#5. Aware, not scared.

I have noticed that, since beginning this course, I am becoming more aware of my habits. I am less likely to leave the faucet running while brushing my teeth, to take showers just for the sake of stress relief like I used to do, and to leave lights on if no one is in the room. I am more likely to carpool when given the chance, wash my fruits and vegetables before eating them, and recycle. I cringe now when I see those lakes near shopping centers with diapers floating on the top. My heart even sinks a little when I see areas of land plowed down, hundreds of trees waiting in piles to be pushed through the wood chopper.
This never used to be me. To be quite honest, I didn't believe in global warming. I thought recycling was beneficial, but probably not absolutely necessary. I never understood the importance in washing vegetables when they came from the supermarket. I never turned off lights behind me as I left a room. I simply didn't think about it, I suppose. I believed all environmentalists to be advocates of scaring people into action. I believed that they all supported sacrificing your way of life to conserve resources. No way would I be doing that!
At first I even believed that would be the aim of this course. However, as I continue to attend class now and complete assignments, I'm realizing that this course was intended to promote the exact type of change that I'm experiencing. It's not meant to scare you into action. It's meant to make you more aware of the little things you can do to help by acquainting you with your surroundings. Those little changes can translate to big changes nationally (and even globally) if only everyone will get on board.

#4. Rookery Bay Boat Tour

On February 28, 2013, I had the opportunity to take one of Rookery Bay's boat tours with my Colloquium class. We left from Shell Island Road near Marco Island and traveled through the estuary to Key Wadin beach, taking water quality samples, identifying species, and testing salinity along the way.
I have had very few opportunties to take a boat ride in my life. Honestly, I believe that I could count my experiences on a boat on one hand. During this tour with my classmates, I realized that that is probably the reason I don't consider myself a true Florida beach girl. I have heard many of my friends say "You can shake the sand from your shoes but it will never leave your soul." I don't typically feel that way. Of course I love running the beach as the sun comes up or walking the pier as it sets, but not so much that I doubt I could live anywhere else. In fact, I have been eager to move away since I turned thirteen. Well... I HAD been eager to move away.
Being out on the water changes my opinion of my home entirely. The world becomes such a different place when you lose sight of the shore. I'm out there so infrequently, however, that between boat trips, I forget that. I forget the way it feels to watch dolphins jumping through the otherwise still water, wading birds catching fish between the roots of the mangroves, or ospreys nesting atop the posted "Wake Zone" signs. I forget the wonder in pulling a fish up into the boat and trying to guess what it is, the feel of the breeze on my face and... yes, even the feel of sand between my toes. I had grown up away from the beach, in the pine flat woods of Florida. It's a whole different feel out there, so this boat tour of Rookery Bay meant a lot to me because it helped me to reconnect with another part of my home state's environment. In fact, by the time I returned home, I was ready to paint that sappy "sand" quote on a canvas for my bedroom. When the thought first crossed my mind I couldn't help but laugh, but it also made me proud- proud to call Southwest Florida my home.