Councilman Woodhull visits class...

When thinking back to all of the guest speakers we have had in JEM 315 this semester, Chris Woodhull would be considered the most entertaining. From the moment he walked into the classroom it was apparent his presentation was going to be different. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, Woodhull seemed very comfortable speaking to us and not worried about what he was going to say, and how and when he was going to say it.

Woodhull is a Knoxville City Councilman. While he did talk about politics, he also talked about another important aspect of his life; the christian ministry, Tribe One, he started with a close friend. I find it to be so interesting that he is involved with our city's politics, which is an important and time-consuming job in itself, but maintains enough time and energy to "council young brothers" off the street.

This is so important to him that he was able to convince his wife of 18 years to move their family to Mechanicsville; part of the hood. I love the fact that he is so passionate about Tribe One and his work with these young men. He is truly changing their lives while also having a voice when it comes to running Knoxville.

Overall, I enjoyed hearing him. It was also very interesting to take part in an "on/off the record" interview. That was something I had never experienced before, but will encounter many times in this profession.

"Horses can be very forgiving, but they never forget."

Now that I am new to the blogging world, I decided to make my first post about something that is a huge part of my life.

A few weeks ago my dad sent me a link to an article that he knew I would love:

http://http//news.discovery.com/animals/horse-friends-memory-trainers.html

I have ridden horses competitively for 14 years, so this article was very special to me. Research has shown that horses are very similar to humans when it comes to positive reinforcement. They have better memories, better behavior and learn more in general when that is used in the training program. Also, horses understand words better and combined with their excellent memories, they remember human friends after periods of separation. This bond that horses have with humans likely stems from their life in the wild where they are not only close to their fellow horses friends and family, but enjoy making new, non-threatening acquaintances.

Persoanlly, I can relate to what this article is saying. I have owned 4 horses over the course of my riding career and have ridden countless others. My parents live on a 38-acre equestrian estate, where 3 of my horses currently reside. You can find me at the barn when I am not in class or studying. Campino,my current show horse (competing with me in the picture above), is a Holsteiner from Germany. He lives on the farm with 2 of my retired horses. I have owned Campino for 6 years and we have a bond that can rival almost all of my "human" friendships. Since I live on campus, I am not at the barn every single day like I was in high school. Because of this, when I do make it home every week, Campino temporarily forgets the grass he is munching on and watches my car descend down the driveway from the barn to the house. He is over at the fence watching me before I can get a chance to notice him.

Whether you own a horse, dog or cat, I think the relationship that humans and animals have is very important. Even if you are in a bad mood, have no make-up on, or are feeling down, animals love you for who you are and are not here to judge.

Get ready for some more posts in the future about horses... :) they're kind of a big deal to me.

Hellooooo Blogging-world

Here I am...finally in the "blogging-world." I have quite a few friends that blog, but for some reason I could never motivate myself enough to start. This all changed on Tuesday when Dr. Stovall (a Journalism and Elec. Media professor at UT) spoke to our class and convinced me once and for all that this is something I need to do. I was going to wait until the semester ended, but Professor Vines actually assigned us classwork that involves blogging so I decided to create my blog a bit early. I can tell this will be something that I'll enjoy if I can make myself take the time to put some thoughts down every few days! Now...off to finish a Poli Sci paper :) that kind of writing comes first!