Honors Colloquium

Today was the last class of Honors Colloquium.

A little sad that the semester ended so quickly. It's almost like it didn't happen. Yet I know so much happened, I was there. All the work, the readings, the field trips, the group presentation, the service learning, that really happened. I really did do all those things. I really did do things I never thought I would do, I mean really, walking through a forest? I almost wish it wasn't over so soon. I want to learn more, experience more, be able to do more for the environment, fix and protect my new home.

Definitely the most special part of colloquium, was going out into the community and putting my knowledge and skills to work. It wasn't much, but working for the American Cancer Society was a great experience. I wouldn't have gone there if it hadn't been for this class. Even though the class is over and there is no longer a requirement I am definitely going to continue serving this organization. I got to see the behind the scenes of an organization that does so much good in the country. The main mission is to provide help, and although what I did was minimal, I feel like I did my part in helping many people.

As the semester comes to a close, I did some thinking. Over the past couple of months I realized that I have, in a way, grown up. I developed into a new, more educated person. Not just because I learned so much from my classes, but because I learned to develop my own ideas and my own beliefs. And although this semester was difficult for me since the loss of my grandmother, I was able to push through and I think it's safe to say that i survived. It took me a while and it took a lot of effort, but I did manage.

Downtown

I have been living in Fort Myers for almost a year. Of course I live on campus so I don't venture too far. I'm pretty well aquainted with Estero and Bonita and most of 41.

But I had never made it all the way to Downtown Fort Myers. I felt a little left out of the loop because I had no idea that Thomas Edison had lived in the area, much less about Ford. I had been up to the Edison mall a couple times. Didn't think much of it. I did ask myself several times why it was named Edison, and why that was such a common name in the area, but again didn't associate it with Edison himself.

As we were driving to the museum we passed by the historic Edison Home. I didn't get to see much of it, seeing as how I'm short and the window was on the other side, plus it was surrounded by trees. But I also added that to the list of things I need to go visit.

When we did get to the museum, some unlucky person was attacked by a tree branch. Totally surprised all of us. Since when do trees attack people? Anyway, the museum itself was pretty interesting. The guide was very enthusiastic about the history of Fort Myers, and he was overly opinionated. But as always, it's interesting to get to know a little bit of history of where you are living, since it is your home.

After the museum, we walked around the downtown. It was interesting to see a different side of the area I now call home. It's completely different from the downtown of Orlando. In Orlando, the downtown is lined with nightclubs and bars. Its more of a night scene than a historic area. I liked to see the difference, since I wasn't expecting it to be so historic.

Once again, we were abandoned at the end of the field trip. I had never had a professor that did that before, but I thought it was pretty cool considering he trusts us enough to leave us on our own and not confuse the bus driver into taking us somewhere else.

Our Campus Everglades

Walking around in the high grasses with shorts on has got to be one of my less thought out ideas

Yesterday was our campus hike. Well was I surprised or what. I wasn't even aware that there was a swampy area on our campus. I mean obviously there are the wooded areas that are protected, but I had never even thought of stepping foot in there. Not even on the nature trail. The last time I had been so deep in the forest was when I would go camping in New Jersey. That was more than 11 years ago. And it was New Jersey, completely different landscape; definitely not as wet and sticky as Florida.

But we are in Florida, so I figured it was going to be hot. So I wore shorts. Not the best idea by far. I'm short as it is, so most of my body was being attacked by the grass and my legs were the main victim. By the end of the trail I had scratches all over my ankles and lower calves. And yet somehow that wasn't the worst part of the hike. I did, of course like always, get a couple mosquito bites, which is never fun.

Aside from the scratches and the mosquito bites, I have to say I did enjoy the hike. I was getting a different type of fresh air, air that can't really be found anywhere else. And there were so many different things to look at, although I have to admit most of the time I was looking at the ground watching my step.

It really takes you time to get adjusted to so much greenness and nature surrounding you. There was so much to take it. If I hadn't been looking at my feet the whole time, I think I wouldn't know where to look. There was just so much. Even a knife in the middle of the forest and measuring tape. The random purple flowers that were so beautiful. And the giant bug that landed on a fellow student's shirt that made me scream. Yea I'm glad I decided to go on that hike.

