High points in the Colloquium class would definitly have to be the field trips. I loved them all and got something invaluble from all of them. I really enjoyed being in the nature and learning about the environments in Florida. There seemed to be a feeling of hope in all of our field trips like the Corkscrew sanctuary and ECHO. I thought ECHO was one of the most beneficial times in my FGCU career just because it has inspired me to incorporate that into my future in some form or another. I also enjoyed the discussions in class I thought all of the students really enjoyed them and were really involved in all of them. Even though this was a mandatory class it seemed as though the students were totally involved and present at every class.
Some downsides to this class were... the amount of work is just a bit. Well it is a lot, maybe just because it was a 6 week course, but I thought that everything put together was a bit much. Maybe not have the group project, or have half the journals. Or possibly limit the papers to 750 words instead of 1500. It was the only thing that discouraged me about this class, or the thing that I really didn't want to be comitted to.
The last thing that I didn't really enjoy about this class or that was difficult was the negative outlook it had. I mean, if the world is really in this bad of shape then okay, but is there any good news? I could have used more about what we are doing to help these situations that our world is facing. Again it is probably because of the 6 week class and there isn't a lot of time to share multiple view points or talk about all information encompassing all of the topics. Honestly though I left the classroom most times feeling a bit depressed. I still got a lot out of everything, and just by feeling that it is easy to see that I was involved and cared about what we talked about in class. Overall it was a very interesting class that I feel I learned more in than any other class at FGCU. It will probably be the most beneficial class that I take while I am enrolled in FGCU.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Journal 17
This class has helped me so much in a way that will benefit my future and has given me more of an idea of what I wish to do in the future. I am an education major and my goal has always been to help teach people to lead good lives that show concern for others. Now I find that in helping the environment and educating about the environment we are indeed helping others and caring about others welfare. This has been a class that has given me a lot of reflection time and time to understand what God's purpose on this earth is for me. Although I cannot truly say what I will be doing when I am done with school, I know that I have been given a heart that cares for the environment and for people. In combining both of these it can be something that benefits people in ways more then just an average american classroom can do. This has just given me more of a passion and more drive to do what I want and to be successful in my profession, not by means of money but means of what others can get from me.
I still hope to teach in a third world country and to teach people how to live sustainable lives even in the conditions that may be rather difficult. Also to teach people to be concious that every one of their consumption decisions has some sort of impact on the environment is really important to me. I hope this will benefit not only my life but the lives of those around me.
I still hope to teach in a third world country and to teach people how to live sustainable lives even in the conditions that may be rather difficult. Also to teach people to be concious that every one of their consumption decisions has some sort of impact on the environment is really important to me. I hope this will benefit not only my life but the lives of those around me.
Journal 16
Some things that could help reduce my reliance on energy and help promote conservation are...
I am going to start with my car. I really do drive everywhere, and I rely on my car for so much, which I really don't always need to do. There are times that I can use public transportation. This year I will be in Coastal Village off campus. It would be very easy for me to just get in my car and drive to class, however there is a shuttle that I can take as well. I will most definitly be doing this.
Also, I have spent so much time watching television and using the computer. I have made a recent effort to do much less of this. One thing I will be doing is completely limiting my television watching to sporting events which sounds pretty funny but that is so much electricity that I will not be using.
I am going to start paying the extra price for the food without pesticides and chemicals at the grocery store. All of the talk in class about what is made out of corn and how this country is so set on this sugar and greese diet. I am going to be eating healthier and that is going to benefit me and the local producers.
It is tough because all of this is so individual in the scheme of things it really does not make a difference. However, it may affect others decisions to do the same and then all we can hope for is a chain reaction of sorts. This will help in my efforts of promoting conservation.
Also with conservation I will be spending more time doing service at places like ECHO. Here I can help benefit nature, people, and myself. I think that the essence of promoting is doing service that others can help with or see. If people see the hard work that others put in then maybe they will be compelled to do more.
