Overall Class Experience

After eight weeks of class, I can officially say my time in University Colloquium is almost over. We have one more class left after the fourth of July where we will turn in our third essay and present our service learning projects. I was chosen to do the plant Mulberry. Overall, I was very happy that the university made us take this class because it helped me become a more well rounded person because I realize what the world is actually going through and not being naive about the entire situation. As an accounting major, I am used to technology, being in a suit, and working in a big building. I definitely do not help contribute to saving the environment because I am also using technology and using land for buildings. However, I am more inclined now to notice my behavior and realize that even though I am still going to be an accountant, there are other things I can do to help save the environment and be a better person to the world. 

Dr. Morris is an excellent teacher and I am very glad I decided to take his class this summer. Even though he is moving to Indiana, his lessons will stay in SW Florida because he believed in the things he said and was confident as he said them. He believes that the world is going into a dark place, but we as humans have the ability to change that and make this world a better place for every human, animal, and plant to live in. 

Plan B 4.0

Thursday June 20^th we had our Plan B 4.0 presentations and my assignment was to talk about soil and the budget in order to restore the environment back to 100%. With the soil, it talks about not destroying the soil and being able to farm on it in the safest way possible. In order for this to happen, we as a society must find new and creative ways to make this happen which we have and will continue to work on. For example, instead of grazing over the soil and planting the seeds that way, we have come up with a device that drills the seeds a food below ground level so wind and other things cannot destroy them. Also, with only drilling one particular area, we are not grazing over the soil and destroying all of the soil, instead we are impacting only little soil that will not affect the ground long term. These ways have really increased our way of living and we will continue to grow in our technology in order to make the world a better place.

In order to restore the environment back to its original form, we will need to spend money in order to do so. There are many areas that need improvement including farm, water, natural resources, and others. However, this process will not be cheap be cheap due to the fact that we have an enormous planet and so much of It has been impacted already in a negative way. After all the money was added up and decided to restore the planet, it would cost approximately 110 billion dollars to fully restore the earth. This may seem like a lot, however, it is worth it because we do not know whether or not the earth can last without this restoration. 

Downtown Fieldtrip

On Thursday June 27, 2013 our class went to downtown Fort Myers for our last field trip of the summer. The trip took twenty minutes, which to go downtown is not that far way. We first stopped at a food market outside which happens under the bridge every Thursday. There were all types of fruits, vegetables and different types of drinks. Although I would never buy anything from this place because they were a bit expensive. It was still interesting to walk around and see the different variety of things they had to sell. We next walked around most of downtown and explored the many different historic places that were still in preservation. We found out that the first port was created because the builders went past the original destination in Sarasota and arrived at Fort Myers. Thinking it was Sarasota they began to build the port by accident. The only thing that confuses me is, wouldn't the builders ask one person if they were in the right place or see one sign indicating it was not Sarasota and it was indeed Fort Myers, but I guess things were different back then.

We also learned of an old tree that got struck by lightning so many times that eventually an artist decided to change the ugly tree into a piece of art. He turned the tree into an eagle with amazing detail and was very impressive. I have never been good at art so seeing something like that was amazing. We also saw a large portrait with all the history of Fort Myers which was very interesting to learn about all the things that this city has gone through to get where they are today. I have been downtown before, but seeing it in a different view and understanding its history was an amazing experience. 

Beach Fieldtrip

On Thursday June 13, 2013, our class went to Lover’s Key State Park for a field trip. The trip took about 30 minutes each way which isn't too far away except for when growing up I only lived about eight minutes from the beach. However, it was still a good moment as we arrived to the beach early in the morning and seeing the sun shine bright and reflect off the water. Dr. Morris talked for 20 minutes about the area and how important mangroves are. The reason mangroves are so important is because they take in water that comes from the ocean so that the sea level does not increase over the area which is now being used as homes for families. One time the state of Florida tried cutting down these mangroves in order to plant new houses. When they did this, the water raised over the houses which damaged the houses and made it impossible to live in. After this test was conducted, they realized that the mangroves are an essential factor in maintaining the sea level in the southwest region of Florida.

