Thursday, March 7th

Katie Baird: Hi everyone! My name is Katie Baird, a junior comprehensive science major! I have been involved in Level since my freshman year and have greatly enjoyed my time involved in this organization thus far. Faith, service, and Level are three significant facets of my college experience and I have been so grateful to combine the three for this weeklong journey.

This morning we headed back to Rocky Creek for another wonderful day. In the morning, our group finished a previous project of planting seeds for the greenhouse. Rather than separating into different groups to complete various projects around the farm, we instead assembled as a group in the barn and worked all together on a gardening project to beautify the greenhouses near the entrance of the property. All group members were assigned the following tasks: seed planting, pot labeling, label cataloging, and transporting pots. After about an hour or so, I remember looking around the room and admiring our group’s cohesiveness and hard work.

In the middle of our projects, groups were called in turns to do a horsemanship activity, which involved introducing ourselves to some new horses and working on some skills with them. The horse interactions are a highlight of my experience that I have personally found to be particularly valuable and enriching. I had never worked with horses prior to this week and was first apprehensive about how it would go. However, I have been pleasantly surprised with the horse encounters and I have grown a great appreciation for these compassionate and endearing animals. I realize that just like humans, horses have unique personalities and qualities which define them, and they are very perceptive of people and their surroundings. As Tracy said in the beginning, “a horse knows you better than you know yourself.” I have certainly found this to be true; I have learned a lot about myself just from the few times I have met with them. I can now see why horses make such great companions and are used for experiential healing.

We finished off the day at Rocky Creek painting quilts that will be hung up along the Discovery Trail. In the end, upon looking at the spread of colored canvases on the ground and painted clothes and hands, I knew it was a job well done!  What I admire most about this group is that we take our responsibilities seriously, but we also enjoy every moment of our work and the time spent with one another. Although I am sad that tomorrow is my last day, I am happy with the work that we have accomplished and the relationships I have formed.

Matt Steven: Today on the LEVEL spring break trip I helped paint many of the different boards that they are going to use for horse jumping. I also helped to plant seed into pots in order for them to grow so that they will be able to use them as part of the discovery trial. Doing these projects made me feel like I was making an impact on the ranch that may seem small, but I cannot fully understand what this can mean to people. This afternoon I was able to participate in a horsemanship lesson in which I was able to learn more about the horse as well as myself through the connection that I had with the horses. I was able to work with all three of the horses named Ray, Kona, and Fleur. I felt that I had the strongest connection with Fleur. I was able to establish a connection with her through grooming and was able to walk around the arena with her on the lead rope. Fleur was able to teach me a lot about trust, but even more the horse to me a lot about different things in general. This whole week I have felt a lot better about myself because of all the things I was able to accomplish over the short time span of a week. It was also great to meet  a whole bunch of new people that I may not have ever interacted with if I did not come on the trip.