Final Impressions

FINAL ENTRY

I can not believe the semester is already over! I have to say I REALLY enjoy this class. I was very surprised that I liked it as much as I did. There was a lot of work that had to be turned in but if you kept up with it then it was good. The wiki group project was fun as well because I got to work closely with students in my class.

Now I can relate to every other student that told me you are going to come out of Colloquium loving it.Before I took the course I did not understand why but now I do. I have a better out look on life and more aware of what is happening to our planet. Now I am more cautious about what I buy and if I will be able to recycle it. Also, I am more involved in our community and I have continued to do community service hours as well.

I really enjoyed everything and had a great time!!! Thank you Professor Davis :)

Sense of Place

INTERVIEW



I interviewed my grandfather that lives in Miami where I am from. My grandfather was born in Havana, Cuba and lived there till he was in his early 40's. Him and his family did not move to Miami until 1960. He was explaining to me that if I had to switch from where I live today and move to Cuba and live were he was raised, he said, "I would not survive." Then I began to wonder why and I can totally understand why I would have a hard time. In the past 50 years our world has changed drastically.

My grandfather did not grow up with cell phones, computers, air conditioning and the list goes on. He  began working on the sugar cane field at the age of 10. Education was not the biggest priority in Cuba at his age and that is why he worked on the fields. This was the only way he could get money. His parents did not give him a weekly allowance, he had to earn his money. He would walk everywhere and if it was far he would ride bike. He told me that every childhood memory he has is him being outside either working in the sugar cane field or just being outside with friends and family.

My grandfather says that he misses a lot living in Cuba and if it wasn't for Castro he would have never left.He told me that he thinks its sad when the family gets together and his great grandchildren come over all they do is either sit in front of the TV or just sit in a room playing with their gameboys. I remember when we were little when we went to my grandfathers house all 10 of his grandchildren would rush in say hi to him and go straight to the backyard and we would not come in until the sun went down. He does not understand how society has changed so much on how children are growing up. My grandfathers sense of place is sitting in his front porch with his neighbors playing domino's.

He think that they are missing a big part of growing up by not experiencing the outdoors. I began to talk to him about sustainability and I had to explain to him the exact meaning of sustainability. I also explained to him about this course and what I have been learning and he loves it. Now every since the interview he has called me every week asking me what we did today in Colloquium.

-photo was taken from

www.google.com/images

Downtown Fort Myers

DownTown Fort Myers

At the beginning of our field trip to downtown Fort Myers we stopped at a cemetery that many years ago was a popular place to get buried at. This is where Edgar Watson was buried. He was murdered and was part of a very important unsolved mystery. Edgar Watson was born November 11, 1855 and died Oct 24, 1910. We visited the cemetery on October 26, 2010 two days after his death 100 years earlier. I thought that was very cool!

After leaving the cemetery was headed to downtown Fort Myers. Since this is my first semester at FGCU, I was excited to see downtown Fort Myers because I hadn't been there yet. On our way we passed by two very important houses which I think were Henry Ford and and Thomas Edison and they were next door neighbors. I had no idea that they lived in Fort Myers let alone were best friends.

This was the first thing we see when we all got off the bus. It is a memorial for Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Samuel Firestone. They all created products that benefited each other. For example, Edison was always trying to find new products to create rubber in making tires, Ford made cars, and Firestone made tires and would use the rubber that Edison was creating to make his tires. This was definitely the most interesting and exciting thing I learned on this field trip. I thought it was so cool that we were walking on the same floor these three very important people in our history once walked on.

The Calusa Hatchet River was used for transportation up and down the rivers. Page Air Field was used for training camps for the pilots. Also Buckingham Air Field was used during World War II to train bombers. Many people began coming to Florida also because tarpon fishing was very popular and Southwest Florida was known to have the best tarpon fishing.

I fell in love with the downtown area. I love how they have created the area to look like old times and not so commercialized. The roads are made out of bricks and the buildings still have the old look to them. Also some buildings have not been reconstructed since the first time they were built. I love the feeling it gives downtown. I definitely want to go back and continue to learn more about everything. I had no idea Fort Myers had such a history behind it.

-all the pictures were taken by me-

ECHO

"You can give a man a fish, and feed him for the day,

Teach a man to fish, and feed him for a lifetime"

(quote from the film we saw)



The ECHO field trip was very enlightening because I feel passionate about what our tour guide was speaking about. She was speaking about helping others and how spreading the concern and love for helping others is crucial to the improvement of our planet as a whole. ECHO stands for Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization. This is a Christian non-for profit organization where the mission is to bring glory to good by using science and technology to help the poor. ECHO has replica land fields to learn how to grow the best for each particular environment, including 6 different climate settings.ECHO has helped over 180 countries around the world.

