Course Reflection Blog 6

University Colloquium has opened up my eyes to the world around me.  Before this class if you were to ask me to tell you about Eco-literacy or sense of place I would have only been able to give you a very generic definition.  Now after experiencing the history of natural world around me I could go on and on about these terms.  Sustainability in my experience, is the way we create and maintain our environment in order to live and insure the contribution of our life and future generations.  Living sustainably means to me that I am replenishing and preserving the environment that I live in.  Also while promoting the assimilation of different cultures and people into one direction; seeking a common goal of meeting the needs of our generation is imperative. While working to guide the transition of future generations, we strive to live a sustainable life.  Ecological literacy is the ability to understand the natural systems that make life on Earth possible. To be Eco-literate means understanding the principles of organization of ecological communities and using those principles for creating sustainable human communities.  With an understanding of ecological literacy, my perception naturally shifted.  I used to think that the environment would be fine if people stopped destroying it, what I did not think about was that we would still need help restoring it.  This is where Sense of place ties in.  My initial thought of Colloquium was that it would be a boring class that was required for graduation at FGCU.  What I learned over time is how much this course related to the media and even to my major.  The topics we covered this semester and the field trips we went on made me realize more and more that Communication and Colloquium are connected.  Communication relates to this class because in the communication major, students are taught that communication can branch to other fields because of the rhetoric and language that we use.  I believe through things like adherence and exigence we can change negative perceptions of terms like eco-literacy, sustainability, and sense of place.  The elements of the course that I most enjoyed were the field trips.  I really enjoyed the last field trip to the Estero Island Cottage and Mantanzas Pass.  I also really liked the group projects.  I was lucky enough to have a great group for the State of the Union project and for the final project.  I did not enjoy going to ECHO.  I hated this field trip because I felt that my animal lover trait.  I was very upset to find out that the livestock is killed during survival initiation week.  If I had the opportunity to take the helm and teach a section of Colloquium, I would emphasize the group projects more.  I feel that with a hands-on approach students learn more than they do in lectures.  I know this is true for me.  I generally retain information that I have to present rather than information I hear in a classroom.   

Estero Island Cottage and Matanzas Pass Blog 5

In two words the Estero Island Cottage was quiet and quaint!



It was the perfect little cottage I had pictured it to be in my mind.  All the little knick knacks in the cottage were so interesting to look at.  I really enjoyed listening to Joe's stories.  Joe is a little old lady that has lived locally her whole life.  Matanzas Pass was also very pretty.  Both of these places felt so serene.  I specifically remember that Professor Durham told us that the Matanzas is the 3% of land left that has not been built on in the Fort Myers beach area.  This trip has been my favorite out of every trip.  It completely blows ECHO and corkscrew out of the water.  I really enjoyed the canoe trip.  I got to spend time in the sun, canoe on the water (which is one of my favorite water activities) and even got my picture taken while in a canoe for Time Magazine! Or so the camera man said.  I have yet to see the newest releases of the magazine.  

The quality of life is being enhanced through the Cottage and Matanzas Pass by using the history of the island and it's stories, and through projects like the oyster bed.  The last time I visited my hometown of in Illinois I was surprised to see that my house had barely changed.  The neighborhood house colors had all changed but everything else had stayed frozen in time.  Since I have moved around a lot in my life time I tend to not get too attached to my homes.  If a developer offered me 300% the market value of my childhood home to develop into condos, would I take it?  Yes,  I no longer live in my childhood home.  I have hundreds of pictures and home videos of memories in that house, but it is the memories I hold on to not the house.  

I believe that the county could use the 20/20 program at different sites where there are not already families and existing communities.  This field trip tied all of the field trips together by showing me how all of the things we have learned about effect people personally and has been an ongoing problem for years; and that the future generations are what is going to help.  This reminds me of the Florida Gulf Coast University Earth Charter pamphlit. Principle 4 of the Earth Charter states “Secure Earth’s bounty and beauty for present and future generations (http://www.earthcharter.org/).

The beauty of "downtown" Blog 4

When I think of the word "downtown" I think of words like busy, high rise buildings, old, and fast-paced.  I feel emotions like anxious and exhilaration when I visit downtown. I believe that growing up in a suburban area an hour away from downtown Chicago has shaped the way I think of downtown.  Places like New York City or Chicago's downtown make me think of danger, hustle and bustle, and poverty.  Now downtown Fort Myers is completely different story.  Downtown Fort Myers has a great blend of modern and historical architecture.  Downtown didn't always have the beautiful cafes and cobble stone paths; it had fallen to pieces at one point in time.  It used to look rundown but now it has more of an up scale feel.  