Finally I hope when I am out of school that my job promotes in one way or another environmental sustainability. I hope that people can see the benefits of a healthy environment and what human activities are doing to cause the earth harm.
I am going to start with my car. I really do drive everywhere, and I rely on my car for so much, which I really don't always need to do. There are times that I can use public transportation. This year I will be in Coastal Village off campus. It would be very easy for me to just get in my car and drive to class, however there is a shuttle that I can take as well. I will most definitly be doing this.
Also, I have spent so much time watching television and using the computer. I have made a recent effort to do much less of this. One thing I will be doing is completely limiting my television watching to sporting events which sounds pretty funny but that is so much electricity that I will not be using.
I am going to start paying the extra price for the food without pesticides and chemicals at the grocery store. All of the talk in class about what is made out of corn and how this country is so set on this sugar and greese diet. I am going to be eating healthier and that is going to benefit me and the local producers.
It is tough because all of this is so individual in the scheme of things it really does not make a difference. However, it may affect others decisions to do the same and then all we can hope for is a chain reaction of sorts. This will help in my efforts of promoting conservation.
Also with conservation I will be spending more time doing service at places like ECHO. Here I can help benefit nature, people, and myself. I think that the essence of promoting is doing service that others can help with or see. If people see the hard work that others put in then maybe they will be compelled to do more.
Finally I hope when I am out of school that my job promotes in one way or another environmental sustainability. I hope that people can see the benefits of a healthy environment and what human activities are doing to cause the earth harm.
Journal 15
The video reflected the opposite viewpoint as the article. I was more on the side of the video considering the way that we burn through this "non renewable resource" then it makes sense that we would hit peak oil. Also, when it was predicted in the 70's that we would hit peak oil in 15 years, it happened. So why would predictions be so widely criticized now that the world may hit peak oil? It isn't a big surprise now that some of the lesser developed nations are beginning to develop their oil retraction abilities. Most of the time it is happening at the peoples expense of the country because developed nations are trying to find ways to get oil from other countries. It was really crazy to see how so many wars have been based out of oil trade problems or consumption problems. To see that Darfur was a problem stemming from oil and the difference in cultures was unbelievable. Also to see how the US has totally taken over the oil fields in the middle east and has had plans drawn around those oil fields from the beginning is pretty sickening.
This is why I wrote in the last article that I really didn't care about whether or not we were going to hit peak oil. I can let the people worry about that who can actually do something about it. I honestly have no control over whether or not we use more oil or are able to find more oil. All I want is this world, not country but world, to become less dependent on oil alltogether. I cannot stand what the guy said about our country and having a God that, " I don't care who you worship, Budda, Jesus Christ, Allah, you really worship oil". I can't stand it because it is so true in a sense. All of these religions call for living out your daily lives in a way that glorifies your God. Well every single day we are dependant on oil and everything we do usually comes down to some sort of oil product. Most people even rely more on these products then they do on a higher being. It really is something that just gets to me knowing that oil is this product that runs a country. Just like our country runs on materialism this world runs on consumption of oil in one way or another. There could be so much more peace in this world if we could learn to lead lives that weren't so focused on consuming. I hope we hit peak oil man. It's gonna suck. But I hope it happens. I sound like an idiot for saying that but it really just gets me that heated that I do not even want to think about it.
How great would it be if the United States could start the world off in using cleaner technologies. We always have to be the hero in every situation whether are motives are good or not we love getting in other peoples business. How about we use our incredible country full of innovative personalities and creative people and use it to lead the way in getting the world off the reliance of oil. Like we said in class, let's focus on using oil for the things that really need it. We have the ingenuity and the power to come up with ways to use green technology to make products that don't necessarily need oil use that green technology.
