Break Ending

Another break comes to an end. Breaks are needed every so often to give our minds and bodies time to recuperate from the demands of college. College so far has been a journey of ups and downs. As the year comes to its end we think about what has happened our freshman, sophomore, junior or senior year. It was not until I looked at a calender and say that we only have six weeks of this year left, did I realize how fast time has flown by. This fast-approaching end is viewed differently by everyone.

When talking to one of my friends about this year ending, his reply was "No, it has been too short. I sad its going to end I've been enjoying it, besides I  do nothing at home." However, when I asked another friend about what she thought she said "I'm happy and sad. I will miss hanging out with you but not the work." I on the hand have mixed feelings about school ending. I will miss my friends since I will not be able to see them seeing how I live out of state, but I am excited to go home and spend time with my family, friends, horse and not being controlled by schoolwork. When you look on Twitter and Facebook you see posts saying things like "Finally a break.","So happy to be on break." and "I get a break from school thank god."

It seems that every person has a slightly different view. College is fun in the sense that you are living with your best friends and living on your own, but the down side is that like my dad says, school is our job. There is homework, reading, studying and tests that add to the stress of college. However there must always be trade offs in life no matter what the situation, so it can simply depend of which counts more, the pros of the cons.

We All Screen For Ice Cream

           Ice cream is something we all have come to know and love throughout the years. Here at Virginia Tech we are lucky enough to have our own creamery right here on campus. Today as I waited at Deet's to purchase me frozen treat, I began to think about where it can be traced back to For me ice cream makes me think of fun summers with friends, ice cream parties for town soccer, birthday parties and weekends at my family's house in New Hampshire. It brings back memories of childhood and happiness for me. Now science is showing that ice cream has the same effect on many people today.

Making ice cream seems like a simple process but its not. Ice cream is mainly a combination of milk fat, non-fat milk solids, sugar and air.  Along with these it also contains emulsifiers, which keep it smooth and stabilizers that hold the air bubble structure together for its texture. Due to these ingredients regulations are strict about what is actually considered ice cream and what is not. In recent years there has been a trend moving toward substitutes like frozen yogurt, because it is healthier then normal ice cream. Many chains like Pink Berry, The Frosty Parrot, Red Mango and Yogli Moogli are using this substitute to create places where people can serve themselves. This ensures that people can make whatever they want.

Ice cream contains ingredients that have different effects on the human body, which can be both physical and mental. The amino acids that make up the proteins, boosts neurotransmitters that make people for energetic and alert. Tryptophan is another neurotransmitter that is found in milk, but it has been found to lead to a calming effect due to increasing serotonin production. However many people, will eat ice cream when they are stressed and in this case those calming effects do not occur because of the stress being put onto the body.  Sugar that can make a person energetic can also be harmful. Since ice cream is contains a large quantity of sugar it can have a definite effect on a person's blood sugar levels. If it is too high signs can be depression, fatigue, blurred vision and irritability. The specific type of sugar found in most dairy products is lactose. Another problem associated with it are mood swings caused by having a mild allergy to it. With these health effects we need to be conscious that even though it tastes good we are being careful about what we put in our body.

           

http://www.livestrong.com/article/532951-how-ice-cream-affects-your-mood/

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/ice-cream.htm

Snowball fight of 2012

Today was the epic Corps of Cadets vs. Civilians snowball fight. To win the Cadets must be pushed off the drill field back to their dorms. It was a close mach filled with blood shed, and at the end it was a close call. The Cadets were pushed all the way to Upper Quad but not completely off the field. In past years there has been arguments for the Corps of Cadets to not have the snowball fight, because fights have broken out and civilians have been know to use rocks to throw at the Cadets. However it has continued because it is a part of the Virginia Tech tradition that has come to be a fun-filled event for the students.
I interviewed a friend that also lives in Slusher tower about her thoughts on the snowball fight. She said "I thought is was very fun and intense, with everyone chucking snowballs at me. It was a memorable experience with so many people being involved. I think that if a lot of people were getting hurt then I would understand shutting it down, but it is a fun tradition that I guess has sometimes gotten out of hand. "

Cattle in Society

Today I had to work with a yearling Hereford that I will halter break for a class. It got me thinking about what that means exactly. In history class we learned that horses were utilized by Native Americans for hunting buffalo and war. They learned that them and the horse could act as one unit, which was more efficient then just the person alone. However before this could happen the horses had to be as many say "broken." Where they learn to accept a person riding them and tack on their back. This takes time and patience. We are training our yearling to accept a halter on their face, a person leading them and basic human interaction.
People go about halter-breaking a number of ways. One is to tie the calf to a fence for short increments of time.  This teaches the calf to respect in halter, and the feeling or pressure of it on the calf's face. You can also keep the halter on the calf and let them walk and stand with it. This way when they step on it it applies pressure to the nose and chin area, but their head will also be jerked down. This will get the calf to stop fighting the halter and accept that when they pull on it they will get jerked back. After a while they learn not to pull at all. When you teach it to be led then start with little in a small pen and when the calf responds to you pulling it then give it slack as a reward. (Longhorn Network)
This can seem harsh or cruel in its methods, but its not if does responsibly. Cows and horses are large and powerful animals so some force must be taken or they will just overpower or ignore you. I see it as teaching the cattle how to interact with humans so that they can be handled safely. However sometimes it can be interpreted as breaking the animals spirit which couldn't be farther from the truth. It is about trust and human and beast working as one, like they used to when it first started.

