Colloquium: An Eco-Friendly Education

My time in Colloquium has been a very enjoyable and educating experience. I was already an advocate of sustainable means and environmentally friendly living, but in this class I have learned more information and skills that have furthered my knowledge of these subjects and topics and how to educate others as well. It was also a class that had its challenges though, including lots of critical thinking. I think my colloquium class made me a better student though, halping me better my writing and thinking skills. In terms of my major, marine science, and my possible future plans I think this class has helped me immensely and helped me see the ideas and things I learn from a different, and better, perspective. Between the field trips, lectures and challenging but not overly difficult assignments, I believe my colloquium class was an enriching academic experience and I will have good things to say to future students.

The Untold History of a Special Florida City

                              

                 The Untold Stories videos were very informative and interesting. It was very fascinating to see the amount of history this area has and all that has happened here. A personal moment of elation came when they remarked how Monroe County had once encompassed most of southern Florida, including all of what is now Lee County, and that the first two cities in Monroe County were Key West and Fort Myers. This was a fun fact for me being that I was born in Key West and now live here in Fort Myers. Watching the growth of the area as it became more and more of a hub for visitors was exciting. It was very interesting to see how the area grew with the railroad, and then the construction of Tamiami Trail. Then once big names started to come to the area such as Edison and Ford this attracted more visitors. The most interesting changes came with the influence of baseball and World War 2. The war brought many military families into the area, and the sleepy small community was soon busting with military action, and soldiers and their families were constantly going to the locals for a place to stay. Baseball became even bigger after the war, as big teams like the Red Sox and the Twins began to use Fort Myers as their spring training area, and this brought in much more business and visitors as fans would flock to watch their teams. The opening of first Edison College and then Florida Gulf Coast University cemented the city and area as a big city that had everything the rest of the world had plus a little bit more of its own. It had a popular downtown area, major schools and colleges, professional sports, beaches and resorts, and a wonderful open and accepting culture and community. This rich history defines what Fort Myers is today, a meeting place of the past and present, young and old, where everything works in harmony.

Restoring Our Nature-Deficit And Our Attention Spans

The topic of Louv's article was personally touching to me. As a young boy I had many attention and hyperactivity problems, and they very often affected my education and learning capabilities.My mother, even though she was a nurse herself, never took me for a formal diagnosis because she did not want me to be put on all the drugs they begun prescribing kids my age. But as I grew and matured I also began spending more time in the outdoors. Growing up in the Keys it was inevitable that I would find my way to the ocean, and once I did I've never turned away from it. I believe spending as much time as I did outside, being physical and interactive, had a profound effect on my attention problems. To this day I am still affected by these issues, but my constant immersion in the outdoors around me keeps it all in check. I make sure I always get enough "nature" in my week. So I agree with all the theories brought up in Louv's article. I believe that "nature-deficit disorder" could be a term we begin hearing regularly. I believe that we must turn to nature therapy and outdoor education and activity to truly help children who are plagued with this condition. The studies that support this theory are becoming more and more numerous and I believe its only a matter of time until we begin prescribing "Nature's Ritalin."

The Educational Outdoors

I feel my place in this world has become a very important one. I have become someone who has raised my voice on numerous times for sustaining our planet and am a large advocate of outdoor education. I work as a trip leader in the university's Outdoor Pursuits program, where we plan and lead outdoor adventure trips for students to participate in. This job has opened up many opportunities for me to educate students in and about the outdoors on our various trips. In these instances I try to incorporate my ever-expanding knowledge of our world and what we can do to save it. Last Spring I attended a nationwide conference on sustainibilty and green alternatives known as Powershift, which was attended by roughly 9,000 students all interested in saving our planet. The vast knowledge and experiences I gained there I have in turn used to help educate my fellow students and inhabitants of this planet on how we may save our Mother. This I feel is one of the most important missions of my life.

Biodiversity and The Hope it Brings to Animals

In Jane Goodall's article she shares many touching stories, each illustrating the dedication, commitment and strength of human perseverance to help restore damaged environments and save many plant and animal species from extinction.  

            Horticulturist, Rene Haller, was able to return a dry wasteland into its original lush, self-sustaining, habitat for wildlife.  Paul Rokich, hauled grass seed every morning for fifteen years up the side of a bare mountain to help restore what once was a thick forest filled with life. The Hudson River has been cleaned up thanks to a tiny minnow- sized fish known as a short-nosed surgeon who almost faced extinction due to polluted habitat.  Chimpanzee habitats being restored thanks to villages agreeing to put aside 20 per cent of its land for preservation.  These are only a few examples of the stories Goodall shares to help empower and instill passion into those who read these motivational stories. 

          The story that touched me most was that of William Heinrich and the peregrine falcon named Beer Can. Several times a day Heinrich would climb up to one of the nesting ledges in BC’s chamber, carrying a dead bird. When BC flew over to accept the offering, Heinrich had to make eye contact with him while imitating the “eeeeeee-chip” falcon courtship call, then bow so that his head was level with the ledge. Then BC would mount Heinrich's head and make a deposit into the man's "copulation hat." This extreme dedication to help restore peregrine falcons in America was extremely heart-warming.