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  • Opening Reception for Summer Art Exhibitions May 9, 2012
    When: Fri Jun 8, 2012 5pm to 7pm  EDT Where: Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, Main and Third Street Event Status: confirmed […]

Jennifer and I did some gardening today, and I thought I’d share some highlights from that!

I’m going to pick a fight with Greg Brady.  I know- you’re wondering how anyone could possibly pick a fight with Greg Brady.  Don’t be fooled by those dreamy eyes, ladies.  That man is a menace.  Remember when he used to mow the Brady’s lawn with a reel mower?  He made it look so easy!  Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s NOT.  In fact, it’s downright difficult.  Granted, I was on uneven ground, but let’s be “reel” here- it was still downright not cool.  This thing and I had a fight.  It won.

I also used a hoe for the first time today (minds out of the gutter, if you please!).  There was one hunk o’ grass that defeated the mower, so I took a hoe to it.  Well, that didn’t go too well for me.  So Jennifer took a whack at it.  It was then decided that that particular patch of grass looked just fine where it was.

Jennifer also found some carrots that we didn’t know were there!  They were apparently planted by a high school class from Prince Edward High.  Cool, huh?  I mean, they weren’t the most attractive carrots out there.  They were all twisted around each other and really gross-looking.  The lesson you’re supposed to take away from this is not to plant your carrots too close together.  I rinsed one off and ate it.  Other than the proverbial lack of ranch dressing, it was an all-together satisfactory carrot!

Just a head’s up: Honors is having a Barn Blitz on 1 April (no, this is not a joke!), starting at 9 AM and going all day.  Come out for a little while and help do some shed-building!  Snacks provided!

Hypothetically, let’s say you’re from Brooklyn and you just moved to the South.  All of your neighbors have gardens.  Wanting to fit in, you decide to start a garden.  Oh wait.  You’re from Brooklyn.  Your idea of a garden is probably a potted plant that’s withered and dead after sitting on your window still for 3 years.  So what are you supposed to do?  According to an article I found on the National Gardening Association website, you only need to know five things!  Sun, soil, site, size, and selection.  Easy AND alliterative, huh?

SUN:  Plants make their own food.  No, this is not like making a cake from scratch.  Rather, they use energy from the sun to photosynthesize.  I’d go into the science of it, but biology was a long time ago.  Just know that it looks like this: http://www.the-simple-homeschool.com/image-files/light_dark_reactions.gif.  So to make a long story short, sunlight hits a plant’s leaves.  The plant uses that energy to make food.  Ta da!  The point of this is so you know that you generally can’t grow plants without sunlight.[i] When you buy seeds, the packets should be labeled with how much sunlight the plant needs.  I’d suggest planting your garden in a sunny location.

SOIL:  The NGA recommends testing your soil.  Doing so can let you know which fertilizer to buy.  Fertilizers are labeled with a series of three numbers.  It looks like this: 13-10-24 (I’m making these numbers up for an example).  Respectively, these numbers account for the amounts of nitrogen, phosphates, and potash in the fertilizer.  If you know how much of each one you need, then you know which fertilizer you need.

SITE:  Location, location, location.  Make sure that your garden is visible.  If you can’t see it, you may not remember to water, weed, and harvest.  Also, if critters are getting in your garden, you may not know about that problem if you’re not regularly checking it out.  “Out of sight, out of mind” is not a good gardening motto.  Just a side note: if your critter problem involves cats, put some moth balls around your garden.  It’ll keep them away.  Though I’m not sure how well that would work with rabbits or moles…

SIZE:  Don’t bite off more than you can chew.  If you’re really busy, you don’t want to start a huge garden right off the bat.  Take some time to build up your sea legs and slowly increase the size of your garden.  Section off a small part of your backyard to begin with.

SELECTION:  Grow foods that you’ll actually eat.  You don’t need to plant brussel sprouts if no one in your family likes them!  Also, grow a variety.  You don’t want to plant only tomatoes only to get an infestation of tomato-eating bugs.  I’d also suggest growing foods that are native to your area.  If you live in Oregon, don’t go planting pineapples.  Just a thought.

This NGA article has more tips for once you get past the beginner stage, so go check it out.  And good luck!

http://www.garden.org/articles/articles.php?q=show&id=3146

http://www.ncagr.gov/cyber/kidswrld/plant/label.htm

http://www.the-simple-homeschool.com/teaching-photosynthesis.html

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[i] Note that there are plants that can grow without sunlight, but as these typically grow on the bottom of the ocean, you probably can’t grow them in your average garden.