The Neem Tree was the most interesting plant we saw because it can be used for almost anything. It is used to cure funguses, lice, the bark can be used as a tooth brush, or it can be soaked in water and used as a pest repellent on plants.




My mom is very into growing her own plants and having a garden. Every morning she goes outside to water her plants and keep her garden well kept. I am not as into gardening as she is but  I have noticed that when I eat vegetables from her garden it is so much more fresh then what we can get at the supermarket. This makes me want to be more into gardening but my excuse is always that I do not have enough time. But, these kinds of things I need to start making time for. It is something I need to work on.

Overall this field trip was a good experience and as the semester continues I realize how important this class. It teaches us so much about things we can do to help our living conditions and how at the same time we are helping our earth. We need to do as much as we can to preserve it for the people who are going to be here after us.

-photos taken by me-

Mantanza Pass Preserve & 20/20

                                                      MANTANZA PRESERVE



 brochure



 Showing up at the Fort Myers Beach Cottage I was in shock at how old it looked. I was under the impression that it was old and has withstood a lot of experience and history, but going inside reassured this feeling. Inside there were pictures from when this cottage was the only thing on the beach and went directly from cottage to sand to ocean. Now there are roads and another strip of stores blocking this ancient beauty from showing. A woman Josephine Hughes spoke about the history of the cottage and how so much in our society has changed. She also explained something I thought was an interesting way to look at our life. She said that every other species has learned to live with humans; we are the only species that has not learned to live among others.

The walk on the boardwalk was very interesting because we were literally walking in between mangroves and it was also very peaceful. The boardwalk is also made out of all recycled products which I thought was awesome. It shows that people are taking into consideration of reusing their trash because you can always find a use for something.          

 "Someone's trash is another persons treasure"

At one point while we were walking through the boardwalk we came across this little house that gave us a beautiful view of the bay and while we were there we saw two dolphins swim by. I thought that was amazing because I love dolphins and those are animals you do not see everyday. That was a great moment!

photo taken from
www.google.com/images

This is the first time I hear about the 20/20 program and I think this is a great idea! I think we need more awareness and to get the word out to other people about what is happening in our environment and things to improve it. This website has daily news about what is going on and also has a calender of each month and the events or projects that are happening as well. After looking at this website I am very interested in one day in the near future I would like to visit one of these preserves.

How do you feel about using tax dollars for land preservation?

I agree with using tax dollars to preserve our land because I think that if we left it up to private businesses they would not have the proper funding to preserve the land. It is up to us as citizens and the citizens money to use their money wisely and preserve the other species on our planet. (interviewed an FGCU student)

Freshwater Area

                                                 CORKSCREW SWAMP



Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

  Corkscrew swamp was the first field trip my colloquium class took this semester. I was nervous about going on this field trip because I did not know what to expect and I had heard that in colloquium we would take swamp walks and I was not looking forward to walking through a swamp. As we began our field trip down the boardwalk I would have never imagined that their was so much history behind the land that corkscrew is preserving.  


Back in the 1900's corkscrew was a very popular location where hunters would come to shot plume birds that were very popular here in south Florida. This became such a problem that Audborn began a campaign and this campaign ended this horrid  hunting disaster for these birds.


Plume Bird

 The Cypress Logging is another important tree that is preserved in Corkscrew  Swamp Sanctuary. Back in the 1950's a man named Joe Brown wrote an article to the Miami Herald informing them about the limitation of the old-growth cypress. This article brought alot of attention to this issue about saving the old-growth cypress forest and now Corkscrew protects about 700 acres of cypress forest. Today Corkscrew is the largest preserve in the nation. They have recorded that some cypress tress are up to 700 years old.

Cypress Forest

This is just some history background that I learned about while on the field trip at Corkscrew Swamp. Their was also the extensive drainage and diversion of water in the 1960's which is still a problem today. How our world is over populating so fast and we are damaging animals natural habitats and causing them to become endangered. Another issue that caught my attention was the wet and dry season in South Florida. The wet season in South Florida is normally May through October and a good percentage of our rain falls during those months. The average rain that Corkscrew gets during those months is 46". The rain is always good for the swamp because this is when the insect population explodes and the swamp over flows. On the other hand the dry season is very dangerous for the swamp. The swamp level becomes very low and animals begin to die because they get stuck in the ponds with no water flow so then they are not able to get out. This is a continues cycle that happens all year around.


The boardwalk is home to many habitats for example; pine flatwoods, wet prairie, pond cypress, bald cypress, and lettuce lake. During the field trip we had time to just stop and take in everything we were seeing and the sounds we could hear. The night before our field trip it had rained so the swamp was very wet and the water level was high as well. During this time of reflexion I hear a noise of a pig snorting. At least I could have sworn it was a pig in the swamp. Then I learned that it was not a pig but it is called a pig frog.I found this so interesting because the noise it makes is exactly like a pig. I wish I would have been able to see the frog but we could not find it.