After Dr. Morris finished talking, he gave us about ninety minutes to walk around and just enjoy the beach. Now I must confess, being on the east coast for my entire life, the water is much clearer and better than the water on the west coast. That being the case, it was still a wonderful moment to just sit on the beach on the sand and enjoy the wonderful water that is in front of us. After walking along the beach and enjoying the moment, we started back to the shuttle that would take us to the bus. Unfortunately we were missing one person, when Dr. Morris went looking for him and we all went back to the bus, that person was already next to the bus so he had to run back and find Morris in order for us to leave. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and I am glad I went. 

"A Land Remembered" and its Terrible Ending!!!!!!

I read this book in a span of ten days while only reading it five of those days. The reason I finished this book so fast was because it was very exciting and I could not put it down. Tobias and company were making money, buying land, and living together as one happy family. They brought in Skillet, Frog, and Bonzo to help with the cattle and they too became part of the family. Zech got married to a red-headed women named Glenda and they had a son named Solomon, or "Sol" for short. I was about 80% done with the book and was eager to find out how the author would close the book and leave everyone in happy spirits. Well when I got to the end, I was very angry at the way the book ended.

Everyone died!!!! The family began to split apart because everyone had tragic accidents and began to drop like flies. Bonzo died from an illness. Emma had a heart attack. Tobias was ill and then got hypothermia from trying to save his orange trees from the freezing weather. Skillet did not die but he moved out and went to live with his wife and kids (which is understandable but still very sad). Glenda died from a bull ramming her in the stomach with his horns. Frog also died from the bull but he was older and didn't have much time left anyways. Zech was devastated over Glenda and he ended up drowning (it was not suicide, however, I have my doubts). Sol was alone at 15 years old and ended up moving to the city to get away from the house and all the death that happened there. He ended up meeting a very nice girl named Bonnie and even though he loved her, they never got married because Zech told Sol in anger never to marry, because once you do and they die it is the worst feeling in the world. Right before they were about to get married, she died in a hurricane!!!!! I completely forgot about Tawanda dying while giving birth to her second child that Zech again was the father of. The book ended with Sol making a lot of poor decisions of selling the land that Tobias and Zech worked so hard for and having them build hotels and cities from and destroying the environment. Sol and Toby were not friends anymore until the very end when Sol apologized for all he had done. The book ended with Sol dying of old age and a lifetime of regrets over what he had done in his life. However, you can't put all the blame on him because he was alone at the age of 15 with no parents or family because everyone died in the worst possible ways!!! I did not want to read the last 30 pages of the book because I was so heartbroken over what had happened to the MacIveys that I just wanted the book to end!

Having said that, the first 350 pages were still very good and I enjoyed the book, even though everyone died I was still happy to read to the book because it was a very good book with lots of interesting things happening throughout Tobias, Zech, and Sol's lifetime.

ECHO Fieldtrip

Thursday, May 30th was the fourth day of class. The entire class (minus a few people) got on the bus and headed out for ECHO which is short for Educational Concerns for Human Organization. It took the bus about twenty minutes to get there (more or less, I don't remember) and my first reaction when we pulled up was annoyance because we got stuck behind two bicycles and couldn't go around them so we had to wait. We began our tour with an older man leading as we walked around the entire place, looking at all the different types of plants that were put in the ground and what types of food was growing out of them was very fascinating. There were different kinds of plants including corn, oranges, and many others that I could name. There was also a few goats that they kept for their milk and other reasons. Some of you might be wondering why they have a goat and not a cow, well this reason is very simple. Goats are much easier and cheaper to feed and take care of. They also have rabbits that they keep in elevated cages in the shade so they do not get hot.

Overall the trip to ECHO was very knowledgeable and I was glad I took the trip there. We will be going back again soon for our service learning project and I am ready to learn more and see what new surprises await me at ECHO.

