Saturday, April 26, 2014

An Important Quote

“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”
Mahatma Gandhi

I found this quote extremely intersting. I really like Mahatma Gandhi and all that he stands for. I too am Indian which just reinforces my beliefs for the things he believes in. This quote especially struck me and I thought that it would be most appropriately related to my Colloquium class. He is explaining that we are hurting the worlds forests by cutting down trees, killing wildlife and ridding them of their natural habitats. He explains that what we are doing to the forests, we are also doing to one another. Is it true that the human race has gotten so greedy and violent that we would do such hostile things to each other? We really should check ourselves because it is a little scary to think what this world is turning into. I hope that everyone who reads this will think twice the next time they want to hurt another human being or cut down trees in a forest. Very powerful, yet very true.

A Quote from State of the World 2012

Part of my discussion for the class was to find a quote from our book. This quote really stood out to me and I wanted to include it in my journal.

PG 58-59 "Currently, more than 1.2 million people are killed and 50 million injured each year on the world's roads."

In our book, there was a statistic that shows how many hundreds of thousands of people die each year in car related accidents. 1.2 million to be more specific. That’s right, a whopping 1, 200 000 people. SO that’s pretty much wiping out the entire population of Maine, or Hawaii, or New Hampshire. Yeah, an entire state can be sacrificed in return for the 1.2 million people that die. And that statistic isn’t within 10 years, 5 years, not even 3 years. That’s 1.2 million people EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Speeding is the number one cause for traffic related incidents on the roads. So you know when you’re driving and you are disgusted by seeing a police officer hiding in the bushes with his radar on? Well, he’s actually saving your life, and thousands of others. I know that their tactics work. Throughout my first two years of driving I sped constantly, on the highways doing at least 80+ MPH. Thankfully I was never involved in an accident (knocks on wood). However, I received about 3 speeding related tickets within two years. Now I drive at the speed limit, or slightly above it, because I now understand what the consequences of speeding are. I’m lucky that the consequences I had to face were only a ticket and not something worse like death or a hospital visit for myself or someone else. Other than not speeding, everyone can take part in safer driving habits by driving more defensively instead of aggressive - stop riding bumpers! Arriving somewhere 10 minutes earlier is not worth the aggravation and danger you put yourself and others in. It's never worth it. It is important to enforce stricter laws regarding aggressive driving habits because I see it on a daily basis, especially in Southwest Florida with all of the college students driving back and forth to and from school and on I-75.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Salt Water Field Trip

For my Marine Field Trip, I went to a familiar place - The Loggerhead Marine Life Center. If you live in South Florida, you have probably heard of this place. The Loggerhead Marine Life Center is a center in Juno Beach, Florida that rehabilitates sea turtles (hence the name Loggerhead). I say that this place is familiar because I used to volunteer there in high school for about one year. During that volunteer process I learned all about sea turtles, their habitats, how to rehabilitate them, etc. I also worked in the gift shop and sold many Marine Life Center souvenirs to tourists from all over the world. It was really the best volunteer experience i had other than my community service hours.
Upon entering the Marine Life Center, there is a museum that houses many different types of sea turtles and talks about the history of them. Hanging from the ceiling is an enormous model sculpture of a sea turtle that once roamed this earth millions of years ago. Unfortunately, it is extinct now. However, sea turtles are one of the longest living, oldest known type of species that are still in existence today. A part of that success is due to the Marine Life Center that finds all of these turtles that have been hurt by oceanic activity like boats, or turtles that have been attacked by sharks. FYI the Marine Life Center is a non profit company that only works off of donations. What an amazing center huh? They are truly a wonderful group of people and veterinarians that work there.

Every year that have something called Turtle Fest that is happening on April 5th. I will be going to the event just like I do every year. At the event there is a live band, boutiques, shops, food stands and more all on the Marine Life Center property. It is beautiful because it backs right up onto the beach and overlooks the ocean. At that point, you really realize the true beauty of nature in all its glory.

This is the Marine Life Center


Me at Turtle Fest:



The Lee County Conservation 20/20 has a mission statement on their website that states: "To acquire properties of environmental significance, restore those lands to their natural state and condition, manage them in an environmentally acceptable manner and provide public recreational opportunities that are compatible with protecting the natural resources."

Retrieved from: http://www.conservation2020.org/