Pig Frog

The living machine to me was the most interesting thing at the Corkscrew Swamp. The living machine is a form of sustainability that the swamp uses. When we first arrived to the boardwalk several students used the bathroom and when we came out Adam our leader told us that we just invested into the living machine. I did not understand at first what he meant by that but then he explained it to us. The living machine uses water, sunlight, bacteria, plants and animals to treat and clean the water to make it sustainable to recycle into the toilets. I did not know something like that could happen but I found it very interesting. The process is much more complex that how I explained it but that is the way I understand it.

The process of the living machine

Overall I enjoyed this field trip and I think it was a great start to this semester and I am excited to see the other field trips we will be taking this semester!

all photes were taken from www.google.com/images

Sense of Place

                                                              YOUR NEIGBORHOOD

" You can't know who you are until you know where you are" -Wendell Berry

In today's world you never hear of someone going on a nature walk, just wanting to sit outside on a beatufil day, or taking a pinic. At least the people I surround myself with say comments along those lines. In today's world everyone is into who has the nicest car, playing with video games, or just doing anything that does not relate to being outside because it is either too hot or too cold. People are not thankful for the beatiful planet we live on and do not advantage of it.




This picture was taken from our sail boat... My family and I were
anchored near a private beach in the Virgin Islands

Where I feel most at home is out in the ocean on my family's sail boat. The boat is kept in Puerto Rico where we travel to several times a year. Being on the ocean and just sailing is the only time I have to clear my mind and think. This is the only place that I can just let go and relax. I feel like one with the ocean, knowing that we are moving with just the power of the wind. 


I think being out on the ocean makes me feel at home because all my childhood memories that I think of are of our family vacations to the beach. Ever since I could remember my family and I were at the beach or on the boat. Just knowing the ocean is so huge and so many different animals and living things live in it makes it incredible to think about. Being on the ocean is so relaxing to me because I am able to get away from all the stress and worries I have. I am with my family spending time with everyone and not having to worry about leaving to go do something or going to work. We can all just be together and that means a lot to me because my family is my rock. I love being out on the ocean so much because it is a place were  my family has always shared time together.

Blue Chip is the name of our boat



 

 I live in an apartment community of college students. Our complex is built near FGCU campus and it has 12 apartment buildings each with 3 floors. We do not have much grass or trees around our area but there are little areas behind the building were I have seen girls sitting and just catching up with their friends.  Our complex does recycle our trash and I always see signs up to remind the students to recycle and to turn of the lights when we are not in our rooms.

A picture of my building from the back and you can see in the picture
the grass where I have seen girls talking laying on the grass

I think our complex as a whole could do more for our enviroment and become more green. I also think my complex could do more because FGCU just bought the complex I live in and FGCU is very green. I know changes take time and I think with time West Lake Village will become just as green as FGCU. For example, I think they could put around our complex the trash compressors that FGCU has all around their complex. Also the complex could plan a once a month trash pick up and that would be another way for people to met each other as well. I think things will be changing around my complex very soon and I hope so as well.



The view from my pinic table along side the lake



Since I can not always be on my sail boat I have another place on campus that actually makes me feel like a sense of place. There are a few pinic tables along side the lake in front of the library and when I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed this is where I like to sit and just think. I like this spot on campus because back at home I live on a cana and we have a good amount of land so when I used to live at home I would go out there just to look at the water and just have alone time. This is why I think I like this lake view on campus.

Also, I like this little spot because I see wildlife. Once I was sitting at the table and when I looked up I saw two turtles catching some sun on the wooden beds students have made for the animals. This reminds me so much of my spot back at home becuase on our canal I would see all kinds of wildlife. For example, ducks, snakes swiminng through the water, manatees on very rare occasions and the list goes on. Being at this spot just makes me realize how beautiful our environment really is and how FGCU is really making a differnce. 

Ecological Footprint

                                                              FOOTPRINT

Picture was taken from http://www.google.com/ images footprint

This quiz makes me feel very guilty of everything I do on a daily basis. The average person is suppose to use 4.5 acres and my score was 6.1. So I am over the average person which means I need to adjust my habits. My highest consumption is my food. I do no buy anything organic and I think I have to research more and begin to eat better. I know that my mom is always concerned with the electricity that we use in the house and always trying to find a way to save as much as possible. So at home I can not say that I save as much as possible because it really is my mom that does it. Everyone in my family can always improve there behaviors. I did not know that food was such a big part of our daily consumption and would be such a big part. All I know about organic food is that it is more expensive and since I am a poor college student at Publix I always buy the cheapest things I can find. Now, I am realizing that this is not the best thing for me. I should be more considerate of what I am putting in my body. This is going to be the first change that I make.

