Exotic Petting Zoo

It has been waaaaaaaaaay too long since I composed an entry here. That said I haven't really had much of significance to post until recently. I've been super busy between work and my classes and the most I could really have put forward in terms of updates would have been brief mentions of my performance in Principles of Chemistry I & Medical Terminology. Speaking of which I am doing well in both classes for the moment though I am trying not to let myself get cocky. Especially with chemistry. This last week and change was spent focusing on thermodynamics [primarily as it applies to chemical reactions] and it left me feeling much more overwhelmed than the previous units have. Due to an annual convention of the union which the staff at MCTC are a part of our mid-term exam that will cover this content has been delayed by a week which means I will be studying the quantum-mechanical model of the atom, a subject that I will not be tested on for the mid-term, while trying to review all of the course content that I has preceded that topic to date and complete a couple of labs. And the mid-term is on the evening of the anniversary of my marriage (though my wife has class at the same time so it could be worse). If any of this reads as though I am the least bit stressed or frustrated about this situation I am and it should. *sigh* At least I'm doing fairly well so far. Let's hope I can sustain that.

On to more pleasant topics. Yesterday, after having lived in the upper-Midwest of the United States for over 29 years I visited a corn maze for the first time ever. It was a pleasant (though tiring experience) to share with friends and family. There were plenty of attractions at Sever's Corn Maze all of which are described on their website (a site I wish I had visited as Google Maps failed to provide me with remotely accurate directions to the maze) but the special treat for me was Vogel's Exotic Animal Petting Zoo. It was incredible and a rare opportunity for me to spend time in close contact with the large animals, particularly small-ruminants, that I so greatly hope to serve as a doctor of veterinary medicine some day. They had a huge goat pen and I truly could have spent all day with those wonderful little guys and gals. Additionally there was a young dromedary camel and some llamas but there were a lot of other very interesting animals too including spider monkeys, lemurs, a dwarf horse, a zebra, ostriches, golden pheasants from China, multiple varieties of antelope, deer and gazelle, some large South American rodents, miniature deer (muntjacs), tortoises an albino wallaby and several other animals I didn't even have an opportunity to interact with (though at a distance I am fairly certain I saw what were either more wallabies or kangaroos and some breed of ox or yak). I'll say it again; I really could have spent all day in there. It was very pleasant for me.

In other long-term career related news my Mother informed me while driving me over to visit her and my Father this morning that the newest member of one of her book clubs is married to a recently retired veterinarian who had worked at the Minnesota Zoo. She offered to let the new club member know about my career interests and attempt to help in arranging for some contact between me and this fellow. Talk about an offer one can't refuse! It would be great just to have a chance to conduct an informational interview, but if I'm being really optimistic here is somebody I might be able to find a mentor in or at least a friendly acquaintance who might be able to help me in arranging volunteer opportunities working with animals and/or be willing to throw together a letter of reference someday, when I finally have the necessary educational and volunteer background to apply for vet schools. If you're reading this please pray or cross your fingers for me as is appropriate to your sensibilities that this may be the start of an exciting new opportunity for me.

That's all I've got for now. Hopefully I'll be writing here again sooner rather than later.