Nicole Ertle
Day 1 back home
Waking up to the feeling of rocking in a boat, my eyes adjust to the room around me. I'm back in Jersey and it's bittersweet. Curious about the thunderstorms last night, I open the weather app and it shows me Islamorada, Florida. My heart skips a beat as I program Toms River, NJ to get my local weather. There is a strange transition coming back home from South Florida and my experience with the tropical ospreys. Sam sums it up in her "time warp" blog written a few days ago. A parallel universe feeling of time stopping while we were away. Speaking of Sam, there was no milkshake song to wake me up today...
As I go about my day, I'm flooded with memories of the trip. Not quite preoccupied but definitely somewhat nostalgic. I'm incorporating some things from the trip into my life. I'm pleasantly surprised by just how few items I really need. Some people made the mistake of overpacking, which just may be a human tendency, but a few friends and I got around okay with just bringing a 'personal item' on the plane with us. Spirit gives the dimensions for such an item as not to exceed 18x14x8. The phone jail that existed during meal times was a clever way to encourage peer interaction and can be mimicked by just tossing the devices in a bowl during dinner, like our TA Matt does with his friends at home.
To any student contemplating registering for this course, I highly recommend it. It is a two fold experience with the preparation course in the spring, followed by the field course in the summer. The experience is what you make of it. The more studying of flash cards made to identify fish, coral, and algae, the more satisfying it is to recognize them in the field. Remember that despite the incredible adventures and casual banter, we represent Stockton University and are being graded by both a University professor and student TA. Keep in mind that our professor knows a lot of people in the marine science field and has the right to share her opinion of us with them. I found it best to delve right in to the sticky, buggy paradise that is Florida, keeping an open mind and absorbing the experience.
I've learned a lot more about marine science and where I see myself in the field. As much I have always loved dolphins, I have grown a fondness for marine macroalgae. I feel fortunate to have collected some specimens of my own, and may have gotten just a tad over excited when Dr. Z offered me some of her herbarium paper to mount my algae, along with lending me This trip was one for the books! I don't think I'm alone when I say that I'll never go to the beach again without my snorkel gear!
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI woke up dazed that I was not in Florida as well! I can't believe were back in our summer towns of Jersey! The feather algae picture will forever be our favorite picture with real mermaid earrings! Also, were not real mermaids unless we had free floating sargassum tangled into our braids! As we continue on our marine science journeys, I hope we can all stay in touch with wherever the field may take us!