I Froze On The First Day Of Class
April 12, First Day Of Limited Face-to-face Classes
I would like to share in this blog on how my first day of limited face-to-face classes turned out.
It was raining that day until the afternoon.
My class starts at 9 am. My mom dropped me off at the bus stop and we left the house at 7:30 in the morning. The travel time to school was around 1 hour to 1 ½ hours. I was fortunate enough to arrive at the bus stop with a bus waiting for passengers. After a few minutes of waiting, the bus eventually got on the road again.
I brought bread with me that I ate on the bus. It was a hungry-travel for me.
The travel time going to my town to the next bus stop was so fast. It was only around 20 minutes considering the distance. However, the bus driver waited for so long at the bus stop, making me late for class. The bus was on the side of the road for half an hour or more. I didn't anticipate that it would happen since it doesn't usually happen pre-pandemic.
I was already 15 minutes late for class when I hopped out of the bus. I contacted my cousin because I needed to drop off my things before heading to the department. I rushed to the department and I saw some of my friends that greeted me. I was so glad to meet them again.
I entered the room not knowing what to expect. So many unfamiliar faces. The class had not yet started and I wrote my name on the attendance sheet and wore my laboratory gown. I didn't know what to do and I didn't have the courage to talk to someone for the first few minutes.
I was too overwhelmed. Anxious. And intimidated by my classmates. I had the courage to talk to my classmate to whom I first met that day but we have been talking in chat. I asked her where my group mates were and my group mates raised their hands.
I froze as I sat on my chair facing them. I kept hugging my backpack as if it was my pillow. I didn't know what to do and my heart was pounding so fast. I just knew that it was my first time seeing them and that I confirmed that they are real, well some of them are catfish that my groupmate and I joked about. My groupmate and I started talking about what was going to happen that day. We were also still awkward to each other.
The class started an hour late because our specimens arrived late. Some of us prepared the formalin that we used that day. I also first-hand experienced that formalin is very irritating to the skin and eyes. It can also cause the skin to burn and make someone sterile (baog).
Two of our professors were present that day to guide us. It was tiring and also scary because one of our prof was asking questions regarding the anatomical parts of the specimen. We then started to embalm the specimen and made sure that it hardens so that the body will not deteriorate. We finished embalming at 1 o'clock and I went to my cousin's boarding house to eat and take a bath.
I stayed up until 3 pm at my cousin's room and afterwards headed to my classmate's boarding house. We then talked and I was also able to meet some of our classmates that I also became friends with.
Funny thing was I didn't recognize my classmate, who I am close to, when I was walking towards the classroom. She greeted me and I just said, "di kita kilala" and I anxiously walked towards the classroom. I said sorry afterwards because I didn't mean to not recognize her. It was also our first time meeting each other.
We didn't do much on the first day of limited face-to-face classes. We just embalmed our specimen. I just froze because of my anxiety. Good thing was that I was able to meet my group mates and we had a conversation while in the class.
Also, I didn't get to take a lot of pictures since we are prohibited from sharing it to other people, especially to non-veterinary medicine students. Because for sure, they wouldn't understand why we have done that. I also named our specimen Susan because I want her to have a meaningful death.
It was a tiring day for me but it was all worth it. That day gave me hope for my dreams of becoming a veterinarian someday and I regained my will to study that very day.
Author's Note:
Two days late into publishing what happened on my first day of classes but it's okay as long as I've got to share it with you guys on this platform. I just needed to take a moment and also let my emotions subside. Thank you all for reading this!
Check out my previous blogs:
Sana all nakapag limited f2f na huhu. Pero feel ko magpapanic ako kapag f2f na kami kasi tagal din naming di nagkita ng mga kaklase ko tas andaming new faces.
Manifesting for your safe and successful f2f classes pa. Abang pa ako ng ganto mong article about sa f2f kasi inggit ako HAHAHAHA