Monday, October 1, 2007

Beginnings are apt to be shadowy....

The Environmental Sociology class is anticipating the trip and wondering what adventures are before us. We hope that our field notes will be inspired by the memories of Rachel Carson and C. Wright Mills, both of whom were pioneers in their field and understood the intersection between science, the soul, and activism. Each student in the class will contribute their thoughts to this thread: their hopes for the trip and their worries - before we begin. As Carson wrote in the first page of The Sea Around Us , "Beginnings are apt to be shadowy...." And so it is with the beginning of our adventure.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope that my experience on this trip will further my knowledge and interest within what Rachel Carson deeply explains in her book. I am excited to be involved with an event that is respectfully meaningfull to the enviroment and the people within it. through this experience i hope to take with me knowledge, and inspiration to hopefully one day inspire and inform others of the many unique values we have in this possession of our natural habitat. We may be witness to great historical events as we take our involvement to better our responsibitlies and habits towards the environment. I appreciate the opportunity to travel along in this adventure, and i hope that everyone takes memories, and lessons learned with them when the time has come to an end.

Anonymous said...

Thoughts and fears

So I think I'm supposed to list thoughts and fears about the trip. I think it should be a fun time, especially since I like being outside and am interested in conservation. I don't really have any fears for this particular trip, except maybe getting stuck on Wallops Island somewhere all alone.

Anonymous said...

Saving the world one oyster at a time...

I don't think hoping for fun is necessary for this trip. I imagine the vast majority of the students and professors going on the trip are somewhat interested in conservation, and being with a group of like minded individuals, for the most part, usually equates to fun. So instead of hoping for fun, I guess my biggest hope would be for good stories. I am sure this hope will be realized, because I have never heard anyone claim to be saving the world, one oyster at a time. At anyone who can make that claim is bound to develop good stories in the process.

As for fears I am unsure. I guess I am afraid that I won't have time to do my work that is due next week, but that is why we have all-nighters. I am afraid one oyster will go unnoticed and feel left out. I am afraid that we won't see any of the wild ponies. I guess I have no real legitimate fears for this trip, because I have convinced myself that it will be quite enjoyable and informative (and it took very little convincing). If the ocean is as spectacular and entrancing as Carson has described, I don't think I have anything to fear, except maybe those nasty creatures that live deep in the black waters of the ocean, but I don't think we will be in water that deep.

Anonymous said...

Fun for all...

Looking ahead to the trip, I think we all are going to have a great time. Thinking more about the trip, I don't think it would be the majority of the students first choice for fall break. I'm sure once we get there, and begin our research are thoughts of laying at home on the couch for fall break, will begin to fade away. I am really looking forward to this filed trip. I think it will be a great experience to get back in touch with the environment once again as most of us have slowly distance ourselves from over the years. As far as fear for the trip I really do not have any. I enjoy the outdoors and think it will be a fun time. While on this trip I looking forward to the new experiences I might encounter that I might not have had doing some other alternative fall break.

Anonymous said...

Impatience setting in...

I am just really excited about this trip. I love all kinds of animals and am really looking forward to interacting with some of them. I have my camera, I have my bags, lets go already.

jameson said...

After much research I just recently figured out how to post to this blog. I was nervous about the trip because I didn't know anyone well, or how to do the research we were attempting to do. From the first day of class I thought of this trip as a sort of "vacation" and was excited to go. My excitement for this trip is based on seeing the abundance of animals and different species that live around us. Beginnings are indeed apt to be shadowy but with time and commitment we will persevere. In my oppinion this trip will be an adventure into the minds of Rachel Carson and C. Wright Mills.

Anonymous said...

I must say that I was rather nervous about giving up my fall break to go down to Wallops Island even though I enjoy doing things for the environment. As it turned out I had the best time ever. It was great learning more about Rachel Carson and the Sea around us (both the book and actually the ocean, bays and marshes). It was great to build relationships with the people in our class and get a better understanding on how our actions in Shippensburg do affect the Chesapeake Bay and all of the wonderful organisms that depend on that habitat. I truly can say that I would go back in a heartbeat to do it all over again! What a great and fun learning experience! Now its time to bring back what we learned and make changes in our everyday life and encourage others to do the same!!!

kattastrophe said...

I was unfortunately unable to blog before we left for the trip, however I remember how I was feeling before it all began. There was an array of mixed feelings that I experience as the trip approached. I remember the fear of not being able to do homework, which I'm sure most students shared, as well as excitement, and curiosity.

I wasn't sure what to expect besides being busy all of the time because our schedule was jammed packed with back to back activities and speakers. There were also a few glitches with insurance for the trip that was figured out last minute. With all the mechanics in preparing I wasn't thinking to much of what was going to happen on the trip. However, my curiosity was building from the beginning of the semester until the commencement of the trip. Questions like, What am I going to learn? What is going to be new to me that I haven't experienced before? How will this trip relate to the course? These questions were all going to be answered soon, along with an unexpected impact on my life, changing how I viewed many aspects of the world and our environment.

forblueskies said...

Obviously my post to this blog is more than a little late...

I am not going to lie, when I first found out about the trip I was ecstatic. I love being outdoors and learning about our environment. The more I learned about what was to be expected the more impatient I got. I just wanted to go! So, maybe it wasn't a typical Fall Break where I could go home work a little, and veg out on the couch. It would be better, I would be learning and working along side my peers about something I have always been passionate about.

I did have a couple small fears before leaving though. Some of these were, how am I going to get any work done? And I don't really have any friends going on the trip, hopefully I won't be left out. See? Silly fears. Not enough to kill my enthusiasm.

Vinny R. said...

I finally got this blog working and clearly I am a little more than late but i have to leave something. Before this trip i'll be honest I didn't want to go (i'm sure many felt the same way.) I wanted to go home and visit friends and family. I truly didn't know what to expect out of this trip first going into it. I just felt like I had to make the best out of it and it turned out that it was not hard to do at all. Also, I didn't know what the day's activities would include (I kind of played it day by day.)

I not only had a great time on this trip but I also learned some new things about our environment and the different situations that the Wallops Island area has to deal with. Not to mention all the new friends that I made on that trip. If Shippensburg has another one of these trips over a break it would definitly be an option that I would consider instead of going home

dankidy_dank said...

I really dont know what to expect from this trip nor do I know what activities we are going to be involved in. Should be interesting.