Entry #13
7/12/2011
University Colloquium is essentially an environmental education course that is a graduation requirement of Florida Gulf Coast University. It is the one course requirement in the world that is unique only to Florida Gulf Coast University. University Colloquium’s objective is to educate students on the southwest Florida environment, explore the concept of sustainability, develop an “ecological perspective”, and understand his or her sense of place in the world. Instructors use ecological readings, outdoor field trips, and in depth class discussions to reach those objectives. By the end of the course, students should gain a whole new understanding and respect towards the natural world around them. I feel this is what I’ve gained throughout the class term. However, I was a long way from reaching these objectives and even less enthusiastic about doing so at the beginning of my University Colloquium experience. I thought of this course as a pointless ordeal instead of a valuable experience; as a result, I was very reluctant in taking University Colloquium and hoped it would be dismissed as a graduation requirement before the summer started. With time, my perspective definitely changed for the better as I started to absorb all the readings, field trips, etc. The field trips were by far the single most influential factor because they really “opened my eyes” to the Florida I’ve been living in for about twenty years.
I didn’t think this class would impact me in the matter it did simply because the environment and sustainability were the last things on my mind. I’m a twenty-two year old junior at Florida Gulf Coast University and I’m from Orlando. For most of the summer I’m interning for Sherwin-Williams and working on a marketing project. This internship is essentially a thirty hour a week job for me and keeps me busy enough. Additionally, I get extra work from Florida Gulf Coast University because this internship is registered as a class. Furthermore, I’m trying to obtain minors in both advertising and management, but simultaneously focusing on a major in marketing. I’m at the point in my life that if I saw another classroom it would be too soon. I simply want my independence and to rely on myself for my general wellbeing. Also, like most kids my age, I want to make money; therefore, I’m basically waiting to graduate so I can hopefully get a decent job. However, University Colloquium brought me out of my own little materialistic world and revealed more pressing matters than my living quarters. This class eased me into topics such as sustainability, world hunger, biodiversity, and much more. Including reading literature about the impact of industrialization on Florida and how the state evolved into what it resembles today. I learned countless of things throughout my journey in this class.
As I mentioned before, the field trips were by far the single most influential factor because they really “opened my eyes” to the Florida I’ve been living in for about twenty years. I didn’t realize that all these beautiful places where in my backyard or maybe I did but took them for granted. All the field trips were great, but there was one that stood out from the rest. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary had this rustic pioneer vibe and seemed like a place you could literally lose yourself in, it’s so big. There was plenty of wildlife and so many different types of vegetation to see that the whole area seemed alien to me. Moreover, that particular field trip tied in extremely well with a certain piece of literature I read recently. My overall experience at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary brought every vivid detail in A Land Remembered to life. Everything, from the moon vines to the alligators, reminded me of that field trip and made the novel more relatable. The novel itself is centered around three fictional generations of McIveys and the evolution of each generation as Florida becomes a more industrialized state. Regardless of the fictitious storyline, the book is filled with historical content and Floridian foliage. Nonetheless, A Land Remembered was written so well you can’t help but to fall in love with the characters and mourn the passing of one of them as if they were real. Honestly, I didn’t start reading the book in till about two days before the paper was due and I wasn’t planning on reading the whole thing; yet, as soon I finished chapter two I knew I wouldn’t be able to put this book down. It simply transported me to a different world and I truly think this book should be a mandatory read for every University Colloquium course.
I didn’t have an ecological perspective or “sense of place” before I took this class and was blissfully ignorant about those topics for some time. I actually have opinions on both these ideas now. My perspective on ecology derives from what I’ve learned about sustainability and biodiversity, but also from the consequences of not utilizing these crucial ideas. Sustainability is “the cultivation, integration, and application of knowledge about Earth systems gained especially from the holistic and historical sciences (such as geology, ecology, climatology, oceanography) coordinated with knowledge about human interrelationships gained from the social sciences and humanities, in order to evaluate, mitigate, and minimize the consequences, regionally and worldwide, of human impacts on planetary systems and on societies across the globe and into the future – that is, in order that humans can be knowledgeable Earth stewards” (Kieffer 432). It seems to me that without sustainability we will exhaust our natural resources and keep damaging the planet beyond the point of redemption. This is why it’s vital that we attempt simple sustainable practices such as recycling, carpooling, etc. that anyone and everyone can attempt. Moreover, biodiversity goes in hand with sustainability because it can be used as a metric to calculate the approximate health of an ecosystem. Biodiversity is “the existence of a wide variety of plant and animal species in their natural environments, which is the aim of conservationists concerned about the indiscriminate destruction of rainforests and other habitats” (“biodiversity”). Not putting all our eggs in one basket is basically the whole concept behind biodiversity and that variety is our friend not foe. “Variety doesn’t hinder growth because it actually provides less vulnerability to both natural and manmade predicaments. Predicaments such as the overfishing that is devastating millions of non-commercial fisherman, the extinction of various species of food, the growing market prices of common foods, etc.” (Tellez 1). If I could only pick two concepts to remember from my entire class journey I think the choice would be obvious.
The only things that University Colloquium didn’t provide me were the skills needed to complete my ecological service learning. I completed my service learning at an Eco-Spirituality center called Happehatchee and its run by Ellen Peterson. My tasks ranged from planting trees to cutting bamboo in order to create pathways. My most gratifying experience by far was working on the gazebo they’re building for yoga, tai-chi, and other outdoor recreational activities. The gazebo is the biggest one I’ve ever seen and it is surrounded by beautiful trees. I’ve gained an appreciation and love for working outdoors with my bare hands. I’m one of those guys that would rather pay to get my oil changed rather than do it myself; still, the tranquilizing foliage made working outside truly relaxing and a great overall experience. I am honest to god thankful for everything University Colloquium provided me as a student and human being.
Work Cited
"biodiversity." Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 09 Jul. 2011. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/biodiversity>.
Kieffer, S.W., Barton, P., Palmer, A.R., Reitan, P.H., & Zen, E. 2003. Megascale events: Natural disasters and human behavior. Geol. Soc. America Abstracts with programs: 432
Tellez, Cesar. The Decline of Biodiversity. Print
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