Being a senior Pre-Veterinary Medicine major on the University of Delaware’s main campus in Newark, I have had the opportunity to learn, volunteer, and work on the UD Newark Farm on multiple occasions. However, I had never received a tour as thorough as the one given by Scott Hopkins, the farm superintendent.

I learned the most about UD’s Webb Farm, where we have horses, sheep, and beef cattle. I had always known we had horses on campus, but I never fully understood why or who interacted with them. Thanks to Scott, I now know of all the high tech and well thought out aspects that our horse stables and attached building have to offer. From a scale built into the floor, to the grated stalls instead of panels, or even to the potential for video cameras to watch foaling since horses can stop parturition if they get nervous or surprised, the possibilities are endless. It was also very interesting to learn that things we learn in classes, such as titrations in chemistry, can be utilized in the real world, specifically in horses to formulate a timeline of foaling.

Overall, it was great to explore my own campus more in-depth than I have had in the past. I found this experience to be a great example of the old motto, “You learn something new every day!”