Incoming Reflection - What are your initial expectations of Colloquium?

1. Incoming Reflection - What are your initial expectations of Colloquium?

As a Floridian, and being raised by my hippie father, exploring natures plunders has always been an integral part of my life. Whether it was sauntering as a beach bum, jeopardizing my innocence on airboat rides in the Everglades or exploring trails around the state, I have always felt as if I have had a good moral standing with nature. Exploring these assorted environments aided in molding my understanding of how precious nature and her resources are and even, if I dare say, have fashioned me into a tree hugger.

  My sister and I eyes were open to the diverse beauty in nature from Florida and North Carolina to Europe and Australia, but my favorite memories and experiences with the cosmos was camping. One summer we camped for a month with two other families, encountering different landscapes and adventures. Tree climbing was our favorite activity and let me tell you, it was invigorating as a young girl.  Camping is one of the closest enterprises to be in tune with a surrounding ecosystem and being surrounded by nature has always felt like home.

Having a friendly relationship with nature makes me excited for this class.  I hope to see different parts of Florida’s treasures that I perhaps haven’t had a chance to encounter and the perspectives that they hold. I am really trusting that this will not be another cookie cutter class with no exploration of the outside world.  What I would love to see is another understanding of the view of nature and see if it can be melted into the rigors of engineering. Nature is whimsical, poetic and free whereas engineering offers direct solutions backed by laws of science. I hope to be a part of bettering nature and its stability in all aspects of my life and con not wait to aid in a big way.