Back to a "Normal" School

A blog post for the month of August 2021.

Fall Retreat

This year for fall retreat the executive team had a wonderful idea to go camping but the weather said otherwise. Although we did not end up getting to go to Lake Poinsett, the Ceres ladies still made memories by having a massive sleepover at the house. The retreat began with a recruitment workshop from Shania Biers. We learned how to be more communicative with PNMs and how to embrace our "girl next door" reputation. Potential members should feel at home with Ceres like all of the active members do. The next two days, we planned multiple sisterhood workshops which came with many laughs, some running and countless memories made. We passed around lists of positive words and each sister had to highlight which one pertained to each individual. I learned a lot about what the other girls opinions were of me. We also created an entire story. We went around a circle and added seven words to the story each time it was your time. All of the girls were rolling on the floor laughing. To top it all off we watched multiple movies and played games as we laid on mattresses and blankets in the living room. Definitely one to remember. Christina Hartmann said that it was, "the best retreat," that she had attended.

Ag Corner with Megan Leyda

In California in 2018, a new agriculture initiative was introduced by voters. This initiative is known as The Farm animal confinement initiative, or Proposition 12. The main points of prop 12 are to increase the amount of space confinement animals are allotted to improve animal welfare conditions, as well as housing chickens in a cage free format. This proposition would apply to chickens, beef, and pigs. It also states that any animal product raised in what is deemed a cruel manner will not be permitted for sale in the state of California. There are almost 40 million people living in California, which is a large portion of the US market. According to pigprogress.net, California represents about 15 percent of the US pork market. Proposition 12 has been passed, and will go into effect in January of next year. While this is certainly a win for animal welfare, it will have a severe impact on the meat supply in California, as the large majority of animals are raised in violation. This also brings the question of jurisdiction. Does a state have the power to dictate what goes on outside of their borders? It will certainly be interesting to see the lasting effects of proposition 12.

Supporting Our Sisters

Melissa Lauck received the first supportive sister award of the semester, here is her take on uplifting sisters as we start a new school year.

"I really appreciated getting the supportive sister award, I feel as if it gets very stressful for students especially switching from summer and working or having fun to full-time school. It can be very difficult to stay positive and to stay connected with our sisters even when we live in the same house. I love helping especially when that means making a workload for another a little bit lighter. My brother actually told me a few weeks ago that life is too short, if you can do something for another person then just do it and pass it on."