A Book Worth Reading

I’ve been reading The Eighty-Dollar Champion, Elizabeth Letts. Its a true story about a man, Harry de Leyer who saved a plow horse he later named Snowman from a kill van. He used for lessons but when he sold Snowman, Snowman jumped over paddock fences to come back to Harry. Harry then trained Snowman to become a jumper and together they took on the best teams in the United States. This book has two underlying messages that I believe are relevant in the present trying times. 

     One is to believe that interior qualities can be more important than the exterior ones. In horseback riding, when showing you want a horse that looks beautiful so that they give a better overall package. At the same time though, you need a horse that has the ability and inner strength to do what you ask of him/her. Today I believe people relay too much on these exterior qualities so the inner qualities don't have the chance to be seen. With Snowman, many people saw an old, run-down, grey plow horse with scars and a disproportioned body. What made Harry a great horseman was that he could see past the unflattering exterior to see a horse that had to heart and drive to be great. Harry was able to put those "generic" qualities aside and by doing so he could see what was really important. This is what allowed Harry to turn this ordinary horse into a champion.

     The second lesson is that people tend to look at the glass half-empty, so they give up. When in a situation that can go in two different directions, people only see the bad side. This prevents them seeing the possibilities, and therefore they can't turn the situation around for the better. Harry saw potential, harnessed it and molded Snowman into what he needed him to be. If you have a positive outlook on the situation you are able to see what has to be done to get to where you want to go, which is what Harry did. "Sometimes a man can forget the most important lesson of all: big dreams are often best accomplished when you do what you can with the materials you have at hand."(97)

            I research consumer reviews on the book to see if other people thought the same way I did about it. I looked at two sources. One was the Facebook page for the book. Posts are things like “Harry gave him a second chance at life, but also be loved by the world. Things like this don’t happen anymore.”(Seaman, Karen) Others were so touched by the book that they are going to see Snowman’s gravesite. Everyone agrees that the book is an inspirational story of second chances and how we can overcome obstacles. The second source was Amazon reviews. These reviews also shared the same praise for the book. Reviews praised the bond between animals and humans, and what they can accomplish together, and hope.

Who Am I

    My name is Deborah Jane Weinstein, which already tells you one thing about me. I'm Jewish. All my relatives have been from as far back as my family can remember. More about my family, that is made up of my older sister, Jen and my two twin brothers, Mike and Jon. Both my parents are doctors but oddly none of us want to be one. Sorry mom and dad. I have lived in Brookline, Massachusetts my whole life so Virginia was a change. When I was applying to schools I decided to take a year off after high school graduation from Brookline High School so that I could gain more animal experience. So yes I am 20 years old. During my year off I worked at the camp that my horseback riding barn runs during the summer and worked as an intern at the New England Wildlife Center. It was an amazing experience because I had the opportunity to help treat and rehabilitate all types of species of wild animals such as sea gulls, raccoons, foxes, skunks, squirrels and owls. Only down side was that I had to get rabies vaccinated, but I figured it was a small price to pay.
     I have two pet peeves, mess and people looking over my shoulder while playing computer games. Why my second one is a pet-peeve I don't know, it just is. Mess I just can't deal with period. My mom always says, "Deb, you should be one of those people that gets paid to organize celebrities' closets." I also have three passions in life. The first and most important is my horse Petey which you can see by my facebook because most of my pictures involve him. He is amazing and has been in my life for 2 years, and fun fact...he is Irish. The second is helping animals. I am a pre-vet major because I want to make a difference in the life of any animals I can.  The third is horseback riding. I have been doing it for ten years and I don't plan to stop anytime soon.
      Some last things about me, you can tell from facebook. A lot of my pictures are random, since me and two of my closest friends back home just go into her backyard and take pictures to kill time. My pictures also tell you I have recently become obsessed with My Horse. know, it's lame. I went to Hokie camp, and was part of the winning Yellow Tribe. The last thing is that during the summer I spent most of my time at horse shows, competing in jumping classes. Petey, the dark brown horse with a white spot on his face and I guess live on the road. My favorite restaurant is Burtucci's, which is where I am eating in the pictures where I am with a large group of people that usually take up two tables. That is me, in a nutshell!