Although I have to say that my utmost favorite part of the entire hike was hearing Professor Wilkinson's ringtone....they see me rollin'...they hatin' definitely an unexpected laugh.

The Everglades

This week we were assigned the swamp readings. The first one was an excerpt from Marjory Stoneman Douglas' The Everglades: River of Grass.

Honestly one of the hardest things I have ever had to read. I literally read the first page about 10 times and I still didn't understand what she was saying. As I would go on to the next sentence I would have to reread the sentence before. She was so descriptive in her writing that it almost didn't go anywhere. She kept describing the same thing for about two paragraphs and she still wasn't done. Definitely the hardest reading ever. I'm sure that she was very passionate about the Everglades and that's ok. The Everglades truly are unique and one of a kind. There is nothing else like it in the world, and that's what makes it so special. One thing I did find especially interesting was the way that the Everglades name came to be. It went through so much just to be named something that seems so simple. I would have preferred for the name to have stayed "El Laguno del Espirtitu Santo"

The second reading was an even harder excerpt to plow through. The Swamp, by Michael Grunwald. Grunwald went into detail about the political processes behind the territory of the Everglades. I think that if it wouldn't have been for this reading I would have lived the rest of my life not knowing that there was a close possibility that the most unique aspect of Florida would have been turned into yet another airport. How could that even cross someone's mind? Turn something so unique and strangely beautiful into just one more everyday thing? Overall not my favorite readings from the bunch, but definitely full of information. Yes I was severely confused most of the time and didn't fully register it all, but the little bit I did understand was just eye opening. To think that I have lived in Florida for about 11 years now, and not once did visiting the Everglades ever cross my mind. Now it is definitely on my list of things to do. It should be great because I know so much of it before even seeing it.

Plan B 4.0

I'm not much of a "green" person. I try to recycle, I try to cut the lights out, turn off the water, and walk to as many places as I can. But I know for a fact that my carbon foot print is huge. I have a truck; so that pretty much vomits carbon emissions just by having it on. I do travel a lot, between school and work, school and home(which is a 8 hour drive back and forth) and just to take my friends out. Back in New Jersey, I would walk everyone. My family had one car, and thats because my dad lived a but far from work, but other than that we walked everywhere. I walked to school, I walked to the store, I walked to the strip mall. And it's the same thing in Colombia. No one own's cars unless your rich. Most people own motorcycles, take taxis or buses, and even take what we call "metro cable"

I really think we should think of something like this here in Florida. It could be a big boost to the economy and help reduce carbon emissions. In Colombia, this is a tourist attraction, with big sections of it running through the poorest parts of the city, and it travels all over the city with many stations, which is very helpful.

When we were assigned to read Plan B 4.0, I wasn't too crazy about it. And even though I read it and I took all the information in, it didn't really hit me until my group presented the chapter to the class. I knew all the information, and I knew what the data was pointing at, it just didn't really sink in until I was telling everyone else. It's a scary thought, that at some point half of Florida is going to be under water. It's such a populated state, where are we going to put everyone that has to relocate? What will happen if there isn't enough time to relocate?

Fort Myers Beach

So today we made our way to Fort Myers Beach. The bus ride was not so great, seeing as there was crazy traffic and we decided to get out of the bus and walk the rest of the way. Walking wasn't so bad, except the bus pretty much caught up to us so it makes me wonder if it was worth it. Anyway the sights we saw on the way there though were beautiful. I had never been to that area and was pretty amazed at how beautiful it really was. Lover's key sounds like a great place to visit.

Once we walked into the Historic Cottage, I was taken aback by how it looked. For some reason I imagined a crummy looking place, but this was beautiful and well kept. There were so many displays and things that were interesting. It's hard to imagine that people actually lived in cottages like that back in the day. That's barely enough room for a family to live in. Something Jo told us that really got me thinking was that the school was 1 classroom, and the teacher was everything in that place, including the janitor. How crazy is that? I was looking around at some of the displays and suddenly this picture really caught my attention for some reason, it was funny and seemed almost out of place.

