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.