March 24, 2010

• Update + misc

  (Long post) 

  Doing laundry...once again the limiting reagent (underwear) has forced me out of my dorm and into the laundry room. 

  So I've been M.I.A. here because I've been so wrapped up with school work and other stuff, but I've been enjoying myself too.  I guess I can write about that in a bit?  But I have a few misc. things to share first!

  ---

  I was reading an article, and for any folks concerned about college acceptance/rejection:

  
  If
  rejected by the school you love, Dr. Varmus advises in an email,
  immerse yourself in life at a college that welcomes you. "The
  differences between colleges that seem so important before you get there
  will seem a lot less important once you arrive at one that offered you a
  place."

  [Full
  article]

  From experience, I must admit that college is really whatever you make
  it out to be for yourself.  Pretty much the whole first year I spent locked up in my dorm, paying attention to only my academics and my long-term-long-distance (now ex)boyfriend.  I felt sort of trapped here at school, and it seemed to go on endlessly.  School wasn't fun, and I hated USF.  They'll tell you again and again, but it's important to make time for things
  outside of academics--then your dorm/apt. won't be like a jail cell;
  it'll help you explore and make friends too, if you leave your room from
  time to time. 

  My time here at USF has drastically improved after I
  started becoming more involved with our Red Cross Club; and I also
  started to venture out and spend time with friends.  Having a good set
  of friends seriously makes it so much better.  So so so much better. 
  And I'm really happy/lucky to have found such good friends.  I'm just amazed at how quickly I've gotten to know them 
  n_n !

  But I seriously think that people can be happy where ever they go,
  if they choose to be happy.   Cheers, always be hopeful!
  

  ---

  Contacts wearers--did you notice markings on your contacts? (123)

  

  If I remember right, my eye doctor mentioned something about different companies marking them differently...that way doctors can tell different brands apart when looking at your contacts!
  

  ---

  Alternative Spring break~

  So I went to South Florida and back, but what did I do?  Well, in a nutshell, I did marine debris (trash that floated/was dumped into the ocean and then washed ashore) removal for two solid days at Biscayne National Park and then spent the next three days at the Everglades removing invasive species.

  Day 1 --drive/arrive/set up camp

  

  (Honestly, why wouldn't you want to preserve this?)

  Day 2 & 3: Biscayne NP

  

  

  Surprisingly at the island cleanup, I found:
  --Shoes, tons and tons of shoes
  --Lightbulbs--incandescent and fluorescent.  How they survived/intact?  I have no idea.
  --Liquor bottles; many of them.  Too many drunken sailors   But seriously, be responsible.
  --Styrofoam (one block was approximately 1 yd x 1yd x 1ft.  So large that half the people who walked by thought it was a rock.  I picked it up, and was like, "Feel free to admire my strength", lol.  It even had plants growing on it...).  I didn't know they could grow on styrofoam, but seems like they can grow on anything!  But nonetheless, it was frustrating because the little balls just keep flaking off...infinite amounts of it D:.
  --Plastic containers/bottles/buckets...what really was terrible was how the sun weakened some of the plastic to the point where they would shatter upon contact D: that made it significantly harder to clean up the area
  --Rope rope and more rope (some + buoys).  Fisherman or whatever seem to just toss their line overboard and just leave it.  Or something?  There was so much rope, and it was probably the most frustrating thing to clean on the island.  It was tangled in the sand, and so heavy.  It was tangled in the mangrove, but so strong.  We had dull knives that made it even harder to use, when it comes to removing that rope.  And it's made to withstand things.  D: 
  --Balloons; don't get me started on balloons.  They're cute and very pleasant to look at, but they're dangerous.  They kill sea turtles, esp. leatherbacks, because the animals choke on them and then starve.  Please, if you care about sea turtles, try your best to secure plastic bags and balloons and prevent them from ending up in the ocean.

  

  So it was always amazing seeing how much work we achieved, but it was simultaneously disheartening to know that we only cleaned one beach of one island.  But every bit helps.  The aim of the marine debris clean up was to make the shores more habitable for sea turtles that may or may not choose to nest there later.  We worked hard in the scorching sun, being cut up by plants and bitten by mosquitoes; but more importantly, we made a difference. 

  

  (It's hard to see the trash, but we have a lot more; oh, UGA collaborated with us, and I met this really nice girl that I talked to on a boat ride to the island ~20 minutes...she told me I should read about Dr. Farmer, so I bookmarked his name; but I never got her name D:...it was weird how easy it was talking to her; I actually found it easier talking to her than to the people in my own ASB group.)

  Oh, that only brings me up to day two/three. 

  I have less to say about the other days though because it was removal of plants, whose names escape me.  They were frustrating, but bothered me less than the marine debris. 

  Oh, but I have a funny story from Day 4 (Wednesday), we met a group from Vanderbilt.  And we chatted briefly (here paraphrased):
  Us: So, what do you guys do after volunteering/at your campsite/free time?
  V: Oh, not much...you guys?
  Us: We play games like pictophone (like Telephone except alternating sentences/pictures), Mafia, winking=killing games, etc.!
  V: How do you guys see in the dark?
  Us: We use flashlights...
  V: Ohhhhhhhhh.  We don't have any.  But we're thinking of getting some tonight.

  It was their 4th night camping also.  Wow, if only they were at our campsite, they could've used some serious help!!  Honestly, I couldn't believe that out of their group of ~12, no one thought to bring a flashlight.  They even seemed amazed by our suggestion.  In our group of 8, I think half had gone camping, but all but one brought flashlights.  I even brought extras.  Wow, Vanderbilt, wow.  I know Vandy is a smart school, but seriously guys, where is your common sense?  D:  Maybe they just need to go outdoors more, or considering looking up survival lists online ><...Maybe it was just a coincidence that that large of a group of non-campers had gone together, but for anyone's future reference, BRING FLASHLIGHTS TO GO CAMPING!!!  Headlights are even better, since it'll free up your hands.  I know some campsites are fancy and come with electricity, but always pack for the worst! 

  Here are a few pictures in case you're curious! 
  Everglades:

  

  Invasive species removal!  ROAR!  This is my pile when it just started...forgot to take pictures of it afterwards :'(...was too tired/hungry (lunch was waiting...aka peanut butter and jelly...everyday).

  

  There used to be a hotel/inn here...but then a hurricane came by.  There's still a fire hydrant though.  Or maybe they added it here since then.

  

  

  

  

  Here's my lovely group minus Liz:

  

  And what camping trip is complete without these?:

  

  Yum yum! (:

  I owe a lot of replies right now; but I needed to get a few things recorded before I forgot.  Friday evening?  I already started on a few today n_n.  Yay!

  • 11:45 pm
  • 11 Comments