This is why I wrote in the last article that I really didn't care about whether or not we were going to hit peak oil. I can let the people worry about that who can actually do something about it. I honestly have no control over whether or not we use more oil or are able to find more oil. All I want is this world, not country but world, to become less dependent on oil alltogether. I cannot stand what the guy said about our country and having a God that, " I don't care who you worship, Budda, Jesus Christ, Allah, you really worship oil". I can't stand it because it is so true in a sense. All of these religions call for living out your daily lives in a way that glorifies your God. Well every single day we are dependant on oil and everything we do usually comes down to some sort of oil product. Most people even rely more on these products then they do on a higher being. It really is something that just gets to me knowing that oil is this product that runs a country. Just like our country runs on materialism this world runs on consumption of oil in one way or another. There could be so much more peace in this world if we could learn to lead lives that weren't so focused on consuming. I hope we hit peak oil man. It's gonna suck. But I hope it happens. I sound like an idiot for saying that but it really just gets me that heated that I do not even want to think about it.
How great would it be if the United States could start the world off in using cleaner technologies. We always have to be the hero in every situation whether are motives are good or not we love getting in other peoples business. How about we use our incredible country full of innovative personalities and creative people and use it to lead the way in getting the world off the reliance of oil. Like we said in class, let's focus on using oil for the things that really need it. We have the ingenuity and the power to come up with ways to use green technology to make products that don't necessarily need oil use that green technology.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Journal 14
Basically this article spoke about how we are not doing our best to get what we can out of the earth. We are not being efficient enough and we our thoughts of running out of oil, or hitting peak oil is well overexaggerated. In reading this article it didn't make me any more pleased with the situation that we are currently in involving our crude oil. This was supposed to make people feel better that developing new technologies would allow us to tap into resources that we never really understood existed before.
This still doesn't help our reliance on crude oil or say that we are looking at reducing our use of it in the near or far future. In fact, we are just looking at spending more and using more in the future. So I guess I should be at ease knowing that we should not run out of oil by the end of the 21st century. Well that has never really been what I have worried about. How we use it and the ammount we use has always been what has bothered me so this doesn't put me to ease whatsoever. This is just worse, knowing that we can burn through more oil until the end of the 21st century, that is if there is still a humanity to burn through it!
This still doesn't help our reliance on crude oil or say that we are looking at reducing our use of it in the near or far future. In fact, we are just looking at spending more and using more in the future. So I guess I should be at ease knowing that we should not run out of oil by the end of the 21st century. Well that has never really been what I have worried about. How we use it and the ammount we use has always been what has bothered me so this doesn't put me to ease whatsoever. This is just worse, knowing that we can burn through more oil until the end of the 21st century, that is if there is still a humanity to burn through it!
Journal 13
There is so much to reflect upon the trip to ECHO it was just such an overwhelming trip in a way for me. I was able to see sustainability in a whole different light. Not just one that talks about limiting cars emissions and getting sun panels for a roof. This was sustainability in the purest and cleanest sense. Using nature to keep a natural cycle. I thought it was really neat how they used the ducks to send "food" to the tilapia pond. I actually have had so many experiences that related to this field trip it brought back a lot of memories and stimulated a lot of new ideas. I have traveled to places such as Belize, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Uganda all on service trips and I have seen environments such as these. In ALL of these places they could have used many of the techniques and animal and plant life. In Uganda I saw conditions that were very dry but also had the ability to grow in the winter months. Also, with the dry conditions they showed what was possible to do using carpets and tires which was unbelievable. In Belize, Uganda, and Haiti I was in classrooms just like the one they had set up at ECHO. All of these places could have used the "Miracle Plant" with many of the children suffering from malnutrition. Also, there was a plant that could help rid people of Worms and this was also a huge problem in all of these countries. In the Dominican Republic I witnessed an entire village living off the pure scrappings of a dump from the main city of Santiago. Some people used the items in the dump to eat, others used them to sell. Either way, I could see that the seeds ECHO has as extremely beneficial to a place like that. They could continue to sell the items from the dump but they would have good healthy plant life to eat.
