Journal 1 - Introduction, Preconceptions and Sense of Place
Greetings! My name is Tiff, and this page will have my journal entries for University Colloquium. I was born in New York, but graduated from a high school in Naples. I am a first year Mathematics student, with minors in Computer Science and Statistics. I participate in the Honors College, TRiO SSS, Math Club, and Software Engineering Club. I hope to go to graduate school for Applied Mathematics, and afterwards I would like to become a data scientist for an organization focused around enviromental reform.
Before taking this course, I already expected that there would be a lot of writing, in addition to a heavy focus on learning about the environment and sustainability. My team members shared that they had similar thoughts about the class to me. We also had all known about the water walk prior to taking this class, which is a little daunting considering that I am only 5’1. From this class, I expect to learn about how to live sustainably in Southwest Florida, and how to further promote environmental health within my own community. It is very exciting, as I already have some previous experience volunteering in both high school and college with environmentally-focused organizations, such as Pepper Ranch Preserve and J.N. Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge.
The former is actually contains my sense of place. Whenever I have had the opportunity to be over there, I feel overcome with a sense of calmness and peace. I feel isolated from the troubles of the world, and the ambience of the breathtaking flora and fauna is very soothing. I believe that the time I spent there helped me apprciate the little things in life, and to not be rushing around all the time. When conversing with other members of my team, they also had similar sentiments about their own sense of place: that it grounded them and gave them a sense of peace and asuredness. One team member had mentioned that their grandma’s backyard had been their sense of place growing up. This was interesting, as their sense of place was grounded in more familial roots, while mine was based more on my immeadiate surroundings. Another team member had mentioned that Barefoot Beach in Naples had been their sense of place. This is interesting, as our locations vary wildly in terms of biome. This just goes to show that many different areas can be important for many different kinds of people, so effort should be put towards protecting the enviroment for all to enjoy.