Incoming Reflection

To be completely honest, I am scared of this class. My whole Florida Gulf Coast University career I have heard stories of the "dreaded Colloquium". People always complain of the journal and the terribly hot field trips, and to some extent they're right. But what I have come to see in my short time in this class is that these people are the one's that don't appreciate their surroundings. They are the ones speeding in their cars and begging City Counsil for another shopping mall.

I am a born and raised Southwest Floridian. I grew up in Naples and was practially raised on the beach. Even to this day I love to jump in the water and just dive under to see what life forms are swimming amongst us. One of my fondest memories in my childhood was when we went to The Keys for our family vacation. We went out on a boat and when snorkeling in the reefs. Being with all the fish, manta rays, and baracudas (yes, baracudas!) made life seem so simple. They just swam around going about their business and they seemed so happy. On the mainland everything gets so complicated and even to this day when I get overly worked up I just think of how soothing that experience made me feel, and I am back to normal.

After that snorkeling experience I realized how relaxing nature can be. So from that day on whenever I got anxious, I just went for a nice long walk on the beach. The feeling of the sand on my feet and the sound of the waves crashing gently on the shore made me feel so peaceful. No matter what was going on in my life, a sunset and the water on my feet could make all those worries melt away.

I am hoping this class can even further that love and appreciation I have for nature. I am graduating this spring and hopfully beginning my master's in the fall. With this comes a whole new set of stressors. I, of course, will turn to nature to help soothe my worries and I am hoping Colloquium will give me a completely different appreciation for the beauty around me. Maybe when I go for my long walks now I will see something I never noticed before and say "Oh, I learned about this in Colloquium", and forget about whatever it was that I was worried about.