Entry # 20: Final Impressions

Final Impressions of Colloquium

University Colloquium was by no means an easy course. It was a lot of hard work which involved constant reading, writing, and class participation. I think I made a mistake by choosing to take this course virtually, as I feel I would've gotten a lot more out of the experience had I taken it on campus. Regardless, I still think that I learned and grew a great deal throughout the Semester with the help of the course, which I didn't necessarily expect. I read a lot of things I wouldn't have personally chosen to read; watched videos and movies I wouldn't typically watch; engaged in a multitude of activities and discussions I wouldn't normally be involved in; and I truly enjoyed doing each of those things I wouldn't normally do during the Semester. It was a new, refreshing, and incredibly rewarding educational experience.

The course also opened my eyes and increased my awareness and involvement on a lot of issues that are going in the world today are how they are all somehow interrelated. These include climate change and global warming; overconsumption; corruption of our food industry; poverty; and the diminishing relationship with the environment/involvement with nature among newer generations. I feel as though I'm much more knowledgeable on all of issues, and I plan on carrying what I learned throughout the Semester with me for the rest of my life. I want to start living a more sustainable lifestyle. I want to decrease the size of my carbon footprint. I want to teach future generations about the importance of the environment.

Recommended Changes

As I previously stated, Colloquium was as a whole a positive experience for me. However; if I could make any recommendations I would suggest providing students more assistance and guidance in writing their papers. I found the instructions somewhat difficult and confusing, and I would have appreciated some opinions prior to the deadlines. I would also recommend providing students clearer guidelines for the journal entries and discussion forums as those too were unclear at times.

Assignments to Keep

Assignments that I feel are definitely worthy of keeping include the field trips, discussion forms, service learning requirement, and the journal. The field trips helped me connect to the environment and taught me about the mysterious Florida ecosystem. The discussion forums were great because they helped me understand the readings and concepts better. The service learning requirement is a must keep simply because I'm a firm believer that people need to be involved with their communities. In fact, my service learning experience was probably my favorite activity of the entire semester. As for the journal, it helped me improve my writing skills and provided me an opportunity to be creative.

Assignments to Discard

The only assignment that I didn't really like was the group Wiki. The concept of getting people together to work on something like this is a great idea, but as this was a virtual course, it didn't quite achieve what it should have (in my opinion). It was very stressful trying to get in touch with group members and what not, and the technology of the website was confusing as well.

Readings I liked

(https://www.floridabooks.net/catalog/images/a_land_remembered.jpg)

My favorite reading is undoubtedly "A Land Remembered". I normally would never consider reading a book like this, but after I started reading it I honestly couldn't put it down. It was really interesting to learn to learn about the different MacIveys and to read about their struggles throughout the years. I also really liked reading all of the State of the World Chapters we were asked to read. The book was very educational and informative, yet easy to follow and comprehend.

Readings I disliked

I found some of the readings in the Colloquium Reader to be a bit dry. These include Dewey's "Traditional versus Progressive Education", and "The Need of a Theory of Experience". I understood and agreed with what the articles were saying, but these readings weren't as easy to relate to as the aforementioned ones I stated I liked.

Suggestions for Field Trips/Activities

I enjoyed all of the field trips this semester. Some places that I've been to that I would suggest for future field trips include the

• Calusa-Nature Center-Planetarium: http://www.calusanature.com
• Naples Botanical Garden: http://naplesgarden.org/
• Edison and Fort Winter Estates: http://www.efwefla.org/

Entry # 19: Sense of Place Interview

For the purpose of this entry, I was asked to interview a grandparent or someone of their generation in order to learn about their philosophy on sustainability, ecological perspective, and sense of place. I was also asked to share with them what I have been learning in this course throughout the Semester and find out their perspective on it. As my grandmother lives in Brazil and it would be difficult to have this discussion over the telephone, I spoke to my 85 year old neighbor of 12 years, Evelyn Swan. The conversation with Ms. Swan went as follows:

Sustainability

(http://crmworks.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/sustainability11.jpg)

"I know that sustainability is of growing concern to people today. When I was a child, things like global warming weren't a problem. Well, I mean, they were an underlying problem, but we didn't know about them yet. I guess that could be because not a lot of scientific data was around when I was growing up, or maybe pollution and overconsumption just hadn't taken their toll on the environment yet. Today, I recognize the concept of sustainability, and I agree with the idea that people need to become less dependent on resources that we're eventually going to run out of".

