Final Impressions

My impressions drastically changed from the first day of Colloquium class right up until the last. I started off not being so thrilled about taking the class but in the end it was not as bad as I thought. I enjoyed going on all the field trips. I thought that they were very educational and hands on, which is why I probably learned more than I expected. Some assignments were a little too much, mostly the quizzes. I think I could have done without those and maybe would have added one or two more papers in there somewhere. I liked our in class discussions about the different readings from the University Colloquium Reader. I especially enjoyed the David Orr article and the Louv ones. I also found the Earth Charter very interesting because I did not know that there was something like that out there. Learning all about sustainability and the environment gave me a different outlook on the planet that we live on. I was clueless when coming into the class but now I feel as if I am leaving with a good idea of what is happening and what should be done. I now know that I will be more conscientious when it comes to the little things such as the water, lights, and cars. I think that throughout the whole semester we covered pretty much everything that there was to go over. Maybe a few more activities in the classroom would have made class time more exciting rather than a lecture or movie. I overall enjoyed my experience in Colloquium class, and having a good teacher made it much more enjoyable!

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Spirituality, Religion, Sustainability

In class last week we watched the movie “Renewal”. I thought that it was a very interesting movie , especially when it was all about the different kinds of religion and how people practice in their own ways. I was not expecting it to be about that at all but after it was over I had learned a whole lot of what other people do in their types of worship. The religious groups were very focused on one thing, and that was the environment. I never knew that there were certain religious groups that set aside time to and energy to worry about what is happening to our planet. I think it is great that we have those people out there that I didn’t even know existed. If these groups are working towards protecting our planet now then we will be in better shape for the next generations to come. They also have these groups that constantly pray and worship God which will also pay off. If we ask him to keep our land healthy and our planet sustainable than we should be all set, right? It may take a little more than that, but that is a good place to start. Having faith that everything will turn for the best is a good way to stay positive and motivated to keep our nation clean and friendly. My personal opinion is that none of these practices can hurt us so why not continue and keep them growing. With passionate people all around us, and people willing to make a difference there should be no problem furthering our education about sustaining our universe. http://images.google.com/imgres?3Fq%3Dthe%2Bmovie%2Brenewal%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

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I have to start off by saying that nothing has really changed around the neighborhood that I live in. I would like to say that things have changed for the better but they really have not. The lake behind my apartment still looks quite similar with the same surroundings, a few birds roam around along with the algae that lies upon the lake. The lake is the only thing that carries support to the wildlife, besides the little amount of trees that are near the back part of the complex. I did not notice any new animals as I thought I would maybe come across a snake or something of the sort. I would have to say that my neighborhood is definitely not sustainable. There is constant litter on the ground, including beer bottles and cans, graffiti on the sidewalks, and fast food wrappers throughout the parking lot. I do not see any sightings of green building taking place anywhere. They still have not started a recycling program which I know many have recommended. From what I see there are more and more cars that fill the parking lot, so black carbon releasing into the air has done nothing but grown higher. I would like to see some changes begin to happen as time goes on, maybe we should start a group to inform them on what exactly some of their issues are.

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Pictures by Lori DiFazio

Sense of Place Interview

Before I even asked my grandparents questions I already had an idea about how they would answer my questions. I have talked to them before about the different ways that they were brought up compared to the lifestly that I now live. When talking to them about their opinions on sustainability it was started off being difficult to even try explaining to them what it was and what it actually meant. When I asked my grandma about her sense of place, she understood that more then the others. She feels that being in Florida, where she did not live for most of her life, is not her sense of place that she is most comfortable with. She does not feel like she is at home as much as she had in the past. If it was up to her she would move back to New York where she feels she belongs. Her sense of place here in Florida is a little foggy because she has a harsh attitude about where she is being forced to live. I told them a little bit about what being sustainable really means and they eventually caught on. They were pretty surprised actually that we were being taught things like this in college, but thought it was very good. They told me that they wish that they had been educated about these kinds of issues and then went on explaining to me about how when they were growing up things were so much different. They told me that they had to work for what they wanted and things were never handed to them. They barely had a televison and if they did it was in black and white. They knew nothing about technology and owning a care was a privaledge to them. They actually made it pretty clear that they think it is terrible what it is doing to our generation and that it is certainly making a difference in our generations to come. They think that it is good that they are teaching us what we have learned in Colloquium and they wish they could have had that education like we do, but on the other hand they wouldnt have wanted to grow up with the spoiled, technology craized generation that we live in. They were happy that I took the time to come over and inform them on what I am learning in school because they are always asking about it. I had felt better being able to leave there knowing that I had tought them something that they really had no clue about. They are happy that our generation is getting informed about what is going and really enjoyed to hear that we are helping out within our community as a requirement . I had fun talking with my grandparents about what is going on in our world today and they certainlly enjoyed learning about it.

