It feels weird not to be starting class again tomorrow with the rest of the school. Instead of the first day of school, tomorrow is just another Monday on rotations. I'd obviously rather be down in the clinic doing hands-on stuff instead of sitting through hour after hour of Powerpoint lecture, but it's definitely a strange feeling to see all of the back to school posts floating around!

Now that school is beginning, I'm starting to look ahead to what I need to accomplish this "semester". Since I like lists to keep me organized, here it is:

• Study for the NAVLE. I'm planning to take my veterinary licensing exam after I get back home, hopefully early to mid-December. I wanted to take the exam up here and then go home without the need to study hanging over my head, but my school won't be offering it until December and I don't want to have to pay rent just to take the darn test. So I'll head home at the end of November, study for a week or two and then take the test. At least I'll have it over with by Christmas!
• Prepare my application for the Match. The Veterinary Internship and Residency Matching Program (VIRMP) opens to applicants on October 15th. Lab animal programs require submission of materials early November, giving me just about two weeks to fill out my information, submit transcripts, corral my letters of recommendation writers and put in my personal statement/letter of intent. Then (fingers crossed) I should hear back shortly for phone interviews and in-person interviews over the winter months. Match Day is February 9, 2015 at 8:00am EST!
• Put together and present my Clinical Conference case. I have one planned tentatively, but part of me wants to change it to a topic presentation about something that interests me more. Obviously this whole thing needs a bit more thought...

So that's my fall semester in a nutshell. It doesn't look so intimidating when it's broken down into three bullet points, but I know it's going to be a lot more work than it looks! Here's to hoping I can also keep up with rotations, laundry and keeping my apartment liveable at the same time.