Anyway after Jo talked we got a chance to go on the trail. Honestly I was too dizzy to concentrate on what Professor Wilkinson was saying. The path kept winding and there were too many creepy sounds coming from the mangroves. I mean it was a really nice place and there was a lot of information, my head was just spinning. I did really enjoy looking out at the water. It was so peaceful and quiet. Makes me realize just how important it is to keep areas like this clean and safe from other harm.

Camping!

When I was a child, my favorrite thing to do was be outside. My house had a huge yard, well it seemed huge to me, since I was only a little kid. My sister and I were always outside. Winter, spring, fall, summer, we were always outside; playing in the snow or in our tiny inflatable pool. I learned to ride my bike in my yard. There was just enough of a concrete strip so I could ride. Almost all my memories of my childhood in New Jersey are outdoors. One of my favorite memories actually is when my sister and I lost in the crazy neighbor's house and we snuck in to get it back. Probably the most dangerous thing I have done in my life, well not really.

Every other weekend, my uncle's would take all the cousins camping. We loved it. We got to be outside and away from our parents. My favorite part of camping was listening to the bugs at night and pretending that a bear would come attack us. One time a bear actually did take our food, but we weren't at our campsite so none of us were hurt. Funny story, at the time there were a total of 6 cousins. The three older ones stayed at the camp site, while the 3 younger ones, including myself, went off to find the lake. We quickly realized we were lost, and because we were young we started to cry, thinking we were never gonna be found. But my uncle whistled, a sound that to this day I will never forget, and we followed his whistle all the way back to the camp site.

Since I moved to Florida, I have not been camping. It makes me miss Jersey even more, and even if I did go camping here, I don't really think it would be the same. Its too hot out here and there are way too many creepy bugs and worst of all MOSQUITOES!

(Oh and by the way, the one in the pig tails really is me!)

ECHO

ECHO was a beautiful and intriguing place. I know the tour guide said a lot and he gave so much information, but truth is I wasn't paying attention to him. In part I was. I was aware of the small presentations he gave about the simple water pumps, and the cooking devices left out in the sun. But as he spoke all I could think of was how amazing it would be to spend days there. Do the work for myself. When he mentioned that the interns were set the task of living in the conditions available and only surviving by what the land has to give, I felt jealous. I wanted to do that, and that's saying a lot seeing as how I don't like spending too much time outside in the heat of Florida.

I have never felt that type of necessity, and even though it was a mock survival lesson, I think it would be helpful if I experienced it first hand. My mental capacity is great, but my physical fitness is beyond inadequate. I wonder if I could even be able to build myself a simple shelter. I would most likely not survive.

Another one of my flaws is the fear of animals. In nature and since the beginning of man kind, we have depended on animals for food, clothing, and other sources of help. Yet I am terified of even the smallest domestic animal. If I am to depend on a larger animal or animals, I would much rather die of hypothermia, starvation or even be eaten by the animal itself.

When I saw this funky looking animal I was scared to even take a picture of it. The Turken, as it's called, is supposed to be easier to tame, and since they can be considered food and help fertilize the soil and the plants, they are a convenient animal to keep around.

When our world comes to a point of survival of the fittest, will I just be a nuisance and a bother to those who really are capable of surviving?

Food Inc.

There are many movies out there that talk about our world's problems. But a movie that really hits the spot is Food Inc. 

A reason that this movie really hits hard, to me at least, is the fact that they use and abuse of the immigrants. Coming from a family of immigrants, I find it unnerving and irritating how they treat the workers. They think that because they are immigrants that they can treat them like lower than scum and make them work in conditions that are less than ideal. 

Another reason this movie is so controversial is the fact that they also abuse of the animals that are sent and made into burger patties and chicken nuggets. Feeding them things that they shouldn't even be eating, making them sick and potentially harming the people that eat them. I for one rarely eat meat and I definitely don't eat fast food. I don't even like to think of the things those poor animals go through, just so big corporations could make a big profit and sit happily at their desks without a care in the world.

