I would say a large majority of vet students go through periods of time when we wonder why we’re here. We’re tired all the time, we’re unbelievably poor, we have no social lives, and we do pretty much whatever it takes to just keep going in the program. Midterms are generally not a time of encouragement either. Last semester, I got my butt kicked and was exhausted. This round was no different. I did have better tactics for studying going into midterms, and I felt much more prepared. There are times, though, when some of the grades come back and hurt your pride.
You’ve spent Thursday evening through Monday morning studying for an exam. You take the exam unbelievably tired, because, well, you spent an entire weekend studying because if you didn’t, you wouldn’t know anything for the exam. And if you sleep too much, you won’t know enough for your exam either. It’s really a lose-lose situation that midterms often bring. Anyway, you’re at your exam. Your caffeine-fueled brain is scrambling to remember the previous four days of studying. You put down as much as you know, and it still doesn’t feel like you did well or learned anything. Then you get your grade back, and it’s not great. And you get exam grades back that you thought you did well on, and you didn’t do great. It hurts. How can you study so much and still not do great?
In vet school, grade standards are generally lower than I’m used to in undergrad, but every now and then it’s nice to get a good grade to make me feel like I’m not an idiot who doesn’t deserve to be in vet school. I did get some good grades to redeem myself though. It’s just when you’re tired and in the middle of three weeks of midterm madness that you need some encouragement, not bad exam marks. However, so far I have passed everything, and I plan on continuing to pass my courses throughout vet school. I just have to remember to keep my head up and think of the animals when things aren’t going as well as I want them to!