I’m sure some of you may be asking what locally grown food is.  Or are you wondering how local is local?  Of course you are!  And if you’re not- well, you should be!  The locally grown food movement endeavors to create more self-reliant food economies by supporting foods that are produced sustainably and benifical to the environment, economy, and social health of a particular place.  Those who eat local foods are called “localvores.”  So, basically, getting into the local foods movement means eating foods produced in your area and surrounding communities.  It’s supporting your local economy- by buying local foods!

And for those of you who are wondering if local is the farmer’s market down the road or in the next town over, I came across a really cool way of categorizing “local.”  Get a map.  Local food starts in your own garden, so draw a circle around your house.  And, of course, you can swap crops with your neighbors, so now draw a circle around your neighborhood.  After that, your town, and the circles go out from there.  It’s concentric (if anyone is into sociological theory, this is very similar to the Chicago school of thought).

One of the cool things about local foods is the emphasis on seasonal eating.  You know how you can go to Wal-Mart and get strawberries all year round?  With seasonal eating, you can’t do that.  Instead of eating little, wimpy strawberries all the time, you get to savor big, juicy strawberries when they are in season.  It helps you fall in love with food again.  Think about it- when you eat sub-par foods all the time, eating is going to be a chore.  BUT if you eat great foods some of the time, you’re going to really enjoy what you’re eating.  Of course, it’s also good for the environment.  Planting the same plants all the time strips the soil of nutrients.  Nutrient-free soil doesn’t grow food, and if you can’t grow food, well, that kind of defeats the purpose of growing food.

Yeah, I know, you’re college students.  But hey, you live in FARMVILLE!  It’s not that hard to find locally grown food.  If you’re interested, here are some places to look up:

• Shepherd’s Knoll Farm: milk and beef
• O.G. Roots Produce: onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, other specialty produce
• Thistledown Farm: seasonal foods, naturally grown
• Farmville Area Farmer’s Market:  April-October, check online for dates
• Virginia Aqua-Farmers Network: co-op of 25 fish farmers, no chemicals or hormones
• Eli’s Green: herbs, vegetables, and flowers
• Heart of Virginia Rabbitry: rabbit (go figure, huh?)
• Prince Edward County Cannery: if you grow your own fruits and veggies, you can go can them here, call ahead

Also, check out this article from Yes! magazine, a magazine that supports sustainability.  It gives some ideas on diving into local foods.  http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/food-for-everyone/8-ways-to-join-the-local-food-movement

http://www.localharvest.org/

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/eatlocal/

My creative non-fiction class recently read a memoir called “Hiroshima in the Morning” by Reiko Rizzuto.  After finishing the book, the author came to our class and talked to us about her experience writing a memoir and living in Hiroshima after 9/11.

There are many themes in the memoir, one of which is identity.  This is something that I really took to heart while reading.  Being a senior in college, I would like to think that I have established my identity by now.  Who you are in high school changes drastically when you come to college.  For some people this is a good thing, for other’s it is not.

My experiences at Longwood, especially experiences that I have had access to as an honors student, have shaped the person I am now.  I have become more confident, more driven.  I attended a national honors conference, all expenses paid, earlier this year in Greenville, SC to present research that I had been conducting for an entire semester on gender differences in facial recognition.  This was a transitional moment in establishing my identity as a student.  For the first time in my academic career, I felt like a colleague rather than just a student.  I was surrounded by other students from all over the country who were presenting projects that they had done in their honors programs.  I was approached by directors from other universities and asked about my research.  It was such a great experience and definitely made me more confident in my academic abilities.

Coming into college can be extremely scary, no matter where you go.  But Longwood offers such a great community, that finding an identity is easy.  Both Longwood and the Cormier Honors College have so much to offer.  Bringing famous authors to classes for a chat, for example!

Today Longwood held one of its many information sessions/orientations for prospective students. The atmosphere of the campus always changes when prospective students are on campus–you can tell they’re nervous about being in a new place, but the sense of excitement in possibly finding their new home overshadows that nervousness.

The Cormier Honors College was represented by four current Honors students in Blackwell Hall. We got to speak to a lot of incoming students–especially those interested in the CHC! Talking to incoming freshman is one of the most fun experiences of the CHC–because we were there! The students get to tell future students personal accounts of our own experiences within the CHC as well as the standard statistics.

Whether we enjoy the benefits of living in Wheeler Residence Hall, or we prefer to explain the mantra of “It’s not more work, it’s different work,” or we want to tell about how much fun we have on the Honors Retreat, there is always something to share and learn about!

Color wars is pretty much the same every year, but it never stops being fun.  This year our new president, General Finnegan, played with us.  When asked if he would be with red class or green class, he replied “I think I’ll go with blue.” 

