From the front door of senior Lauren Hawn's building, she can see the back of Beaver Stadium. She can also see the dozen horses she lives next to at the Penn State Horse Barn.
Hawn (senior-animal sciences), who wants to be a farm manager after graduation, shares a room with Jena Gerlinger (senior-animal sciences). It is a foot away from the nearest horse stall. It even features a small window in one wall for checking on the horses.
Walking down the main hallway of the barn, it is easy to miss the unmarked door. A stranger would never guess two students call it home.
Hawn, along with her roommate, lives at the Horse Barn on Park Avenue throughout the year to be near the mares that will be giving birth in the next two months. The first foal -- called Verse after her mother -- was born last Friday at 10 p.m. Twenty mares are currently pregnant.
Penn State offers an equine science minor through the animal science department of the College of Agriculture. The horses are used for classes such as handling, training and reproduction.
Hawn (senior-animal sciences) said the job is an opportunity for hands-on training.
Hawn and Gerlinger live in one barn, while Danielle Peters (sophomore-animal science) and another student reside in a house nearby.
Peters said five hours worth of work is taken out of her paycheck every week to pay for rent. Peters, who has been working with the horses since May, said the experience sometimes interferes with a social life when the mares are close to giving birth. Students are on-call at all times, she said.
Peters said the birth of the foal last Friday night was a nerve-wracking experience.
"It can be the longest 30 minutes of your life," she said.
One of the four girls is always around to keep an eye on the animals, but the job doesn't cramp their academic life, Hawn said.
"My typical day is like any other student," she said. "I go to class, then after class, I come here. Depending on what day it is, I work."
Hawn said she was interested in working at the barn because she had never owned a horse.
She usually works weekends and two days during the week. Sixteen other students come to the barn throughout the week for either work-study or a part-time job.
Yesterday, Joni Stanton (senior-forestry) was assisting Hawn with the afternoon chores. The two students brought hay to each of the stalls, one of which held the newborn foal and her mother.
Of the 20 mares currently pregnant, the four whose due dates are within the next month are brought in each night, so the students can keep an eye on them.
"I love it," Stanton said. "I don't need the money. I just love being around the horses."
Stanton said the job is a great opportunity for hands-on experience since the barn managers ask the students questions to see if they are learning, rather than "barking out orders."
Yesterday, Hawn and Stanton helped veterinarian Ed Jedrzejewski and assistant manager Chris Grant unload a trailer full of horses that had been used for a class on judging.
The students then hiked through the field next to the barn, laughing about their boots being stuck in the thick mud as they gathered eight of the young horses for the night.
