This semester I will be sea kayaking in the Florida Everglades and 10,000 Islands. This OAC trip will be my Columbus To-Do List experience.
This opportunity presented to me through OSU, the OAC, and ENR Scholars is obviously not something everyone gets the chance to do. I am looking forward to just about everything, as cheesy as that sounds. If I had to pick though I would definitely say that getting to sleep on a different beach every night for six days sounds pretty amazing. Also, I have heard a lot about how the team bonds on this trip, and that is something I am definitely looking forward to. Ethan talked about there being a channel that has bacteria that create a bioluminescent protein that makes the water glow. I have studied this before and I would also love to see that in person. I think I’m going to develop a lot of new skills on this trip because it is such a unique opportunity.
I really want to learn about knots, as silly as that sounds, but I believe we will being have a knots workshop. Looking at bigger picture objectives I hope that by the end of this trip I will be able to navigate and plan a trip of my own one day (to a less intense scale). Also I want to gain a deeper appreciation of the Everglades and nature in general. The Florida Everglades usually just get labeled as a swamp and disregarded as a national park. However, from what I’ve studied so far in preparation for this trip it seems to harbor a lot of beauty and diversity. I think being there first person will definitely help this mindset evolve in not just me, but everyone on the trip.
An experience I’ve already had so far in relation to the trip would be the pre-trip Brunch. Here a couple other scholars, myself, the leaders, Esther and her dog Linus chowed down on some delicious breakfast food and talked about the trip, the Everglades, the animals, and some good advice. A lot about the history of the Everglades, some “nature nuggets”, and past experiences were shared to get everyone hyped for the trip. I’m preparing for it now by getting a lot of clothing that will actually be beneficial to have during the trip and doing some research on the Everglades. The leaders said it’s much more fun when you know information on something in the Everglades and you come across it and get to share it with everyone. Also I am told to bring a journal, so I am mentally preparing myself to having to write in that every night (I use to try and journal but I always get lazy and put it off). I really can’t wait for this amazing experience and to reread this blog post and see how I’ve changed post-trip.