The booths are done Saturday morning.  Each organization has a booth where they can sell something to help raise money for the organization.  Many organizations choose to sell things that fit that year’s theme; this year the theme was Clownin’ Around At Longwood.  It’s always really fun to see what cool things each organization decides to sell.  As a member of Psi Chi (psychology honor society), I volunteered to help run the booth selling strawberry daiquiris, pina coladas, and phrenology readings.

Saturday afternoon is when all the bands come to play.  This year we had Parachute, Howie Day, Jeremih, and Randy Houser.  All the bands were amazing!  No matter what your taste in music is, there was something for everyone. 

 

Most schools kick off the year with a huge homecoming pep rally that coincides with a big football game.  Longwood, as it happens, has either an undefeated football team or a perpetual lack of one. Take you pick.  So what does Longwood do to celebrate school spirit?  We get together and throw paint at each other.

Color Wars.  Red class versus Green class.

Red class students graduate in an even numbered year, while Green class is odd numbered.  This breaks down into freshmen and juniors against the sophomores and seniors.

It’s a BIG DEAL.  ”Dread the Red!” and “Green machine!” battle cries abound.  Each side is cheering for their team as loudly as possible on opposite sides of Iler Field.  Trash cans filled with paint line both sides- everyone has cups ready to dip in.  Once the signal is given, everyone fills their cups, rushes into the field, and mayhem ensues.  Paint is flying everywhere- all over your clothes, in your eyes, in your mouth. It’s a melee… fought with paint.

Color Wars is quite possibly my favorite Longwood tradition (followed closely by Dr Jordan’s ghost stories) because, even though we all know which color is going to win, we go anyway.  In a twisted kind of way, separating the classes solidifies the whole school.  This is why Red and Green students meet up afterwards to hug each other and take pictures.

I’m all about some Red class domination, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who wins.  We’re all Longwood students are divided by color, but the Blue and White spirit ties us all together.   So today, go out and have a blast with whatever color your class is- but remember that in the end, we all bleed BLUE!

Go Lancers!!!

I can’t believe that we’re already in week 5 of the semester.  As much as I hate clichés, it seems like just yesterday I was a nervous freshman.  One of the most memorable parts of my freshman year was the honors retreat, a mandatory event for all freshman entering the Cormier Honors College.  Since then, I have had the pleasure to serve as a retreat peer mentor to all the incoming freshman classes.  Being able to create a memorable and exciting experience for them is so priceless.

This year’s freshman retreat was especially memorable.  Unlike in past years, the retreat was held on Longwood’s campus rather than at a 4-H center or Smith Mountain Lake.  The incoming freshman this year were so enthusiastic which made for a really fun retreat.  We also had a great group of peer mentors. 

Shannon Cassano, a sophmore, volunteered as a peer mentor this year.  I hadn’t really gotten to talk to her before, so I didn’t know much about her.  However, after the retreat I realized just how awesome this girl really is.  One of the first things that a person notices about Shannon is her buzzed haircut.  This summer, Shannon held a fundraiser to help a friend with leukemia.  People who donated to her cause got to cut off one of the braids on Shannon’s head, and the highest donor actually got to shave her whole head.  She raised over $500 for this wonderful cause.  Shannon’s selflessness is such an inspiration.  As much as I’d like to say that I’d be willing to shave my head to raise money for a friend, I don’t think I would. 

Hey everyone!  My name is Kayla Dodson and I am a senior psychology major at Longwood University.  While I’m definitely looking forward to graduating this May, one of the things I will miss most at Longwood is the Cormier Honors College.  One of the purposes of this blog is to provide insight into the life of an honors student.  Throughout this year, I will be blogging about my experiences and sharing some of the cool things that my fellow honors students are doing.

Throughout my experience at Longwood, I have made a point to stay involved on campus.  I have been extremely busy, but don’t regret my involvement at all.  I am currently president of the Honors Student Association.  All honors students are members of the HSA and are welcome to come to the meetings.  Our purpose is to discuss issues that are important in the honors college and to plan fun activities for honors students.  I am also involved in Psi Chi, Heartland Horse Heroes, and the Longwood University Honor Board.  In addition to my organizational involvement, I am a student worker in the honors office as well as an employee at Lancer Line, a part of the Office of Annual Giving.

Coming to Longwood and being a part of the Cormier Honors College has been one of the best decisions of my life.  I cannot imagine myself anywhere else.  One of our mottos in the honors college is “it’s not more work, it’s different work.”  This is very true of honors classes.  My honors classes have been some of my favorite classes because it gives me an opportunity to bond with my fellow honors students.  All honors classes have a “creative” component where students have the opportunity to create a special honors project that will be presented at the honors poster session that is held every semester.

I can’t wait to blog about all the exciting things that honors students, including myself, are doing this year!

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