When life gives you lemons...

Late last summer I still had a lot of exams left to do and as time was running out I had to prioritise subjects and I did that based on how long they would take to study and what classes they allowed me to take from the next year. In the end it came down to Parasites so I didn't sit that exam and got all the others done.
My biggest piece of advise to anyone going through the same is to study hard for credit tests, get them done on time and use that revision for the final; carrying exams from winter to summer period is easy to do but it's even easier to run out of time.

This year has been one of the best yet as I'm resitting with some of my best friends and as we've been on a reduced timetable I really made the most of it!
Last semester I went to Krakow, attended two international falconry meets, my Dad came to visit for the first time, I had a week at home after the National Poultry Show where I saw practice with the PDSA then I really worked hard to smash out all my winter exams in a week so I had five weeks at home for Christmas and travelled to Iceland with my family.
At the start of this semester nine of my friends came out and we had a week skiing in the Tatras, I had another three weeks at home for Easter as I went to BSAVA Congress.
Congress was amazing, I learnt so much from the lectures and speaking to people in the exhibition and I also made contacts which will be great for the future. Later in the semester I went to another two exotics conferences in Slovakia and Romania where lots of similar topics came up so I feel like I'm learning useful information which we can really use in practice. I also took optional classes in Stomatology and Ultrasonography which will are things I'll use every week in the clinic.

I've never been massively academic so I study enough to pass but I work best under pressure and think I make up for it practically as I've done a lot of work experience and really try to gain as much as I can from it.
It bugs me as people are always saying 'Oh it's so easy for you 'cos you've done xyz' but the only way to learn is making contacts, booking placements and putting yourself forward! You'll always get rejections but keep writing those emails and eventually you'll get a placement. Last year I did 9 weeks in the vets, this year I've only done one so far but I have another 7 weeks booked.
I might not be book smart but I've really noticed, this year especially, when I'm learning a subject I try to relate it to a patient I've seen, the clinical signs it presented with and the treatment we gave which really helps me remember things. I loved studying Reproduction as I could relate it all back to lambing and what we used to do.
I've been on lots of the 5th year trips this semester so I have an idea of what to expect next year and can try to stay on top of learning ready for the big exams we have coming up.
This exam period has been pretty uneventful, I took three and a half weeks to study for Parasitology which seemed to go on forever! Studying for it was really tough, trying to learn the taxonomy for over 120 parasites, their life cycles, clinical signs, morphology and treatment... but once it came to the final, that went better than I had anticipated and they were really nice in the exam.

I head home for summer and have an exciting summer seeing practice for three weeks and I'll be in India for a month volunteering with WVS in the neuter clinic and vaccinating street dogs with Mission Rabies!