Clean water was a huge problem in all of these places as well. In Haiti people would get water from a river that ran up the mountains and into the ocean. This river was used for bathing purposes and for waste. People swam in and drank this water. There is a huge problem with children getting diseases that cause extreme diarreah and exauhstion. The water saving techniques from rain and clean water from the "miracle plant" and also cleaning from the plastic bottles was just amazing to see and could be implemented in the mountain villages that I visited.
Finally, being at ECHO inspired me for my final project to try and come up with a curriculum for third world country students that could teach them the base courses of education like math, science, reading, and writing all while learning about sustaining their lives in a healthy way. Educating children is one of the most necessary things to focus on in the world if we plan on making any sort of difference in the world's very bleak future. If we could get a curriculum or area of study that could teach kids, and in turn they could teach their parents, it would be such an amazing thing and could send waves throughout the developing world. I have already filled out my application to go back and learn more because I know my future will involve understanding these concepts and putting them into practice somewhere. It was great.
Clean water was a huge problem in all of these places as well. In Haiti people would get water from a river that ran up the mountains and into the ocean. This river was used for bathing purposes and for waste. People swam in and drank this water. There is a huge problem with children getting diseases that cause extreme diarreah and exauhstion. The water saving techniques from rain and clean water from the "miracle plant" and also cleaning from the plastic bottles was just amazing to see and could be implemented in the mountain villages that I visited.
Finally, being at ECHO inspired me for my final project to try and come up with a curriculum for third world country students that could teach them the base courses of education like math, science, reading, and writing all while learning about sustaining their lives in a healthy way. Educating children is one of the most necessary things to focus on in the world if we plan on making any sort of difference in the world's very bleak future. If we could get a curriculum or area of study that could teach kids, and in turn they could teach their parents, it would be such an amazing thing and could send waves throughout the developing world. I have already filled out my application to go back and learn more because I know my future will involve understanding these concepts and putting them into practice somewhere. It was great.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Journal 12
The trip downtown was truly an entertaining one. I have been downtown before but not for an extended period of time. It was interesting to see all of the things that the small area had to offer from restaurants to theaters. It was also cool to see how they are trying to preserve the history of southwest florida there with things like the steam boat and the arts building that keeps that culture that so many places seem to lose. I thought this field trip was good to experience for the simple fact of knowing that there is an actual city in Fort Myers, not that it was just the area that people come to retire to.
This was also good for the class because even though this University Colloquium is very interesting, the work load can get to be a lot at points so it was good to have a day to really just enjoy the environment that we were in. Also it was great for getting to know eachother which we don't really get to do in classrooms of any sort nowadays. I thought that some of the environmentally sustainable techniques that the city was using was pretty interesting such as the parking meters that were solar powered. Or the small restaurants and shops that the city was able to invest in and then in turn the businesses would invest in the city and it's people.
I can now say without a shadow of a doubt that I can navigate my way through the downtown are of Fort Myers so that is also a good thing just in case I ever want to go there. Finally, it was cool to see how invested the students were in the class just based on the competition of the whole thing. Every group competed to win that "scavenger hunt" even if it was for one point of extra credit, so you can see that all of the students really enjoy the class and put effort into what they do for the class.
This was also good for the class because even though this University Colloquium is very interesting, the work load can get to be a lot at points so it was good to have a day to really just enjoy the environment that we were in. Also it was great for getting to know eachother which we don't really get to do in classrooms of any sort nowadays. I thought that some of the environmentally sustainable techniques that the city was using was pretty interesting such as the parking meters that were solar powered. Or the small restaurants and shops that the city was able to invest in and then in turn the businesses would invest in the city and it's people.
I can now say without a shadow of a doubt that I can navigate my way through the downtown are of Fort Myers so that is also a good thing just in case I ever want to go there. Finally, it was cool to see how invested the students were in the class just based on the competition of the whole thing. Every group competed to win that "scavenger hunt" even if it was for one point of extra credit, so you can see that all of the students really enjoy the class and put effort into what they do for the class.
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