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Picture taken by Me, Lori DiFazio

Environment in the Local News

Researching for an article about an environmental issue was easier then I thought it would be. There are very many environmental issues going on right in our own backyard that we don't even know about, which we could be helping with. One issue that I found hit close to the heart for some reasons. An issue in the school systems of Lee County. The elementary schools across the county are trying to eliminate field trips from the curriculum. "Like many other school programs, environmental education has hit a rocky economic road" states the local newspaper. I think it is terrible that the school districts do not have enough money or support to keep the little environmental education that we do have into place. From what I know I do not think that the education is even enough or even at a young enough age. Not only should they start teaching earlier in a child's life but to get rid of the program all together is not a good idea. If changes ever need to start happening then this is definitely not a way to do so. Not only do I think that we need more field trips but I think they should be educated at even a younger age. Field trips give kids an on hands experience. They will understand more about what is going on when they see it up close. Even going to the local aquariums or museums can play a big role in child's environmental education. The only way to get the point across is to show them play by play what is actually going on, and let them see that it is for real. By taking away their field trips we are limiting them to a closed in the classroom, barely anything, education on our environment. I hope that school districts see what they are doing to our future generations and try to do anything possible to make sure the field trips are not taken away completely.

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Canoe Trip at FGCU Marine Lab

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The canoe trip to the FGCU marine lab is the one field trip that I was looking forward to the most because of it being outdoors and a little bit adventurous. I have gone canoeing and kayaking a few times in the past and was looking forward towards this experience. Sadly, I did not end up going on the field trip. I was a little bummed as I rather have been canoeing down a river then sitting in bed with a toothache. I was expecting to see many different things, especially mangroves and maybe some cool looking animals such as birds or maybe even an alligator! I had heard from other classmates that they had a lot of fun and that I missed out. They all enjoyed canoeing and found it very entertaining and one of the better field trips. I know that if I had went I would have enjoyed it as well. I have been down to where the marine lab is and I am a little familiar with the waters back there, I know that they are one of a kind and if you keep going through them you will eventually end up in the gulf. I feel that it is important to protect the coastal areas because if we do not keep them in good shape it will eventually lead out into our oceans. If the coastal areas are all run down and not taken care of then it will lead to destruction of our seas, the animals will suffer along with the plants and the environment that lives below us. I really wish that I could have joined my classmates on our final field trip of our Colloquium experience but I guess I will have to maybe one day go down there on my own and see what it is all about.

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State of the World

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Throughout the semester we went through the book, "State of the World". Each chapter was different and talked about obtaining sustainability as a complete world as one. When each of us presented a climate connection article it was easy to put into perspective of what is happening throughout our not so innocent world. Reducing black carbon was one article that stood out to me. I never realized that so much CO2 is being released into our atmosphere just from everyday things. I think the amount of black carbon that is being released is an easy subject to make efforts on fixing with great benefits. We can easily cut back by carpooling, eliminating the amount of cars on the road by taking the bus, or a train if possible. Another article that caught my attention was the role of cities in climate change. Cities are so large and so busy that the climate can change each year due to the populations ups and downs and the amount of pollution that is given off throughout the city. Cities do not pay as much as attention as they should to what they are doing to our atmosphere. They are a big cause to our climate changing and how quickly it is being altercated. The cities should take into consideration all the things they are doing just for money. All the taxis that fill the street and the pollution in the parks along with the rivers causes our systems to break down more quickly then we can handle. They can easily make a difference if a little consideration would be involved. One other article that I thought was interesting was the one that told us that it was not too late to act. People may think that we have gone too far and that there is no point to even act upon changing at this point. That is not true from what I got from the article. We could make such a difference that we can reverse the roles so much where we go back to beyond the start. Making things worse does not do any good for us and it is never too late. I myself have just been informed about a lot of these issues and I feel that I can make a difference just by doing the little that I can do, such as carpooling, not littering, respecting the environment that I live in. Overall the articles showed me that the United States is the not the only country that is going through the same changes as us and even some are in worse shape than the U.S. I also learned that there are ways to prevent this from happening at such a rapid pace that it is.
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Earth Charter

