# 20 Difficulty and High Points

There were both high points as well as things  I found difficult while taking Colloquium.  I felt that the high points in Colloquium, was when I actually realized I was making a big negative impact on the environment.  I am glad that I now know my impact and if myself and others do not change, then we will be in danger.  Our future will be in danger.  Our children and grandchildren will look at us and think how we could have done something so drastic.  It is shocking and disturbing at the same time.  It was hard to listen about how the little things are affecting all of the animals around us.   We are destroying the growth of animals.  We learned how our actions have brought many species to extinction.  This is hard to overcome, because most people won’t believe  this and will never believe it, because they don’t think they are that empowering.  But, we really are.  It is hard to understand that the majority of people do not believe that there is a problem, or refuse to believe that there is a problem.  They think that it won’t affect them, so they don’t care.  But, they have to realize that it will affect them.  It will affect everyone.  It is also hard to imagine that even if we did something now and stopped the use of all fossil fuels, it would take years and years for it to actually take into effect and to make an improvement because of the long lag of reaction.  I loved the colloquium class, but it was very disturbing to learn about some of the things we learned about. 

# 19 Colloquium Class Experience

The Colloquium class really helped me realize how I am affecting the environment in my everyday life.  I have been able to take a step back and think about my impact and how I need to change how I do certain things in my personal, academic, and future career.  I am now shutting off my lights more, as well as unplugging electric outlets when they are not in use.  I conserve water a lot more at home, especially when I wash the dishes.  I think about how much water I am actually wasting.  Instead of taking an hour to blow-dry my hair, I let it air-dry a lot more often.  It does take much longer, but I feel like it is helping.  Colloquium has also helped me with academics.  In class, when I used to take notes, I used to always use only one side of the lined paper.  Also, in my classes which allow me to use my computer during class, I use my computer to take notes instead of wasting paper.  I also took online classes for the first time when I transferred to Florida Gulf Coast University.  I feel that online classes do help with the environment with driving reasons this would save much use of students’ giving to class all the time.   For my job, I work about thirty minutes from my house.  That is at least one hour driving time a day, five days a week.  If I was able to work at a place near my house, in my position, then I would.  It is just hard right now, especially in my field.  I could move, but I love where I live.  So, right now I am just going to have to drive an hour a day for work. Hopefully one day it would change.  The way I think has changed since I have taken Colloquium, and I plan on educating everyone I know on the things I learned. 

#18 Human Impact

We make a great and harmful impact to our planet.  I feel that we are the only living things who bring destruction and create a negative impact to our planet.  All the trash we produce, the energy we use, the pollution we create is and has been causing damage for awhile now.  

I think that if we all act now, then we would be able to make necessary changes to fix or stop the ongoing environmental downfall.  This is something we all need to take consideration about.  It cannot be only some of us, because some is not enough.  We need to be educated on what is happening to our environment and learn how we can make a difference.  Even the smallest actions count.  We can recycle all of the time, and not use certain products carelessly.  We can’t keep thinking that we are just one person, so if I do something bad it is okay, because I am so small on this planet.  But, a lot of think the same way.  Also, we can’t think that we are only one person so small things we try to do like recycle or turn off the lights won’t matter because you are only one person.  We need to think that we are one person, but if I make a difference, then I know other people are also making a difference, so every little thing would count.   If we keep taken for granted the things we take for granted, such as oil, then things won’t change.  But, if we start to make a change and believe that we can fix our mess, then I think there is a chance to make necessary impact to help improve our environment and to stop us from going in a negative direction.

# 17 The Nature of the Everglades

The “Nature of the Everglades”, by Marjory Stoney Douglas, basically talks about what makes it the Everglades and everything non-living and living thing in it. It was a nice and easy read and made me think about when I went to the Everglades to see the Everglades and alligators one day a few summers ago.  She talks about the different seasons and what happens throughout each season and how each season helps the Everglades stay being Everglades.  She is absolutely correct.  When I went to the Everglades, it was summer time, and I went on an air-boat tour.  Ii saw many alligators, but had to stay on one of the lakes, because it was too dry to go deeper into the swamp land.  My mother and aunt went the year before, but they went a few months later.   They told me that the water was much higher and they were able to go deeper into the swamps and trees, and they were able to see a lot more alligators.  I can remember some of the trees and animals she talks about in the chapter, as well as all the water-life.  I would like to go back to the Everglades again on an air boat and actually pay more attention to the different trees and look beyond the lake area into the mangroves.  It is a pretty neat thing to think about.  It is a completely different atmosphere.  They are not just a bunch of swamps, but an area much more than that, and I am glad I live so close to them, to have the chance to visit them again.