 Fuel usage- I do use my car everyday and several times a day. I go to school Monday- Thursday and when I have more then an hour break in between classes I go back to my apartment and then drive back to school. Some times I drive to and from school twice a day. I also go to the gym Monday-Friday which means that is another trip that I do using my car. I put gas in my car at least once a week. There are definitely some changes that I can make with my fuel usage. I live about two miles from campus so I could buy a bike and when the temperature goes down ride a bike to class. Also instead of going back to my apartment in between classes I could just stay on campus. Lastly, instead of making two different trips from school then the gym I could go straight from campus to the gym and cut out one drive daily.

Picture was taken http://www.google.com/ images cartoon car

Food intake- I do watch what I eat so I eat 5 small meals at day. After this quiz that I have taken I am going to begin and starting buying organic food.

Picture was taken http://www.google.com/ images food

Water use- I drink about 4 liters of water everyday and I do drink out of plastic containers. I do not throw away my bottle of water every time I finish drinking it because I refill them as much as possible. I do always recycle my plastic bottles.

Picture was taken http://www.google.com/ images water

 Packaging- Everything that does come in a package I am always aware if I can recycle it. At my apartment I do recycle everything possible and I am also getting my roommates into the habit as well. If I am in a place that does not have a place to recycle I will keep the item and just recycle it when I can.

Picture was taken http://www.google.com/ images recycle

Field Trip- Campus and Trails

Taken from http://www.fgcu.edu/

                                                              Campus Trails                                                                     
I have noticed that this course has many field trips that gets us to be involed in our community and inform us about our environment. I like this much more then just sitting in a classroom reading from a book and the professor just telling us what we should do. The field trips let us get first hand experience of everything that is going on that we might not be aware of. Every week I am gettting more interested in this class and I never thought I would say or think that.

The first field trip we took was a walk around our campus. I did not know FGCU was such a green school. I love the fact that what connects the parking garages to the campus our boardwalks. Honestly, the walk from the garage to the buildings is such a peaceful walk. Ssometimes I just zone out and I forget that I am at school and I think I am walking through a park. On this field trip I learned that the reason FGCU built the boardwalks was so they would not have to cut down or damage the natural habitats that were living there. So instead of building into the grown they built over it. Another thing I love that FGCU does is that they have an ice plant that freezes water over night and during the day that ice melts and circulates around the campus and this is how FGCU provides A/C. I thought that was amazing. Just by doing things like this FGCU is saving thousands of dollars. If other universities did what FGCU does the world would be a better place.

                                              This is a picture of the Ice Plant at FGCU

                                              One of our boardwalks on campus
Last week my class went on a wet walk on campus and I had no idea what a "wet" walk meant. I knew that we would be getting dirty and very up close into nature but I did not know to what extent. I was in thigh high swamp water. I could not believe that I was doing this walk. Honestly, before I started this class I was not the most nature friendly person, but my habits have quickly changed since I have started talking colloquium. I LOVED the walk! It was intense with all the mud and walking literally through a swamp but in the end it was all worth it.

Picture was taken from http://www.google.com/ images swamp walk

This is LITERALLY what our class looked like during our swamp walk. Definitely the coolest thing I have done in a while.

Every week I look forward to coming to this class!

Incoming Reflection

FOUR SEASONS

This picture was taken from http://www.google.com/

This is my first semester at FGCU, when I got my class schedule and saw University Colloquium I had no idea what to expect. After I had read about the class I was hesitant, but since it is a requirement I had no choice but to take it. I really did not know what to expect from this class and why FGCU made Colloquium a requirement to graduate from the university.

Ever since I was young I always liked playing outside and getting dirty. As I got older that changed a little bit, I still like being outside and doing activities that involve being outdoors. I cannot really say I have much experience exploring the wilderness because I have never been the type to go camping, hiking, or on nature walks. I am more into sports, horseback riding, and atv runs. I also am aware of the harm we are doing to our planet. I don’t liter and I try to recycle as much as I can, but I know that I can do more for our planet.

My goal for this class is to go in with an open mind and experience everything we do in this class with a positive attitude. The things we will be learning in this class I will take with me for the rest of my life. I also want to get more involved with the wilderness and become more active in my community in trying to help as much as I can. One person can make a difference and maybe that one person can be me.




This is a pciture I took from an airplane
on my way to the Virgin Islands!
My favorite place I have been so far.

  If you really sit back and think about our planet is AMAZING! It has been around for 1,000 and 1,000 of years. How mountain ranges form on there own, or rivers are created, it is a spectacular thing. I truly am thankful everyday for this life we live.







This is a video I posted that I have found on youtube called Four Season. It is a short clip about the four seasons and the images it shows are amazing. It makes me realize how beautiful nature really is. We also need to do anything we can to help peserve our planet and keep it as beuaitful as it is for as long as possible. One person can make a differnce!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h80dsrqZ5LM