Eaarth: Lightly, Carefully, Gracefully was an interesting read. At first I was overwhelmed with him talking about Kip Culler's farm. I wasn't sure where he was going with it and I was getting confused. But after reading more into it I got his message. I realized what his whole concept is. Instead of giving our money from profits to big corporations, and letting the big weights take all the jobs, we should create much more food and jobs by making smaller farms. His plan is to make us more united, not just the stranger that lives next door. If we share what we have, and help each other out, not only will we be better people, but we will be able to spend less money. Things would go back to the "old days"  where everyone knew everyone and everyone depended on everyone. It's an interesting concept, one that I am not sure I could live by, but if it could somehow help our planet, I would definitely try. 

Hot, Flat, And Crowded

After reading Hot, Flat, and Crowded. my mind was completely blown. There were so many things that I had no clue of. I was so unaware of the simplest things, it was almost as if I had been living under a rock. One of the things that first shocked me, was the extinction of the river dolphin. How could a species so close to our own have been completely swiped clean off the face of the earth. This is a species that I will never get to see in person, and much less tell those who come after me what this species even was. To think that a mammal, very close to the homo sapiens species, has become extinct is almost as to think, are we next? And if we aren't next, how much time do we have left, and is it even possible to stop it?

Something that I had been aware of was the ever increasing gas prices. Yet I was completely oblivious as to why the prices kept going up and why everyone was so furious. Not only is it affecting our everyday life, but it is affecting everything around us. And the main reason why we as a country are now doing so poorly is because of our dependency on oil. Think, almost everything we use runs on oil, meaning everything we do consumes oil, and increases our need for oil. That in turn increases our demand from foreign countries who actually produce oil, and their ability to make us pay for it. A big eye opener for me was that theory that our addiction to oil was paying for both sides of the war. Not only do we pay our troops and supply them with guns and ammunition, but we are also paying for our opposing country's guns and ammunition. We end up giving them so much money to provide us with oil, that we are giving them a much better opportunity to be armed and ready to fight us. It almost seems like we are paying to lose a battle.

First Field Trip

Today was the scheduled field trip to Corkscrew Sanctuary. 
However, I missed it because of a misunderstanding on my part. I did some research and the place looks simply wonderful. I didn't get to actually go and experience it for myself, even though I would have liked to. In my research I found that it is somewhat similar to Wekiva Springs Park in Wekiva Springs, Fl. 
Of course at since Wekiva Springs is farther up north and the climate is a little different, I'm sure that the plant and animal wildlife would be different.



A quote from the manager of Wekiva Springs: 
"Wekiwa is a full service state park with something for everyone, hike along a portion of more than 13 miles of trails and then cool off in the refreshing 72 degree spring. The Wekiva River is one of two recognized National Wild & Scenic Rivers in Florida. Come early to catch a glimpse of some of the exciting wildlife around the park including deer, turkey, fox squirrels, shorebirds and even Florida Black Bear." Warren Poplin
When I visited Wekiva Springs I went on one of the paths and saw many scary, yet beautiful animals and amazing plants. 


 During my research of Corkscrew Sanctuary I came upon some species that are at risk. Included in these are  American Alligator (federally listed as threatened), Wood Stork, Bald Eagle, Roseate Spoonbill, Limpkin, Florida Black Bear and Florida Panther, the Ghost Orchid and various native orchids and bromeliads. 

Introduction

First day of Honors Colloquium Class. At first I wasn't too sure what to expect. But as the class went on I started to realize that it wouldn't be so bad. Seems as though I will be learning a lot about myself and the environment. 


I read the assigned homework. I found it interesting, since this semester I am taking an Ethics course. So far in my ethics class we have only started talking about the difference between morality and ethics. So reading this excerpt was an interesting addition to what I had been learning so far.


The Land Ethic, by Aldo Leopold


"Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land."- Leopold


Funny how he considers conservation harmony between men and land. I mean land has always been the man's tool for survival. Without the land man would not have food to eat, or materials to build shelter, and as time and technology advances, without the land we would not have what we now consider basics, paper, oil, and even gum. Yet, currently we are not living in harmony with the land. Better yet, this can be compared to the time of slavery, where we the people are the proud owners, and the land is the overworked, underpaid slave. We exploit it for all its good, yet we pay it back so poorly, and more often than not we don't pay it back at all.


So I dare ask myself, if we were able to overcome our own issue of slavery, how long will it be until we set the land free?