VN July 2020

Vetnuus | Julie 2020 36 We would throw bones into the air, and while still in the air, identify the bone, its attachments and anything else of importance like blood and nerve supply, etc. We had fun and passed all our exams. 2ND YEAR 1951 (3RD VARSITY YEAR FOR BVSC) The year 1951 had started on the right foot with co-operation and companionship and passing into the next year at Onderstepoort. The second year at Onderstepoort promised to be a very exciting and practical year. I didn’t feel strange with any of my classmates anymore and I had to re-home into the Research Station where I stayed with Dr Malherbe and his family. It was our practical year and we each were given one horse of which we had to take complete charge of: feeding, grooming and riding … we learnt how to break in a wild horse … and needed to know where to pitch our camp and where to tether our horses – up stream or downstream – how to build, drop and saddle privies and how to tie our various knots. In addition to that, we made many excursions – e.g. to Escort Bacon Factory and at another time the ice cream factory (after which none of us would eat jelly or ice cream for a long time). Then we went out to all the various grasslands to learn proper field management and know all of our grasses and poisonous plants and how to prevent dongas, etc. Novelties and excitement never seemed to end. On many occasions we had lectures with the class ahead of or behind us. And when something exciting happened in a laboratory, all of us trailed into that laboratory to see this new thing that had developed (mainly in Dr Theiler’s office). During this year, we also held clinics at Onderstepoort for the local residents where we had to make correct clinical diagnosis and recommend and apply the correct treatments. On my 21st Birthday, Mrs. Malherbe invited our entire class to one of her famous curry dishes and my classmates presented me with a lip stick and a pair of delicate pretty little panties, that was novel and funny and well appreciated by me and I clearly got the message. This year was a year of fellowship, co-operation, learning and having fun – we were all one big unit. MORAL OF THE STORY In order to have quality of life, it is essential to be happy, have fun and laugh, to be positive at all times and to communicate and co-operate, together with fellowship in Christ. 3RD YEAR 1952 (4TH VARSITY YEAR FOR BVSC) The last two years at Onderstepoort i.e. third and fourth years of our vet course were also partially practical as well as intellectual and most interesting. During both these last two years, I stayed with the Van Vuuren family, a few houses away from the Malherbe’s. In this third year, another female joined us at Onderstepoort for her first year there … it was Malie Smuts and her presence changed everything, she stayed a few houses away with Prof Van Rensburg. She acted like a bridge and a reformer and got all of us working together and making the correct contact. I learnt a lot from her – she and Hannalah, my classmate J. Jackson’s girlfriend, and I, the three of us, became great friends and together with a few of our classmates we attended the Pretoria Noord NG Kerk. We also joined the Moral Rearmament evangelisation and outreach movement; and, before long, half of our class had come along, getting involved with us. That year the three of us girls also joined a hockey team. Life was great and our veterinary studies were even greater. 4TH YEAR 1953 (5TH VARSITY YEAR FOR BVSC) In the fourth, and final year, apart from studying hard, we were each given an animal with some certain condition or disease which we had to observe over a period, and then give or advise for the correct treatment. Additionally in our July holiday we had to work and report on what we experienced and learnt on meat inspection for one week at a recognised abattoir – and with another week’s work at an approved private practice. Mrs Van Vuuren and I had become great friends, she worked at a mental home in Pretoria, and on occasions she would take me there to watch procedures and spend time with the mental patient inmates – another subject that I was most interested in – the power of thought and functioning of the brain and mind … and I gained a lot of experience there and thoroughly enjoyed the visits. Towards the end of 1953 and just before our final exams, I made friends with one of the doctors there and we fell madly in love with each other, we spent time having fun together and especially fantasising and building castles in the air, laughing and listening to music. This relationship was a closing bonus to the year, instead of going crazy stressing and swotting, studying and burying myself under a stack of books, I was relaxed and happy and let myself be carried through the final exams in the arms of Cupid, relaxed and with no effort, worry or stress and passed all my subjects smoothly and happily. ANOTHER MORAL The value of relaxation, contentment, gratitude and positive thinking to reach a worthwhile and meaningful goal. v Student Life at Onderstepoort <<< 35