First, I never thought this class will be such an impact to me as it turned out be. I’m a business major and I thought this general elective requirement class will be meaningless and won’t require much of my time. However, I was wrong. St.Edwards makes every single class meaningful and memorable. This class was no exception. I had to put in time into this class by spending time with nature at least an hour each week. I thought it will be difficult but it turned out be easier than I thought. Even though I dislike writing, I figured out writing a blog wasn’t hard at all since I usually had a lot of interesting observations to write about. Throughout the semester I learned and saw a lot. Every time I spent with nature was not only a learning experience, but an adventure. Even if I went to the same place more than 5 times, there was always something different nature had to offer. In fact one of the words that stood out to me from the Word cloud picture was the word “different”. Nature is always changing. From observing seasonal changes to seeing new plants pop out. There were hot days and cold days. Rainy days and windy days. It was all an amazing experience !
I still remember my first time going to the McKinney Roughs nature park. I usually went on mornings. Morning was another word that stood out to me in the Word cloud picture. I’m guessing many of my classmates also went on the morning to do their observation on nature. There were only like two times I went on the afternoon but I preferred going on mornings. There’s something about the morning air that is so pure and peaceful. I’m usually more awake and conscious in the morning. In the afternoon I’m usually tired from the long day and I don’t really pay attention to nature as much.
Another word that popped out to me a lot in the Word Cloud was the word “Trees”. Then there’s the other word “tree” in there that also sticks out but not as much as trees. Trees were definitely something everybody talked about. There were a lot of cool trees where I went. I loved the pine trees. Which reminds me of a quote from A Sand County Almanac where Aldo Leopold says “The only conclusion I have ever reached is that I love all trees, but I am in love with pines”. I loved pines too. They remind me of Christmas trees and I love Christmas Season. I wished it snowed in Texas at times. That way I could go to the park during winter and observe nature during the snow. There was also another tree I loved. These trees were located along the Colorado River at the park I went to. They looked like trees from a jungle! The tree branches twisted like crazy and the trees were so tall! I would have never thought many different species of trees would exist in one park. I also remember seeing leaves fall from a tree during the month of October. They were falling like every 2 seconds. It was so weird and cool. This small observance made me really happy. I would want to come back in the Spring and see the leaves grow.
I would talk about all the beautiful things I saw in the park with my parents and siblings. I even decided to take my siblings with me one day to the park. My little sisters had loved it. My 17 year old brother had loved it too except he wanted to leave already when I told him I was going to be here for an hour. The reason he wanted to leave was because he was really into his phone. He hardly glanced up during our walk to look at the beautiful nature scenery. There’s something about technology that tries to control our lives. I understood my brother, however. He goes to the same High School I went to. The high school doesn’t offer courses such as this environmental class that we have. Only science classes such as biology and anatomy and physiology are taught. I think this type of class should be made a requirement. There are so many environmental issues that need to be addressed. One of them is the cutting down of forests. I remember the day I was driving to the park with my siblings along the road there was a forest being burned. It was being cleared. If I had passed through that forest anytime before this project I would’ve just thought “Oh cool our little town of Cedar Creek is growing bigger”. That’s what I had said when the Formula One was built by our house. I had not really thought of it much before the project but the city of Austin is expanding a lot and with that many trees are going to be cut down. I now worry for those trees. Especially after loving many of them at the nature park.
I am definitely going to continue going to that park or any other nature park in Austin. I could go running down a trail, have a picnic with friends or just sit down and meditate. There are so many things one can do with nature. I want to try going to nature at night next time. I want to see how different it looks. It will be a scary experience, I know. I get scared of nature sometimes. For example, one time that it was going to rain a lot of animals (mostly grasshoppers) by the river were making a lot of noise. I felt they were going to attack me. I’ll try to go with someone if I go at night. I’ll be too scared to go alone. Many people have forgotten the free stuff nature offers us. I think I could save a lot of money by just going to a park and enjoying nature. Nature is what keeps us in touch with our inner self.
