Category: Erin Jackson (page 2 of 4)

“Ag Day Adventures” by Erin Jackson

There is one day each year where the parking lot down on south campus here at UD transforms into an almost unrecognizable network of tents, vendors, presenters, performers, pie-in-the-facers, tractors, animals, and more. A day where the University of Delaware opens up one of their most prized resources to the members of the Newark community, letting them into the College of Agriculture and making them want to return year after year on this unforgettable day. A day that most students at UD have no idea exists.

Ag Day is for everyone. There are opportunities there in every aspect of agriculture that people of any age and interest can find exciting. There’s music from bands and acapella groups, plants you can buy to liven up the dorm room, the one and only UDairy ice cream, face-painting for people of all ages, baby animals to meet and instantly fall in love with, research surveys that will literally give you money for just participating, and so much more. Coming from a background of zero farm experience myself, I have been completely roped into the community of the college of agriculture here and there is no turning back. Continue reading

“UDaB and Me” by Erin Jackson

A huge number of people on this campus participate in service, and an impressively large group go on alternative break programs. It simply blows my mind how many people are not only willing – but unbelievably enthusiastic – to dedicate the one week they have off during an otherwise non-stop semester to go on one of these programs. Nothing about this process is easy—socially, financially, emotionally, physically, or mentally. When you sign up to spend a week of your life with near strangers somewhere you’ve never been before, meeting people or experiences you’ve never encountered before, you’re not just stepping out of your comfort zone—you’re leaping into a whole new realm of unknown that cannot compare to anything you’ve done before. I’m sure everyone knows someone who has done an alternative break and come back physically incapable of talking about anything else. However, since my program left the day after Christmas and came back just at the start of winter session, I missed my chance to go off about what an amazing program it was—and that’s actually not what I want to talk about here. I want to talk about the people who made this program what it was. Continue reading

“Reunion Run” by Erin Jackson

I recently ran the Café Gelato 10 miler alongside an amazing assortment of individuals whom I couldn’t have imagined together in any other circumstance. To be honest, I was not in my best shape and I didn’t know anyone else running the race, but I figured if nothing else, it would be a wake up call to myself to start working out more. Anyway, I am not going to write about myself because that would be boring; I want to write about my state and my school and how lucky I am that they are in the same place.

I didn’t know anyone else running when I registered that morning. However, once I began making my way over to the start, the reunion began to unfold. People from all parts of my past were crossing my path. Some I said hi to, others I maybe only smiled as they walked by, not noticing me. Still others I didn’t acknowledge at all for I didn’t know how to. Friends from high school cross country, freshmen to seniors, showed up in various stages of in-shape-ness since the glory days of having scheduled time to run together every day. More familiar faces included parents of friends, old teachers dating back to middle school and beyond, and that person I did that one project with one time but don’t know if they’d recognize me so out of context. Continue reading

“A Little Love for the Library” by Erin Jackson

Though we have all been to the Hugh Morris Library at some point by now, the building holds a different meaning for all of its attendees. For some people it is the only place they can get work done; for others it’s the ultimate destination for group projects; some people go there as a social event; and still others use it as a way to escape the noise of an active college community. For a while, I had no idea where I fit in among these classifications of library-goers. It started out as a necessary destination whenever I needed to print something before I invested in a printer of my own. Then, after my first semester of freshman year when my laptop somehow got blacklisted from the UD internet for reasons unknown to this day, I again was forced to the library to either rent a laptop or spend time there on their desktops, knowing that some day I’d again have a functional laptop and could have more control over my study location.

It was not for a while that I began attending the library out of choice instead of necessity. I would occasionally go to the reading room between classes, or wander around the third floor until I found a rare empty seat, afraid to cough or breathe too loudly and disrupt the population already there. Even then, I felt a little lost, not having a spot of my own, a routine location I could count on. I still didn’t fit into any of my pre-determined library stereotypes, but I kept trying. Continue reading

“Yoga On My Mind” by Erin Jackson

In college I have learned how to be flexible with my time. In fact, I think this is a necessary skill to have to keep anyone from going crazy when things don’t go as planned. As a recent, and very casual, member of yoga club, I have started to learn how to apply this skill in different areas of my life.

Yoga to me is not all about being flexible in the traditional sense, the way we all think about. For those not familiar with the exercise it’s easy to use lack of flexibility as an excuse not to go. But for me, it’s all about trying new things and pushing myself emotionally and mentally, if not physically. Continue reading

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