Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Site Visits/Interviews
I am in the process of redefining my topic - I would now like to focus on the NRV's show jumping community. I am also looking into the connection to the Blue Ridge Eventing Association, as well as the out-reach into other horse communities. There is a big connection between the NRV and HITS Culpeper (one of the most prestigeous competitions in show-jumping VA). I will be looking to interview (in the near future), members of the local show-jumping community, as well as - if possible, members of the American GrandPrix Association - the national Olympic show jumping basis. I would also like to interview a member of the Stadium Jumping, Inc. group, which does all of the behind-the-scenes work for the major events of the 'Olympic Show Jumping tour'. Though I have not yet started this section of my research, I plan to finish and record both interviews by Friday's class.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Last Goal...
3. I would like to increase my participation in class, and well as work on my public speaking ability.
There, the last goal is done! See you in class!
There, the last goal is done! See you in class!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Goals....
I've been sitting at my computer ever since I wrote that first post, trying to come up with reasonable, measureable goals for a Freshman level Honors English class, and guess what...I've got 2.
1. Work to improve my ability to use library newprint resources to find articles about my topic [Farmingdale Stables].
2. Improve my ability to use fact, rather than opinion, to illustrate points in my research paper. Bascially, I really do enjoy adjectives and creative writing, with all of it's great metaphors, similies, and doo-dads, but I need to write more scientifically. Short and to the point.
When numero tres hits me, I'll post it up, but until then, adios!
1. Work to improve my ability to use library newprint resources to find articles about my topic [Farmingdale Stables].
2. Improve my ability to use fact, rather than opinion, to illustrate points in my research paper. Bascially, I really do enjoy adjectives and creative writing, with all of it's great metaphors, similies, and doo-dads, but I need to write more scientifically. Short and to the point.
When numero tres hits me, I'll post it up, but until then, adios!
Questions from last class...
So rather than putting all of my questions up, I decided to choose one or two to post, and tell you why I chose them.
1) Is it true that the VT equestrian program used Farmingdale Stables as its main barn before the Campbell arena was built? Can you explain the relationship dynamics?
I chose this questions because it was of interest to me - in learning the history of the barn, I needed to draw on its connection to the community here at Virginia Tech. However, some of the gossip that I have heard on this particular topic leads me to believe that there is more to it that what meets the eye. A hidden storm...
2) If you had an unlimited income, what are some improvments you might make, both to the structure itself, and to the social interactions? (Ex: new water heaters for winter, or hosting an X-mas party)
I chose this question mostly because it is a fun and easy going question, and I really like the whole 'Magic Wand' idea! It will be interesting to hear Mr. Shaver's improvments, because there are a few that I have heard from boarders as well, and if they align, they might actually be worth looking into.
1) Is it true that the VT equestrian program used Farmingdale Stables as its main barn before the Campbell arena was built? Can you explain the relationship dynamics?
I chose this questions because it was of interest to me - in learning the history of the barn, I needed to draw on its connection to the community here at Virginia Tech. However, some of the gossip that I have heard on this particular topic leads me to believe that there is more to it that what meets the eye. A hidden storm...
2) If you had an unlimited income, what are some improvments you might make, both to the structure itself, and to the social interactions? (Ex: new water heaters for winter, or hosting an X-mas party)
I chose this question mostly because it is a fun and easy going question, and I really like the whole 'Magic Wand' idea! It will be interesting to hear Mr. Shaver's improvments, because there are a few that I have heard from boarders as well, and if they align, they might actually be worth looking into.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Assignment #2
My community was the Driver Improvement class I participated in on Saturday.
Free Writing:
The teacher seems to be one of those people that likes to pick on people for making mistakes - not going to be very fun. I was late - as usual - but I mucked stalls all morning. I started at 5:30 a.m. The guy sitting next to me got a speeding ticket too, so did my entire row. The next person that tried to get into the class late was thrown out - me and another Chinese girl that came in at the same time were lucky. After that, one more person came in, but she was given a sheet with the wrong time on it, so he let her stay. She's an APSC major like me. I brought a hamburger for lunch, but not sure if it was enough to eat...About 95% of all car crashes in the state of VA are related to speeding. Reckless driving can get you jail time, but the teacher says that he can give anyone a reckless driving ticket for anything, not just speeding. The Chinese guy at the end of my row keeps falling asleep, and the instructor is getting mad. Another guy behind me likes to argue - he seems to enjoy hearing the sound of his own voice. There's a frat boy in the back who's convinced that all cops are out to get him. The instructor is a cop, but he seems to be better than I initially thought - he's not into writing tickets left and right, and he gives most people the benefit of the doubt. This isn't going to be the worst day of my life after all - I just might live through it :P...
