Blog #12 Final Thought

     I took a class this spring called Colloquium at Florida Gulf Coast University. I first heard about this class at orientation, and I was informed that it was a requirement. I think having Colloquium as a requirement is a phenomenal idea, and I really think it would be really great if more universities adopted the idea of making this course a requirement. It's one of those classes that sounds like a drag to most people (not me), but after you take it, you are definitely not wishing you have never taken it. That means that pretty much everyone has probably gained something from this class.

     In Colloquium, your class gets to go out on adventures. Our class got to go with a teacher that not only knows a lot about the area of southwest Florida, but he is also very passionate about his research, his teaching, the Earth, and the area he lives in. These field trips are a great learning experience, and you get to be outdoors, which is a great change of pace for most students who are inside during all their classes.

     Another thing I liked about this class is that you get to meet students that are working on other majors. It gets boring working with or next to other business students all the time. This is actually the only class I have that I made any new friends. In other classes I'm always listening to lectures, or doing budget analyses, even though I like doing budgets. I had a phenomenal time working with the other students. This class also lets you be creative, and there is nothing I love doing more than being able to use my creativity. Colloquium forces you to interact with your peers, and that is a key skill that employers look for.
     Colloquium had more of an impact on me than I thought it would. Since I am a business major, looking for a business to start or get into is a very key element in choosing my career. This class taught me that in the future, the businesses that will prosper are the ones that are looking for ways to help the Earth. Of course I would never intend to do anything that would hurt the Earth, but now I want to help save it. So I definitely want to work for a business that is eco friendly, and I want to help figure out ways we can sustain our resources better.

Blog #11 Downtown Ft. Myers

Downtown Ft. Myers, the home of my teacher, and a place I have been many times, especially when I was a little kid. Our class took a field trip to the downtown area, and I witnessed many familiar sights and even some new ones, or at least things I don't remember seeing. We drove by the Edison home, which is a beautiful sight at night during winter when they have it lit up with Christmas lights and decorations. Of course the Edison home being the house the famous inventor Thomas Edison lived in many years ago. The famous Henry Ford also lived right next to him, too. Our first stop on our tour was the Fort Myers Florida Historical Museum.

The museum looked kind of looks like it was made in Texas, and then shipped over here. The first thing we saw when we started the tour was a twelve foot Giant Ground Sloth. This thing was huuuuuge like the Kia dealer in Cape Coral! The Mammoth skull right next to the sloth was also humongous. Probably the most interesting display they had to me was the different types of tools and weapons that the Seminole and Calusa tribes used. There were also different kinds of war weapons, flags, and other neat old stuff in there, too. Before we left we went outside and peaked inside an old cracker house. They called them cracker houses because the sounds of the whips the farmers used on their cattle.
After we left the museum, we walked around downtown Ft. Myers for a little bit. Our teacher told us about the development there, and one of the most interesting parts was when he told us about how there was a line around the block to see Jaws at the movie theater there. We stopped at the Indigo hotel, and we went to the seventh floor to check out the view of the area. It was really nice, and they even had a pool up there, which was pretty sweet.

It was a really phenomenal trip, especially seeing these sights through my eyes fifteen years after the last time I saw some of this stuff. I remember when my family and I would go downtown for block parties and watch fireworks over the water on July fourth. The only bad part about the trip is when our bus broke down. I wouldn't have minded because the weather was really nice and we were having a good time, but I really had to be somewhere. It's all good though, because I wasn't late, but my girlfriend was down and I didn't get to spend as much time with her. Sorry that is way off subject, it was an awesome trip, and the downtown area of Ft. Myers has a lot of history.

Blog #9 The Everglades

The Everglades are very unique, as in there are no other ecosystems in the world like it. Marjory Stoneman Douglas describes how mysterious the Everglades are to everyone, and some history about the Everglades in the reading "The Nature of the Everglades." The Everglades go all the way from Lake Okeechobee down to the bottom of Florida.
One of the biggest things that make the Everglades so different is that the water is usually less than a foot deep, and stretches over seven hundred fifty square miles in actual area. I think that is just astonishing because usually big bodies of water like that get very deep for the most part. Another feature that is very interesting about this amazing part of Florida is all the sawgrass. I found all the information about sawgrass from the Florida Museum of Natural History's website. Sawgrass is covered with little sharp teeth along each one of the blades. The most interesting thing I was reminded about sawgrass was that they can grow up to nine feet. I say reminded because I kind of remember learning a lot about the Everglades when I was a youngster.
Douglas talks about how there is an outline that Douglas calls a Florida end-of-land made of rock that holds all this water in. It holds the fresh water in, and keeps it from escaping into the Gulf of Mexico. It's crazy how much rock formations can affect the way an ecosystem operates. One of the main components of the Everglades is the mangroves. Mangroves are found all over the place and one of the very few places that mangroves can flourish.
The Everglades is home to many different types of species of animals. Probably the most known is the Florida alligator. People come from all over to come see attractions here in Florida that have these alligators. A big problem lately in the Everglades has been invasive species, and they are thriving off this ecosystem. The biggest problem with the Everglades is that it is a perfect environment for mosquitoes to lay eggs and live in. Mosquitoes are probably our worst enemy when it comes to nature, because they carry some of the most deadly diseases that can spread.

Basically the Everglades are anything but basic. Douglas explained how it was a mystery when we explored it years ago, and it is still a mystery today. It's also pretty cool that we have modern day dinosaurs roaming the Everglades, aka alligators.

Blog #10 Campus Hike

Our class took a little walk through a small portion of the nature trails that Florida Gulf Coast University has to offer. We were guided by our teacher's assistant, who had a passion for trees and was very knowledgeable of the trees and the different ecosystems that were on the trails. The different kinds of ecosystems located on the trails are marsh vistas, mysterious oak hammocks, pine flatwoods, and pristine popash communities.

There used to be controlled fires in these woods but it isn't allowed anymore. When they did have the fires, the heat could be felt from the opposite side of campus. I'm glad they don't have these controlled fires anymore, because I don't believe fire can be 100% controlled when it is in the woods, and I don't want our school going up in flames. 

Some of the cool things about these trails are that they are a great place to go for a walk, ride bikes, or have a picnic. It's good to get away from the world of technology once in a while. There are some spots you have to watch out for though, like where the water gets really deep, especially during the summer when it's the rainy season. A lot of Florida Gulf Coast University students do clean ups on these trails to keep them looking nice, and also helps the ecosystems that are located there. A few students from our class even helped clean up the trails, too.

Although we didn't go into water up to our chest, we definitely got into some mud, and some girls were wearing nice shoes. I think one of them was wearing heels, it was hilarious! Anyways, I think it's really nice for a change to have a university that has a lot of people who care about the environment enough to do things to help it. With these trails, students get the chance to get a feel of what Florida is supposed to be like. The best way to get someone to be interested in something is to have them experience it for themselves, which is why I wish more universities had classes like Colloquium.

Overall I thought the nature trails were pretty sweet. I'll definitely have to explore more of the trails to see what's out there. It seems like a great spot to just walk around and think about stuff, and look at some beautiful nature while you're at it.