Well today is the first day back to class from February vacation. There are two types of school vacation people. Some people travel to somewhere warmer, and others just hang out at their houses sleeping. This vacation I was one of those people that just stayed home worked, did an AP biology project, and slept. Next vacation I'm going to Florida so it was nice to chill this vacation.
I did get good news over vacation. One the Friday of vacation I got a large envelope addressed to me from my summer camp. Inside was my contract to be a camp counselor! That's right for summer 2016 I will be a camp counselor at my summer camp for 7 weeks! Being a camp counselor is really important to me because I've been a camper, CIT, and now counselor. I was really nervous about my interview, and getting the job. I knew in advance that I was going to be offered a counselor position, but I wasn't sure if it was paid or not. If I didn't get a paid position then I would've gotten an internship where I would work for hours to use for school. I was also nervous because the position I really wanted was the farm barn counselor. The farm barn counselor is the one counselor in charge of the farm class at camp. The farm barn is one of the most popular classes because you learn about farm animals. There is a variety of agricultural animals from rabbits, chickens, pigs, goats, cows, calves, sheep, you name it, and it has been in there. There is two teenagers who help teach the class even though they are not official counselors. I was doubting myself on getting the position because I wasn't sure if I had to be over 18 (I will only be 16 this summer). I do have a lot of experience working with animals, and have many fun activities that would be fun for campers learned about agriculture.
Fortunately for me when I opened up my contract it said that I had been hired as a paid counselor (I get over $1000!) and I'm the farm barn counselor. It is honestly a dream come true. Not many people are willing to spend all summer in cabins with no electricity, with kids 24/7, and in a barn taking care of many animals. Me on the other hand I can't wait. I hope to inspire kids to pursue agricultural careers like me.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Death Penalty article response
Death Penalty's False Promise: An Eye for an Eye by Anna Quindlen is a hard hitting article on her thoughts about death penalties. Anna uses Ted Bundy as an example to base her opinions of death penalty on, and provides examples of the crimes he committed. Ted Bundy was a serial killer and rapist during the 1970’s. As early on as his teenage years Ted Bundy killed and raped over 30 young girls. Ted Bundy was executed by the electric chair at the age of 42, and people at the time truly believed that he deserved it.
Anna talks in the beginning of the article about how she followed along with the murder cases, and could see herself as being one of the victims. She concludes with the idea that death penalty is not right even in extreme cases such as Ted Bundy. The victim’s parents did want to see Ted Bundy die because they thought it would be fair, and other people also supported Ted Bundy’s death penalty. However Anna states “...not only because it consists of stooping to the level of the killers, but also because it is not what it seems.” She makes an agreeable point to the fact that killing a person just because they killed many people does not serve a justice.
Anna concludes her article with this statement “What he wants is for something as horrifying as what happened to his child to happen to Ted Bundy. And that is impossible.”. That statement helped prove to me that Anna is somewhat right. The victim’s parents feel that the murderer of their children should feel as much pain in dying as their innocent girl’s had, but what I think Anna is saying is the girls had such horrible deaths caused by Ted Bundy that it is almost impossible to do something just as bad.
Anna makes strong points that are agreeable. Death Penalties seems as if it is an easy way out for the criminal. Yes the death is somewhat painful, but that doesn’t make the criminal regret what they did. If they locked the criminal up in a high security prison then perhaps they would have enough time to reflect, wonder how good their lives could’ve been, and then regret their actions. In the case of Ted Bundy I feel differently. Ted Bundy escaped prison, had many court cases, and still continued his actions. I believe that the only way for Ted Bundy to be stopped was for him to be killed. He might’ve not regretted his life decisions, but if he was still alive he could have potentially always find a way to get back to murdering woman. Death Penalty should not be used all the time, but in extreme cases where nothing else can be done to stop a person such as Ted Bundy it was needed.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Living in 1838
So if you haven't heard of Old Sturbridge Village you should probably go back to my last post to learn what Old Sturbridge Village is about.
What not many people know about me is that I am a 4-H intern at Old Sturbridge Village! There are three types of interns at OSV. There are college interns which stay throughout the whole summer at the Old Sturbridge hotel, and they help out with all aspects of the village. Junior interns make up the majority of the interns. Junior interns help in cooking, with summer camp, gardens (sometimes), dying wool, and games. The next branch of interns is the 4-H interns which there is not as many of. These interns are from the 4-H and FFA programs, meaning that they have experience working with animals and plants. These interns are the same ages as Junior Interns (14-18). 4-H interns are very important at OSV, and have more responsibilities than junior interns. 4-H interns work strictly in the gardens, and with the dairy. Being a 4-H intern is an amazing experience, and one of my favorite parts of summer.