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The Earth Charter is a document that I think should be printed throughout the world, in every library, every school, and every place where people across the universe can read about what should be done in order to obtain a sustainable life for all of us and our planet. Reading the Earth Charter gave me a lot of insight on what is expected and what is to be done in order to achieve what we need. I think that principle #4, which states to secure earths bounty and beautiful for present and future generations is a good example because the more we can do now the more benefits our children will have in the future. We need to propose these ideas to everyone and eventually start working on them one by one. In relation to our class discussions I can definitely understand why the Earth Charter is related to our Colloquium class. Sustaining our planet, learning to use our resources gradually, and understanding the affects that our behavior is having on our environment all is talked about in the Earth Charter. Respect and care for our community is what we learned in class by having to do at least 10 hours of community service. Teaching us to help out in our own community can maybe make a difference as our earth as a whole. Creating peace in our country along with the world is also what we have discussed in class. violence are not necessary to obtain anything that we are trying to. Peace and harmony are what is needed and by creating this we can build a road to a happier future. The charter needs to be passed by the government in order to take full affect so the quicker it gets out there, the quicker we can begin working on these issues. In my opinion, I do feel that the Earth Charter is realistic to some extent. Maybe not all of it can be achieved but definitely some parts are attainable. This charter may not make its way around the world but when it comes to our country I feel that there is hope. Even if we break it down to states and even smaller to cities, we have to start somewhere. Educating our piers and letting people know what it may take is the first step towards success.

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Urban Ft. Myers and Southwest Florida Historical Museum

Taking a trip to downtown Ft. Myers is something that is not very new to me, so I thought. I had been down there many times before and to be honest I was not expecting much different. We first went to the waterfront at Centennial Park. The statues were pretty cool to look at, since I have never been down by the water before. There were many boats and many different types of trees. When we had to write down three different types of plants that we found I thought it was interesting to see where they all had come from. After walking near the marina we headed up towards town and walked up and

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down the streets. We saw things such as the court house, theatre, art galleries, and many business buildings. I guess I never really took a deep look at how much business actually goes on down there, just because many people do not know of Ft. Myers having a downtown and it is rarely talked about or referred to. It was different seeing the urban side of things rather then out in the middle of nature like the past field trips. I was expecting the museum to be different then what it actually was. I was not too thrilled about it actually except for the train. which was pretty cool to learn about. I enjoyed walking through it and seeing how people traveled. It was fascinating how they cooked meals on there and basically turned it into a home. The rest of the museum I could have done without. Walking downtown did make me think of why it is not very well known and why the city has a problem with community involvement. I feel if they cleaned up some parts of it and advertised a little more then maybe people would start to take an interest. I know parts of it have a bad reputation and that could play a big role of why the community doesn't want much to do with it. I overall had fun walking the streets of downtown Ft. Myers. It was different than any of our other field trips and we got to learn a little about the history of where we live.

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Affluenza

Affluenza is something that is happening all over the world. It is where we, humans, become too distracted by technology and other things that keep us from salvaging our memories with the people that mean the most and the environment that we live in. Everyone is guilty of having the Affluenza disease at one point or another. I will even be the first to admit it. I sometimes do not think before buying something, or sometimes take the easy way just because it is instant gratification. After taking the quizzes, my results showed that I have a moderate case of Affluenza. I have resource exhaustion, social scars, swollen expectations, and a fractured family. All of these things made me think and believe it or not it is very true. What I dislike the most is the social scars that it has left me with. I do not know how to socialize as well as I would like to because being around cell phones, computers, text messaging, facebook, everything has scarred me to the point where socializing has become stressful and the last thing on my way of communication. I do not like what that is doing to our generations and it is even getting worse. I also do not like that my family is fractured. Spending money sometimes does make things more fun but there are certainly more ways to entertain ourselves as a family without going out and spending unnecessary amounts of money. I definitely feel that we need to change our consumer habits. Spending has gone so out of control that kids these days do not know anything other than just taking out a piece of plastic and swiping a credit card. If we do not put a haul to this now, how much worse will it get? We rely way to much on things that are bought and are judged on what we own, which is not how we should be living. We need to cherish time together with loved ones and the people who mean the most. We also need to take advantage of our beautiful world that we live in and start going outside again. Meeting our neighbors, building a tree fort, taking a hike in the woods are all things that we need to bring back into our society. I myself am willing to make changes. I know for a fact that one day when I have a family I want to bring them up outdoors. I also want them to know the value of money and not always get what they want. I want them to appreciate the things around them and make sure they are aware of how to keep our planet sustainable. If everyone was a little more educated on what is happening then a little help from everyone could make a huge difference.

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