A Land Remembered

"A Land Remembered" by Patrick D. Smith is a book about the MacIvey family and how they started out in the 1800s in Florida to being very successful and wealthy until the 1960s. I have only read 21 out of the 45 chapters, but so far, I have loved the book and look forward to more reading in the future. The book begins with Tobias MacIvey and his wife Emma and there son Zech moving from Georgia down to Florida. After living in the scrub for a while, their house was burnt down and forced them to move down south to a place called Kissimmee. Tobias began to work in the cattle industry which sold for 16 dollars a cow, which back then, was a lot of money. He hired three men, Skillet, Frog, and Bonzo. They began to get very wealthy and loved the work they were in. Skillet brought his wife to join the family which Emma enjoyed because there was finally another female in the house. Zech is my favorite character because ever since he was a little boy, he excelled at everything he did and never showed fear or cowardliness. He is currently seventeen and just met a girl that wasn't his mother for the first time in his life and is going crazy. The last chapter I read showed a couple of men hung the grandson and friend of Keith Tiger, a long time friend of Tobias. This made Tobias very mad and he punished the men then sent out for the Okeechobee to look for Keith Tiger and give his village the twelve cows that he had promised when he gave them to his grandson. This book is very addicting and cannot wait to read the second half of the book and see what adventures await the MacIvey clan.

Third Class

On Thursday May 23rd, Dr. Morris decided we stay in class and watch a video about how different types of the world are being effected but also contributing to the problems that are happening right now with our environment. The first place we looked at was Kansas, farmers are using less materials in order to not pollute the water as much and preserve. This is a good thing because when they lose less materials, they are saving money. However, not all people think that this is a good thing, especially the companies who produce the chemicals that the farmers use. If farmers are using less, then the chemical companies are not making as much profit which does not make them happy. One example that was discussed in class was a farmer trying to get a loan at the bank. When the bank realized that he does not use chemicals because he is an organic farmer, they declined him because one of their major contracts was a chemical company that instructed the bank to either make the farmers use their chemicals, or they are taking their money elsewhere for another bank to have. This can effect SW Florida by the food we eat has either more or less chemicals which could impact our health. Also if the farmers have to use more materials, then the water can become more polluted and can impact the water we drink greatly.

The other place we looked at was south Africa. In this situation, they had a low amount of water and did not know why. After some research they realized that the invasive trees that were planted there are taking up a lot of the water and making the river stay still instead of flowing smoothly. Once they cut the trees, the water flowed very smooth and they began to drink again. The effects on SW Florida would be that even though it is in south Africa, we in America still drink the water from there and if the the water is low, that limits are water supply.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Fieldtrip

Thursday May 16th, the second of nine classes we took a bus and visited the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. It was my first time going there and it was great to see all the wildlife and preservation that was taking place right before our very eyes. The class was split up into two groups, half going with Dr. Morris and the other half going with a teacher assistant. I chose to go with the teacher assistant and she was very knowledgeable over this subject and was a great instructor overall. We learned many things during the field trip about the different types of plants and the animals that live within these ecosystems. For example, there are three keys to different ecosystems and those include fire, water and elevation. The Cypress Dome has taller trees on the outside, and shorter trees on the inside. The reason this is because the trees are on a slope and when it rains, the water goes into the middle making it more damp then the outside of the Cypress which is generally dryer. Cats, bears, and other animals that live in this ecosystem will scratch trees in order to sharpen their claws so they can hunt. They will also mark their territory by peeing.

The entire trip took four hours and included over three miles of walking. However, the more we walked through the path, the more the ecosystems changed. We saw different animals including alligators, eagle, deer, and others. Each were in the different ecosystems that fit their lifestyle.

The land was preserved because one man stepped up when no one else would and realized that we continued to destroy the environment so that we could live in our buildings, then we would destroy everything that Florida represents and would completely change the culture of SW Florida forever.

First Day of Class

Thursday May 9th was the first day of summer classes which meant the first day of University Colloquium with Dr. Morris. The class was located in Ben Hill Griffin Hall, Room 109. At first glance, I assumed that this class would be about the environment and how to protect and preserve what is left on the planet. While I was correct is my assumption, I did not cover the entire class description. This class will also help students grow within themselves. Since this class is filled with students with all different types of majors and career paths, it makes it possible to ignore our studies for a second and focus on how to be a better person as a whole. I am looking forward to what this class has to offer and am willing to put in the effort it will take in order to better myself as a whole.

After discussing the learning objectives and going through the syllabus, we spent the rest of the class on a field trip where we visited the food forest on campus. Being a transfer student and only being at FGCU for a year now, I have never heard of the food forest and what it was all about. It was very interesting that students took the time out of their day to come here and grow different types of plants that either produced food or did not. It definitely got me thinking that I could do more for the environment even if it is in a small way. Overall, I am glad to have visited the forest and plan to go back very soon.