Sustainability*Blog 3

According to www.epa.gov, “the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 declared as its goal a national policy to ‘create and maintain conditions under which [humans] and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.’" To me, this means that sustainability is obviously very important in the world we live in today and should continue to be if we would still like to be alive in it.

Being an English major, I have read several novels and novellas that describe in detail the beauty of nature so it is impossible not to absolutely fall in love with it. Influences such as these encourage cohabitation with the forests, rivers, animals etc. in an underlying manner. Usually there aren’t people talking to me directly about ecosystems, but descriptive words painting a picture, causing awareness about what needs to be saved if it is endangered. As for my career, or future career I suppose, I hope to be outside for parts of my job. I hope to be in a ball park outside, covering baseball or football preferably. I don’t know if that counts or not—some of the elements are there.

To be honest, even though I do read often about nature, I don’t really give too much back in ways to maintain the natural resources around me. I pretty much take in the cool weather when we have it, listen to the palm fronds rustle as a breeze pushes them together, and stomp on the grass probably killing it when I play soccer. About all I do is recycle and that’s really only when I am home for short periods of time.

When I first looked at FGCU, I didn’t know it was such an environmentally oriented school. I just knew that they were starting a soccer team and wanted me to play for it. Since I have attended classes here, I definitely have seen the big push to be eco-friendly and “green.” I took Environmental Health my freshmen year and that class opened my eyes a bit to what was going on in the nature world. I believe Colloquium will further my education on sustainability and get me into a habit of thinking about how I can coexist with the environment around me.

Favorite Place on Campus*Blog 2

Exploring the campus has never been a favorite past time of mine. Until this semester, I pretty much drove to class and then drove home; however, because of new circumstances, this semester I spend much of my day at the library studying. Last week I found my favorite place on campus because I decided I didn’t need to use a computer. I sat in the courtyard in front of the library. The time was circa 3:30. I pulled out my books onto a silver table that still caught the light of the setting sun and took a moment to realize where I was.

Guys throw a football around on the library lawn, while other students study in the grass. Palm trees line the bank of the pond, with blue picnic tables to contrast the green leaves, also scatter with educated minds. On a good day, like the one last week, there is a breeze just strong enough to blow textbooks close, without being gust like. The pond, just beyond the balcony, contains fish, turtles and sometimes the occasional alligator. The scene is almost distracting because it is so awesome. For now, this is my favorite spot on campus. It is very mellow in a very contradicting way. People constantly walk in and out of the library and/or Starbucks, but once I put my headphones on I am in my own little world, relaxing as I attempt to increase my brain capacity.

Colloquium Expectations * Entry 1

Rumors about Colloquium travel through the school, most of the time giving the class a bad reputation. It is a class we are told as freshmen that we will eventually have to take in order to graduate. When I first questioned a classmate about Colloquium, I was told it is a lot of writing because it is labeled as a “Gordon Rule” class. I remember thinking, “Great—I’m not a big fan of writing.” Well, this was when I called myself a Finance major. The closer I came to taking this class, the more I heard it was not just writing, but the study of the environmental world around us. And, now that I am an English major with a minor in Journalism, the writing no longer scares or bothers me.

My expectation for learning in this class is to actually reconnect with the nature world. My early childhood was filled with camping trips, days spent in swimming pools and afternoons climbing in trees. I believe that when I started training hard core for soccer was probably when I stopped exploring the outdoors. Practices/games almost every day took the desire to be outside all the time away. I am looking forward to the campus tours and other field trips to catch up on what I have been missing. As terrible as it sounds, this class is going to force me to go back outside.

Also, southwest Florida is definitely a different part of the world. Originally I am from New Hampshire, and when I was almost two my family moved to Central Florida. The ecosystems in these two different places are very different from that of the Ft. Myers area. I have gone into the forests, climbed through gorges, and attempted to climb a mountain in upstate NH—there are no palm trees or alligators. Central Florida is definitely more similar to SW Florida; however, there are more nature preserves and less suburban cities in this area. I am interested in learning more about the region that I have occupied for the last few years.