MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Many high school seniors are figuring out their college plans. NPR’s Claire Murashima looked into some of higher education’s quirkier offerings. She found one on a campus farm at the University of Maryland.
CLAIRE MURASHIMA, BYLINE: Sheep Management is a popular course at UMD, and there’s usually a waitlist. When the spring-only course starts, students pair up to care for one of 20 pregnant sheep.
CAITLYN MERCADO: Lamb watch was the reason I came to this university.
MURASHIMA: That’s teaching assistant Caitlyn Mercado. Sarah Balcom, who taught the class for 12 years, says that sheep usually give birth at night. And that can be inconvenient.
SARAH BALCOM: You’re on call. You have your phone with you at all hours of the night.
MURASHIMA: Before sheep go into labor, they stop eating their grain. They isolate themselves, and…