Narrative:
So I showed up about 15 minutes late for class, because I had to finish mucking my stalls in the morning, 5:30 a.m. to be exact. The teacher asked me why I was late, almost sounding like if he didn't like my answer, I wouldn't be getting in to the class. I told him it was because my dog ate something that he shouldn't have eaten, and the instructor let it slide. I was already beginning to get hungry too, and lunch wasn't for another 3 hours. The time actually seemed to fly by, and after discussing several specific instances, and the traffic laws behind them, I believed in some of the laws that I - as do most of us - tend to break on a constant basis. The most important things that the course emphasized were reckless and agressive driving. Most people don't believe that they are driving aggressively, and there was an instance discussed in one video where some one who was driving aggressively was encountered about his driving, and he shot and killed someone with a cross-bow. Though this was an unreal situation, most of us, as drivers, either are faced with or contribute to the growing number of aggressive driving incidents.
The teacher turned out to be a cop, and he said that he was really picky about aggressive drivers, reckless drivers, and children not in child seats. He was actually one of the more lenient officers, as we found out. About 75% of the people in the room were there for speeding, the other 25% either for running a red light, stop sign, or passing a bus with lights flashing. My row was two speeding and one reckless driving, and me, another speeding ticket (69 in a 55 mph zone). He asked us to introduce ourselves, and I quickly found that I wasn't the only one to get a speeding ticket on 460 - nor was I the only one that was bitter about the change to 65 mph. The instructor just laughed and said "Too bad." We had an hour lunch, and I came home and let my dog out, then drove back, and surprise, surprise; I was 10 minutes late...
The next 4 hours were comprised of movies, basically, older than we were. One of them showed a young superman, a walking, talking Christopher Reeve. That's just old...But we all sat through them - the instructor left the room, presumably to do something more interesting, but we were left to listen to tales of 'road rage' woes and hear the shreak of twisted metal as cars plowed into each other at high speeds. We were even taught how to get our cars back onto the road, if they were to accidentally slip off the side. I got a 24/25 on the test, a passing grade, and so I got my certificate and hauled butt out of the room and over to my car. However, even in my haste to get back home, where something more interesting waited for me, I was still cautious. All it takes is one mistake, one little 'oops', and someone could die.
The course really did leave an impression on me, because I don't think twice about speeding when I have somewhere to be, or tailgating, when traffic is backed up. But all it takes is that one time, that split second, that could mean the difference between creaming someone's car and stopping just in time. It could mean the difference between life and death - between someone getting up and walking away, and someone in a body bag. The real question is: Are YOU an aggressive driver? Is it really worth it?
Questions:
1) How many people are going to take what they learned and actually apply it to their driving?
2) How many people will be in a Driver Improvement course again? Why?
3) Do the instructors actually live and drive by the rules they teach us?
4) Why isn't this class required before you get a lisense?
5) Why are a majority of the participants college undergraduates/grad students? Are we worse drivers?
Well, that was that - hope you enjoy my little blurb about Driver Improvement...See you all tomorrow (well, actually, it's today!)!
~ Katie
Free Writing:
The teacher seems to be one of those people that likes to pick on people for making mistakes - not going to be very fun. I was late - as usual - but I mucked stalls all morning. I started at 5:30 a.m. The guy sitting next to me got a speeding ticket too, so did my entire row. The next person that tried to get into the class late was thrown out - me and another Chinese girl that came in at the same time were lucky. After that, one more person came in, but she was given a sheet with the wrong time on it, so he let her stay. She's an APSC major like me. I brought a hamburger for lunch, but not sure if it was enough to eat...About 95% of all car crashes in the state of VA are related to speeding. Reckless driving can get you jail time, but the teacher says that he can give anyone a reckless driving ticket for anything, not just speeding. The Chinese guy at the end of my row keeps falling asleep, and the instructor is getting mad. Another guy behind me likes to argue - he seems to enjoy hearing the sound of his own voice. There's a frat boy in the back who's convinced that all cops are out to get him. The instructor is a cop, but he seems to be better than I initially thought - he's not into writing tickets left and right, and he gives most people the benefit of the doubt. This isn't going to be the worst day of my life after all - I just might live through it :P...
