to log in. I also missed the G&T event not the last one but the previous of it. At least it happens very often!