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I'm Typing This on a Campus Computer

No matter where you live on campus, I'd be willing to be that there's a UNH computer cluster somewhere close by. Right now, I'm typing this from a very nice iMac in the library's cluster. Some clusters, such as the McConnell and the Kingsbury cluster are open 24/7. Other clusters have more limited availability, but still have pretty great hours. The library, for example, is open from 7:30am to 2am Monday through Thursday. Printing is cheap, I suppose, though I don't have much to compare it to. For a black and white page, 10 cents; 50 cents per color page. There's a 25% discount on pages printed double-sided, so two B&W pages are 15 cents. Personally, I print everything at the clusters because with the $35 it might cost me to get a decent ink cartridge for a personal printer, I could print out a CRAZY amount of pages, like 350, which I will probably never do anyway. In terms of network reliability, I have been on campus for 3 years and never once had an issue. Having a personal computer on campus, especially a laptop, is definitely very helpful, but if you don't have one, it's not the end of the world since the computer clusters are plenty. The only downside to computers here and the reason this has an A- instead of an A or A+ is the lack of wireless. Most academic buildings and campus gathering spots get UNH wifi, but barely any of the dorms do. I happen to have lucked out in that my dorm room gets wireless from the lounge beneath me, but my res hall neighbors go without. The school does seem to be working on steadily increasing the amount of campus that the wireless reaches but it's not their top priority.

Academic Buildings All Have Their Own "Personality"

Maybe this is a weird topic to be discussing for inside scoop but just bear with me. Every academic building has its own thing going for it. And the vast majority of them are really nice with recently updated and technologically-outfitted classrooms too. Demeritt is one of the most beautiful, sunny, scientifically-oriented buildings I have yet to come across. Morrill, the often overlooked home of Seacoast Reads and the Education program, is one of the older academic buildings on campus and retains a certain charm as a result. Once Parsons is finished being renovated it's probably going to be just as awesome as Kingsbury. Even the buildings which have not yet been renovated, such as the PCAC and Ham Smith, have an odd quality about them with which you might find yourself begrudgingly falling in love. Maybe you'll even find yourself liking Nesmith... Basically though, my point is that you WILL find a building on campus, perhaps several, that you love. And this is helpful when it comes time to find a place to plant yourself during midterms and finals. Go to that one building on campus that makes you strangely calm and happy and study away in the company of like-minded students.

Tiny, Unheard of, Yet Incredible

Explaining my major can get tricky. I entered the program right before they made some changes, so technically I'm an animal science major with an option in equine studies, in the therapeutic riding track. That gets really complicated to explain, as you might imagine, so I tell people I am an equine studies major. You'd be surprised at the number of people who go to a college that has its roots in agriculture who do not know the meaning of the word 'equine.' "It's horses," I usually have to add. Then I'm faced with, "Well, what do you want to do with that? Like be a horse vet?" "No, that would be the equine science concentration; I'm in the therapeutic riding track. I teach adults and children with disabilities how to ride and work with horses." That is the basis of my major and I love it. As complicated as explaining it may be, I will explain it forever if I have to and love every second of doing it. UNH is actually the only university in New England that has a specialized program to teach students about the therapeutic horsemanship industry, so that makes me feel pretty lucky. In our program, there are basically two core classes, both taught by the same instructor. The first class, ANSC 500: Methods of Therapeutic Riding, tends to have between 10 and 15 students. The second class, ANSC 643: Principles of Therapeutic Riding Instruction, culminates in becoming a PATH Intl. certified instructor and last semester had 8 students including myself. That sort of intimate teaching setting I think is excellent. The "peripheral" classes associated with the program are mostly fun and interesting too. You get to do a lot of hands-on work with the program's horses and riders, and also just be in the barn working with the rest of the horses for certain classes that focus more on the equine aspect of therapeutic riding. Internship? I've got one right now. Granted, it is an hour away from school but I made the choice myself. Therapeutic horsemanship is a fast-growing field of therapy and most of the barns I know have long waiting lists due to the fact that in many areas, there are only so many stables providing the necessary services. So I'd say the job outlook is bright. In summary, I love what I'm learning and I love even more what I'm going to do with it.