Ecological Perspective

(http://images.clipartof.com/small/20409-Clipart-Illustration-Of-A-Green-Hand-With-Circuits-Reaching-To-Touch-A-Planet-Symbolizing-Ecology-And-Creation.jpg)

"You could say that I have somewhat of a close relationship with the environment, though I do have a lot of respect for the land and I think we should treat it with common courtesy before the damage caused by our consumption habits is irreversible. It's sad now a days, it seems as though I'm spending more time playing bridge with the girls, or going up to the Club House for parties than I do outside. There aren't a lot of natural wonders right in my backyard like there used to be that's for sure. Definitely not spending as much time outside as when I was growing up and I was always running around in the woods. Though I still really like sitting on my doc to watch the sun set, and I spend time outside when I play golf."

Sense of Place

(http://www.springfieldculturalcouncil.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/sense-of-place.jpg)

"Where I feel most at home? Can it be at any time in my life? Ok, my sense of place is definitely going to have to be my house in North Carolina when I was growing up. Our house was the only house for miles, and there were a lot of woods for us kids to play in! My dad built us a tire swing off a tree in the backyard and I used to spend so much time there with my sister. Right up the road there was a little creek. When my dad found the patience, he used to take all the girls fishing. I think I also felt a sense of place in that house because of the way it smelled, and the way mom was always baking something delicious. I love remembering my childhood and how great it was growing up in that big old house with my family who I miss so much today".

Perspective of the University Colloquium

(http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~joerg/colloquium/colloquium.jpg)

"I think it's great that they're teaching students what they need to know. Since climate change is a real problem, it's best that we educate ourselves on it. The field trips you said you went on sound really fun. It's great because I think it gets students more involved with the environment. Too bad more schools don't adopt this program. It would be a good start to cleaning up the country".

Upon conversing with Ms. Swan, it can be concluded that our childhoods were somewhat the same, but actually quite different. We both experienced watching the world change, and different generations evolve. I also spent a great deal of time outdoors when I was growing up in Brazil. My parents owned a citrus farm and we used to spend every weekend either there, or at my grandmother's cattle farm, until we moved to the United States. Even when our family moved here though, I remember always being at the beach, and my parents took us to all of the different Everglades parks and preserves. Her upbringing differed from mine though as nature was much more available. If my parents hadn't owned a farm, I don't think I would have spent much time outdoors, as we lived in a very large and somewhat dangerous city; Sao Paulo. Nature is seldom nearby in a metropolitan city that swims in concrete like Sao Paulo.

Entry # 18: Reflection on Sustainability

The final topic I would like to reflect upon in my journal is sustainability. Sustainability was one of the central concepts covered throughout the semester in my Colloquium course. My knowledge and awareness on sustainability expanded greatly this Semester with all of the various activities we engaged in.

(http://www.euromoodle.org/ash/file.php/131/The_three_spheres_of_sustainability.png)

To exemplify what I meant by saying that this course has made me more aware of sustainability-I will refer to my large wardrobe. I had never previously considered having a large wardrobe to be harmful to the environment, or I suppose you could say, an example of something that I do that is "unsustainable". I'd always referred to things such as pollution when thinking of something that may be "unsustainable". This course has opened my eyes and helped me realize what went into the production of all of the clothes in my closet-and when I actually take into consideration all of the natural resources, fossil fuels, and labor that went into the creation of each one of my dresses, yes I will have to admit, that I think my large wardrobe is undoubtedly an example of me living unsustainably. It is unnecessary as such, and it shows that I'm consuming more than I actually need.

(http://reproductivejusticeclimatejusticepeace.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/consumption.jpg)

So what does sustainability mean to me now? Obviously it has much more meaning to my life than it had before, as I was, I suppose, unexposed to all of the various aspects of the concept. In this week's lesson, we were asked to read a list of definitions for sustainability provided by Carol Newcomb Jones, and there was one which I quite liked-"Sustainability means using, developing, and protecting resources at a rate in a manner that enables to meet their current needs and also provides that future generations can meet their own needs". This definition shows that sustainability is something that people need to work towards achieving, it suggests using only what we need and developing new technologies to minimize the damage in the production of only that of which we need. To me, sustainability means not over indulging. It means changing the way that I consume on a regular basis. It means...changing my daily habits, and recycling, reusing, turning off lights, buying environmentally friendly products, etc.

(http://sorinplaton.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/sustanaible-1.jpg)

The following link will lead you to an older video that addresses sustainable growth. It offers several suggestions that some companies today are beginning to adapt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dghuWWw7fnw&feature=related