In case you are wondering, yes I do have to wear a costume. I am out in 80 degree heat in a dress, long apron, petticoat, long socks, and then my underneath clothes (basically shorts just and a tank top). No, it is not that hot. All of the clothes are made of cotton so it is very breathable. I do have to wear my hair up in a bun, and covered with a bonnet. The only part of my costume that is bothersome is my sun bonnet. This is a bonnet to be worn outside (which I always am) and have a huge rim that covers my face, and a flap that covers my neck. Being a 4-H intern I do not get a delicate straw hat like the other interns which is good because I hear they are a pain. That is just part of my summer wardrobe which I will probably never post pictures of. Winter wardrobes have so much more pieces to them, but are so much nicer looking so expect pictures of those.
My schedule as a 4-H intern consists of working in the garden for the morning, early afternoon, taking the calves out for Meet the Calf twice a day, and the late afternoon milking the cows, and feeding bottle to the calves. My favorite part of the day is when I do Meet the Calf. Meet the Calf takes place in the morning and the afternoon every day. What I do is put a halter on the calf, walk it out of it's stall (or field), and take it outside so visitors can pet the calf. I have to talk about the calf all while making sure the calf doesn't get to overwhelmed by the crowd of people. I also help with milking in the afternoon. Yes, I actually milk a whole cow by myself, by hand. Half the time there is another 4-H intern to help, but I am often alone. On average there is 3 cows, 2 are milked twice a day, and 1 is milked once a day. The milkmaid will talk, and milk our best cow Betsy who is nearest to the watching area. That leaves us to milking Button the cow in the back, and who likes to kick. Milking is not so bad, but it is hard work. In the end it is all worth it because I get to make the bottles, and feed them to the calves. By that time of day the village is a half hour to closing time so there is little to none visitors. The only part I do not really like is cleaning the milking buckets after. The buckets are made of wood so to clean them you must rinse them under cold water, and use a knife along the rim to get all of the milk out. It is a really long process that I dread doing, but sometimes the milkmaid will scrub out the buckets leaving me for more time to play with the calves!
I am really missing summer, my internship, and my calves right now so I am going to start posting my favorite stories about working over at Old Sturbridge Village, and I promise they won't be as long as this one!
What not many people know about me is that I am a 4-H intern at Old Sturbridge Village! There are three types of interns at OSV. There are college interns which stay throughout the whole summer at the Old Sturbridge hotel, and they help out with all aspects of the village. Junior interns make up the majority of the interns. Junior interns help in cooking, with summer camp, gardens (sometimes), dying wool, and games. The next branch of interns is the 4-H interns which there is not as many of. These interns are from the 4-H and FFA programs, meaning that they have experience working with animals and plants. These interns are the same ages as Junior Interns (14-18). 4-H interns are very important at OSV, and have more responsibilities than junior interns. 4-H interns work strictly in the gardens, and with the dairy. Being a 4-H intern is an amazing experience, and one of my favorite parts of summer.
In case you are wondering, yes I do have to wear a costume. I am out in 80 degree heat in a dress, long apron, petticoat, long socks, and then my underneath clothes (basically shorts just and a tank top). No, it is not that hot. All of the clothes are made of cotton so it is very breathable. I do have to wear my hair up in a bun, and covered with a bonnet. The only part of my costume that is bothersome is my sun bonnet. This is a bonnet to be worn outside (which I always am) and have a huge rim that covers my face, and a flap that covers my neck. Being a 4-H intern I do not get a delicate straw hat like the other interns which is good because I hear they are a pain. That is just part of my summer wardrobe which I will probably never post pictures of. Winter wardrobes have so much more pieces to them, but are so much nicer looking so expect pictures of those.
My schedule as a 4-H intern consists of working in the garden for the morning, early afternoon, taking the calves out for Meet the Calf twice a day, and the late afternoon milking the cows, and feeding bottle to the calves. My favorite part of the day is when I do Meet the Calf. Meet the Calf takes place in the morning and the afternoon every day. What I do is put a halter on the calf, walk it out of it's stall (or field), and take it outside so visitors can pet the calf. I have to talk about the calf all while making sure the calf doesn't get to overwhelmed by the crowd of people. I also help with milking in the afternoon. Yes, I actually milk a whole cow by myself, by hand. Half the time there is another 4-H intern to help, but I am often alone. On average there is 3 cows, 2 are milked twice a day, and 1 is milked once a day. The milkmaid will talk, and milk our best cow Betsy who is nearest to the watching area. That leaves us to milking Button the cow in the back, and who likes to kick. Milking is not so bad, but it is hard work. In the end it is all worth it because I get to make the bottles, and feed them to the calves. By that time of day the village is a half hour to closing time so there is little to none visitors. The only part I do not really like is cleaning the milking buckets after. The buckets are made of wood so to clean them you must rinse them under cold water, and use a knife along the rim to get all of the milk out. It is a really long process that I dread doing, but sometimes the milkmaid will scrub out the buckets leaving me for more time to play with the calves!
I am really missing summer, my internship, and my calves right now so I am going to start posting my favorite stories about working over at Old Sturbridge Village, and I promise they won't be as long as this one!
me in my winter wardrobe with my calves
pattern of one of my summer dresses
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