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.