# 16 Oil Reflections

There was a lot to learn from “Squeezing More Oil from the Ground” and the Crude Awakening DVD.  It really opened my eyes on how much oil we are actually using.  I agreed more with Crude Awakening because we are eventually going to run out of oil.  We need to find an alternative, because once we run out, we won’t have anything else.  I think the oil companies lie on how much oil we really have.  The article made it seem like there is a lot of oil out there and we can get to it from using different methods.  They say we can continue to get oil by steam injection, heat based processes, and injecting high pressure gases.  We can also improve on our technologies to improve how we get oil.  They said that difficult oil now will be easy oil in the future.  We have to come to reality though, that we will run out of oil.  Other companies are growing, such as China, and they are expanding their need for energy.  Their imports are increasing my 25%.  We need to do something about it. Only about 1/100 of people actually realize what is happening.  I know we cannot just stop using oil.  We need to find alternatives, while still finding new ways to get oil. Because, once we are out, we are out. There was a quote from the DVD. “If we can put a man on the moon in a decade, then we can stop the use of fossil fuels”.  I agree with this. I feel that we have the ability, we just need to be more aware and try a little harder.

#15 Dowtntown Field Trip

The Colloquium class trip to Downtown Fort Myers was one of the best field trips I have ever gone on.  We did a scavenger hunt throughout a series of streets.  At first I didn’t know what to expect, but once we received the scavenger hunt list, I knew it was going to be difficult. We were able to work in groups, and I felt that I was with a great group.  We got along and worked very well with each other on trying to find the different objects and locations we needed to find.  We had to find objects, which were located in different stores and restaurants, and statues with important information on past history.  This was probably the hardest part, because we didn’t know where we were really going, so we kind of kept going back and forth.  I felt some people probably thought we were crazy walking around in circles.  We also could not go into any of the restaurants and stores.  We were basically staring in the windows with people watching and wondering what we were actually doing there.  The funniest part was when we had to count the globes on the top of the ceiling in the Indigo hotel lobby.  One of my teammates was on the floor trying to count them all, because it was so difficult.  We kept getting different numbers, but we finally decided on one, and luckily it was the right one.  The best part was lunch.  We went to one of the pizza by the slice places and it was delicious.  It is one of my favorite places to go to get something to eat Downtown, so I’m glad we decided on there. My team did not win or even place, but it was a lot of fun and we were able to work together as a team.  I hope the Colloquium classes continue to do this so others get this experience. 

#14 Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium

Volunteering at the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium was a great experience and I am glad I picked it as my Service Learning hours for Colloquium. There were animals I was able to see that i have never seen before, such as some of the different types of birds, and a cobra snake.  It was also pretty neat to see the pigs, because there were a bunch of little piglets which seemed to just be born.  It was fun being able to walk through all the trails.  I picked up every piece of trash I saw, but it still didn’t seem like much.  They must keep that place kept up very well.  The walk was very relaxing, it gave me a chance to reflect a lot and pay attention more to my surroundings.  The Planetarium was also a very cool place to clean.  I had the chance to explore the back office and to see how everything works when they actually put shows on.  It looks like a little IMAX theatre.  Counting inventory was sort of annoying for me.  It took be able three hours just to count inventory in the gift shop.  The gift shop wasn’t that big, but there were a lot of small items, and I did not know the names of certain items, and that is what took the most time.  They had everything from books, stuffed animals, finger puppets, honey, and little toys.  Once I finished I felt so relieved.  It was a long day at the center, but very fulfilling.  I learned a lot, and once I left, my supervisor gave me a couple free passes to come back and enjoy it one day.  I plan on going again sometime soon.