Journal #19 & 20

First place Presidential Address.

Journal #18

I didn’t find colloquium to be a difficult course, but it did change my outlook on some key issues.  I had never even heard of the global over-fishing problem.  This alone is a huge issue that needs to be on the front pages of newspapers and all media sources to get the public aware of the problem.  I personally have changed my own habits by not consuming any fish that isn’t sustainably farmed or caught. 

Before colloquium, I was part of the crowed that thought man-made global warming was a hoax to profit companies like GE and other manufactures of “green” products, and a way to force unpopular legislation.  Now after seen some of the scientific facts I have changed my tune.  My opinions still differ somewhat from what the colloquial curriculum teaches.  Instead of climate change being the main reason for a phasing out of fossil fuels, we should do it to be energy self- reliant.  By using the economy as the main beneficiary of switching to renewable energy, most of the current opposition would have to agree or be in obvious support of big oil. 

It is always important to have an open mind in order to accept new ideas, but it is just as important to be critical of the new ideas.  I think that if most students weigh the information presented to them, they will still be able to obtain a lot of new knowledge from this class.

               

Journal #16

The downtown field trip was hands down, the best school related, off-campus function that I have ever participated in.  I’m new to Fort Myers, moving here last January, and have only driven through the downtown riverside district.  I thought there was a lot to see in the little store fronts.  Being from Florida, I know that there is little history here, besides local Indian tribe mounds and so forth.  The lack of history makes it kind of difficult to be a history buff in Florida, compared to the historically rich North East, or Wild West.  Even with the lack of history in most Floridian destinations, Ft. Myers had a modest amount of information of the founding of the city as a military outpost and later as a cattle port during the civil war. 

                The field trip would have been fun just as a scavenger hunt, but it was made even better by the competition introduced by extra credit giving to the winners.  As a competitive person, this aspect made the field trip exciting.  Overall the downtown field trip was a great time and the perfect end to colloquium.  Much better than a trip the local recycling plant could ever be.

Journal #14

I had a few interesting experiences getting my volunteer hours finished during the past month.  I started off volunteering at Calusa Nature Center.  My first couple of days, I was instructed to walk the many trails encompassing the area and pick up trash. This was the most enjoyable time spent volunteering because I got to see all the different parts of the park.  There was a section of old Cyprus trees that rivaled the grandeur of the corkscrew sanctuary in size and abundance.  One day as I was walking the trails, I glanced down into a ditch and saw a baby alligator through the brush.  I stopped and watched it for a while and after taking a few steps, I saw another.  Thinking to myself that the mother must be near, I gave out an amateur baby alligator call to see if the mother would appear.  Sure enough, A few seconds after I gave the call, a huge nine-foot alligator with mud covering its head came into scene.  I was astounded that my call actually worked, but just to make sure, I continued down the path a ways and called out again. The giant alligator quickly made its way to my new position.  Still in disbelief, I returned to my original spot and let out one last call and again the mamma came to find where the call was coming from.  The trash walk at Calusa is where I felt I made the biggest amount of difference.  The last day I went there, I was placed with a group of teenagers who were all court ordered to complete community service.  After the day cleaning bird cages, smelly food prep areas, and attempting to mentor some of the troubled teens, I decided to finish out my hours at the campus “food forest”.  The work on campus was just as I imagined it would be—HOT, DIRTY, and BACKBREAKING.  The next day I knew I had earned those hours. After trying the different areas of volunteer work, I’m glad I’ll be finishing my remaining 30 hours at a local hospital—EASY DAY!