Narrative:
So I showed up about 15 minutes late for class, because I had to finish mucking my stalls in the morning, 5:30 a.m. to be exact. The teacher asked me why I was late, almost sounding like if he didn't like my answer, I wouldn't be getting in to the class. I told him it was because my dog ate something that he shouldn't have eaten, and the instructor let it slide. I was already beginning to get hungry too, and lunch wasn't for another 3 hours. The time actually seemed to fly by, and after discussing several specific instances, and the traffic laws behind them, I believed in some of the laws that I - as do most of us - tend to break on a constant basis. The most important things that the course emphasized were reckless and agressive driving. Most people don't believe that they are driving aggressively, and there was an instance discussed in one video where some one who was driving aggressively was encountered about his driving, and he shot and killed someone with a cross-bow. Though this was an unreal situation, most of us, as drivers, either are faced with or contribute to the growing number of aggressive driving incidents.
The teacher turned out to be a cop, and he said that he was really picky about aggressive drivers, reckless drivers, and children not in child seats. He was actually one of the more lenient officers, as we found out. About 75% of the people in the room were there for speeding, the other 25% either for running a red light, stop sign, or passing a bus with lights flashing. My row was two speeding and one reckless driving, and me, another speeding ticket (69 in a 55 mph zone). He asked us to introduce ourselves, and I quickly found that I wasn't the only one to get a speeding ticket on 460 - nor was I the only one that was bitter about the change to 65 mph. The instructor just laughed and said "Too bad." We had an hour lunch, and I came home and let my dog out, then drove back, and surprise, surprise; I was 10 minutes late...
The next 4 hours were comprised of movies, basically, older than we were. One of them showed a young superman, a walking, talking Christopher Reeve. That's just old...But we all sat through them - the instructor left the room, presumably to do something more interesting, but we were left to listen to tales of 'road rage' woes and hear the shreak of twisted metal as cars plowed into each other at high speeds. We were even taught how to get our cars back onto the road, if they were to accidentally slip off the side. I got a 24/25 on the test, a passing grade, and so I got my certificate and hauled butt out of the room and over to my car. However, even in my haste to get back home, where something more interesting waited for me, I was still cautious. All it takes is one mistake, one little 'oops', and someone could die.
The course really did leave an impression on me, because I don't think twice about speeding when I have somewhere to be, or tailgating, when traffic is backed up. But all it takes is that one time, that split second, that could mean the difference between creaming someone's car and stopping just in time. It could mean the difference between life and death - between someone getting up and walking away, and someone in a body bag. The real question is: Are YOU an aggressive driver? Is it really worth it?
Questions:
1) How many people are going to take what they learned and actually apply it to their driving?
2) How many people will be in a Driver Improvement course again? Why?
3) Do the instructors actually live and drive by the rules they teach us?
4) Why isn't this class required before you get a lisense?
5) Why are a majority of the participants college undergraduates/grad students? Are we worse drivers?
Well, that was that - hope you enjoy my little blurb about Driver Improvement...See you all tomorrow (well, actually, it's today!)!
~ Katie
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
So...
So Monday is the day that I let me horse be a horse, and don't bother her at all - with feeding, or whatever. But Tuesday, she's supposed to get fed, so that she doesn't go too long without food. Needless to say, the first time I fed her this week was today, and I just thought I'd write to tell everyone how bad of a horsie - mom I am (never let me have kids :P). But, just to make it up to her, I let her graze on the good grass, outside her field, for over an hour, so she was really happy. Also today - I got done with all of the work that I had to do at the barn - muck 12 stalls, strip and re-shaving two stalls, clean and refill water buckets (sometimes 2 per stall), give hay, and blow down the aisle (equivalent of sweeping) - in approx. 3.5 hours, which is amazing!!!! Just thought that I'd throw that out there...Not to mention, my other horse, Gump, is completely sound (as of Tuesday's workout), and I think that it's because of this new, cool gluteal and biceps femoris stretch that I've been doing! Anyways, I've got to go get ready for bed - yea, I'm a geek, but I'm also a morning person (which means that an typo's or spelling/grammer issues can be blamed on a distinct lack of sleep :P), which means that tomorrow I'll get up early and work on the homework that I haven't finished yet! Guten Nacht!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Communities...
I've been thinking a lot about the communities that we've been discussing in class, getting ready to make the most important choice of this class - what community do I want to research. Trying to decide between communities that have touched my life, and those that I'm interested in or am a part of, I've come to realize that there is one that stands by itself. It's not a particularly prominent community, nor is it completely agreeable or idellic. But it has become my home away from home in may cases, and it is my anchor here at Tech. The people in this community may not all get along, but they are all part of 'the family.' The community that I would like to complete my project on is Farmingdale Stables LLC., one of the many, yet unique family owned horse boarding farms in the New River Valley.
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