Some of the prominent architectural features that I appreciate are the cobble stone roads, the coral pillars, and the ray of colors of the buildings. As you can see in the photo above, this pillar is made completely from coral. The downtown design was created to rekindle the "pedestrian" spirit by allowing easy walking and biking access to locals.  Downtown Fort Myers (River District) has many other sites to see like the Southwest Florida Museum of History, The Edison and Ford Winter Estates, and even a purple movie theater.  Other nods to history that are not buildings are statues of historical figures placed around town.  One of the biggest statues is in the Centennial Park and depicts Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone.  The economy of Ft. Myers evolved from a past of poor business to present with less crime and better established shopping and dinning.  The evolution of Downtown Fort Myers relates to sustainability because it is keeping up with changing factors.

ECHO Blog # 3

My overall opinion of ECHO was very positive.  I thought that echo was interesting and I would recommend it to tourists.  Aside from the rain, this field trip was amazing.  I enjoyed seeing all of the different plants and flowers.  I loved to see the different colors, when I saw bright pinks, purples, and yellows I felt happy.  Seeing a sea of green is not for everyone.  I liked how open the trails were.  This trip to ECHO was much better than the trip to Corkscrew.  Something that stood out was all of the animals.  Before going to ECHO I did not think I would see goats, turkens, rabbits, or ducks.  Echo was nothing like I what I thought it would be like.  I pictured it to be more like a traditional type of agriculture with rows of plants.  ECHO had many different types of plants, fruits, veggies, and even flowers and trees.  I was surprised to see that the plants were planted on different levels of ground.  I was not happy to read on signs that the animals are killed for protein.  I feel that their work is relevant to the developing world.  A form of appropriate technology would be solar panels.   I would never want to work with ECHO due to the face that they kill their animals.  I care much more about animals than I do about plants.  I would be offended to work with an agency that approves of harming animals for their own personal gain.  I would rather work with an agency that helped animals.  

The top things I really liked about ECHO:
1. The tiny bananas.
2. The animals (goats, rabbits, and ducks).
3. The cranberry Hibiscus.

Blog Entry 2

While on the Corkscrew field trip I was surprised at the lack of wildlife that I expected to see.  All I saw was trees and birds.  I was hoping to see panthers, deers, frogs, or maybe even some alligators!  Go Gators!  I was disappointed when I didn't see much wildlife.  One distinct ecosystem that I saw was a butterfly garden.  I learned that the 2 mile boardwalk allows walking access through pine flatwoods, wet prairie, Bald cypress, Pond cypress, and marsh ecosystems.  The high pine ecosystem provides a habitat for birds and provides fire control, the prairie provides the animals with food, and the cypress swap provides a place for animals to escape from the heat. 

Conservation - preserving the land.  Stewardship - the people to make the conservation possible.  The role is to maintain and preserve the natural habitat for today and tomorrow.  Like-minded people help create environmental change by preserving the land and by making the community aware of the environment and it's issues.  Last semester I learned in Foundations of Civic Engagement that being civically engaged means to create attention or awareness and activity to an issue.  Civic engagement is how people become involved.  It is critical to the environment because it brings people together (activity) and educates (attention) them about the environment.  The motivation to preserve was to prevent endangered species and to prevent extinction.  The government does not help much, but does help because of protection laws.  We should not bulldoze because many of the birds that go to the swamp sanctuary are stopping there during their migrations.  Developing on the swamp would lead to an increase to and animal to people encounters, this would be bad for both animals and people.

Entry # 1 for Colloquium

        My main expectation for this class is to learn about Florida’s wildlife.  This should be fun since I love animals!  Another expectation is have for this course it to receive an A.  I am diligent and a hard worker.  I take pride in a job well done and have set this my goal for the semester.  In my humble opinion sustainability is an attempt to merge ecology and the economy into one system while living within the resources of the planet.  This is my own definition of sustainability because it is the way I can express sustainability throughout my life.  I can live a sustainable life by focusing on replenishing and preserving the environment that I live in.  Eco-literacy is the ability to understand and follow the natural systems that allow life on Earth to happen.  Sense of place to me is a perception rather than an actual place because sense of place deals completely with emotions.  I picture these three terms making up a tree.  

Sustainability is the foundation, or the trunk, and Eco-literacy and Sense of place are branches that stem from the concept of sustainability.  In my major, communications, I aspire to one day in the distant future become a news anchor.  Sustainability can be very 
closely related to my career aspects and my field of study because one day possibly in the 
future I may report on sustainability issues like how the demands of human population have 
increased the need to use more natural resources which reduces natural animal and plant 
habitats or maybe on invasive species in Florida.  Some problems I see myself faced with, 
that are anti-sustainable is my forgetfulness to unplug chargers when not using them, and 
using fossil fuels rather than strictly solar energy. I have to say that my lack of energy 
conservation is probably the worst.