Experiences I gained at my Community College

I preface this with i took a year at a huge university, and my community college offered me more, so save the money, go local honey!

i miss school so bad some days.

Thanks for stopping in, join me in my journey to write more.

Backstory first,

I was a covid senior, so I truly should’ve waited to enter college, but i wanted out of my parents house for the first time. Two failed science classes and my parents getting a divorce later, I ended up back at home and returning to my community college. I did a couple classes here back in high school with dual enrollment, so I was familiar. However, I was coming through with new light, new direction, and a lot of heartbreak. But it felt like returning home, I retook the classes I failed, passed, changed my major, added another minor. I had my associates in two months of returning home, and a community with my environmental department.

I graduated December ‘24 with my bachelors in environmental science, chemistry concentration and a double minor in psychology and biology, cum laude.

Hydrology Maymester ‘23

I took a month off of work for this.

A month long course traveling the state learning hydrology techniques. Filled with camping, water sampling, kayaking, spelunking, white water rafting, and so much homesickness for my cats. Also lots of math, like my professors really thought our brains were functioning that well, some days my steps were over 20,000 bro. This was my first camping trip in a long long time btw.

This trip beat me down physically, but I would never trade the friendships and experiences I gained on the journey. I got sunburned, bruised, bug bites to hell, sun poisoning, BRO ants covered my entire tent at one point. I upgraded that crappy 1 person tent within a week of this trip.

NEVER GET A ONE PERSON TENT.

I upgraded to a 4 person and it was smooth sailing from there. Mind you i got a air mattress after the 1st night. Sleeping setup will make or break you, invest in it, I was very mistaken.

I saw so much beautiful wildlife, sunsets and rises, forests, and smiles of some of the most impactful people of my college experience. My professors supported me through this trip, I was so scared to go into the caves, but I conquered that fear surrounded by community.

Shout out to my bestie i gained through this trip, I’m not sure where I would be without you.

The Itinerary:

• Kayaking at Okefenokee Swamp & Camp Overnight

  • no showers after sweating all day, it was a 4 hour kayaking trip, it was a miserable first night

• Visit Wakulla Springs State Park

  • saw baby manatees, water was gorgeous to swim in, bruised the entire backs of each of the thighs from jumping off the high dive

• Visit Gulf Specimen Aquarium Panacea, FL

  • got to also visit a their dock to see their fishing techniques

• Visit The Jones Center at Ichauway

  • saw prescribed burn sites, beautiful forests, lovely creeks. i have a picture of me standing off in a field instead of listening to our guide :/

• Camp at Seminole State Park

  • the only cabins we got, were a blessing bc i got sun poisoning and was stuck in front of my fan shaking like a dog in the dark for hours while everyone did water sampling and made dinner, the spaghetti was delicious, though was awkward with everyone looking at me with pity

• Hike Providence Canyon State Park

  • absolutely adored, some of my favorite pictures, remember eating chicken salad alone on a rock in the middle of the park meanwhile my class was taking group photos I knew nothing about (this is a theme)

• Camp at Cloudland Canyon State Park for 8 days

  • great site, would absolutely return, beware of scorpions though, but youre camping so you should be aware friends are part of the package

• White Water Rafting on Ocoee River

  • I have a fear of water, I was on the float with my professors, I had an anxiety attack on the way to the top of the river. My thighs got burnt crispy, I regret my decision for shorts. But they fed us halfway through and i swear by the classic combo of a coldcut sandwich and chips, I was so grateful.

• Hike Cloudland

  • gorgeous waterfalls, got over 9,000 steps (35 flights of stairs), didn’t do the long hike around, was very rough to get back up to the top since my professors wanted to visit all of the waterfalls

• Hike to Stephen’s Gap & Enter Cave (Beginner Friendly)

  • loved the hike, would go back to just hangout in the woods tbh, waterfall was pretty

  • i was one of the last people to get to the picnic tables, because I was staying back with my friends, I still remember our teachers looking at the clouds and asking each other “is that spinning?” we high-tailed out there so fast, a tornado was literally forming.

• Spelunk at Tumbling Rock (Intermediate)

  • I was scared, at one point it was me and two other classmates in the middle of cave with only our headlamps and snacks singing beyonce. We had decided not move on any farther in the cave so we had to stay put, time didn’t quite feel real down there.

• I opted out of Buggy Top as I wasn’t doing any crawling.

• Explored Chattanooga, went to the Tennessee Aquarium, devoured some good sushi.

  • loved the butterfly garden, did some shopping at this local bookshop and general store

• Camp at Vogel State Park

• Hike Amicalola Falls State Park

  • highly recommend, gorgeous views!

• Our final campsite was Black Rock State Park

  • This site was literally down a side of a mountain, isolated bro, the kinda setting for a horror movie type campsite, one building with power and a kitchen

  • Hole in the ground for toilets with no lights and like a 50% chance of a snake being in there at all times, spiders always included, basically a shower head and a tarp for a shower (ankles exposed man). The campfires were the best part of the night though.

  • the spiders man, i have so so many pictures of those suckers, theyre harmless, they just like to swarm

  • one night there was a pack of coyotes near the campsite

• Hike Black Rock Mountain

  • I was apparently considered lost at some point by my professors, as no one could find me and you dont have service on the trail. I was looking at mushrooms and bugs living it up, had no clue. The summit elevation is 3640ft.

• Hike Tulullah Gorge

  • the view is breathtaking! opted not to do the longer trail, as I was already jello at this point in the trip, so i pushed my way back to the air conditioned learning center, found a corner with an outlet and ate chicken salad again.

• Return Home.

  • had a lovely what i believe was a 6 hour drive home at that point, which i had the whole seat row to myself, alot of the people in my van had left in one persons personal vehicle, so it was very quiet on the way back

Everglades Trip ‘24

This was a short weekend trip centered around spring break for two of my environmental classed at the time.

Itinerary:

• Tour Sweetwater Wetlands Park (Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park)

  • was raining but still lovely to visit

• Wet Walk Tour at Big Cypress Institute

  • yes, a wet walk through the Everglades of Florida, waist deep water in the pouring rain, i had purchased a wet suit in preparation of this. my hair dye was literally dying my shirt, really left my mark i guess

  • so mad i didnt plan on taking my phone with me to take pictures, i still remember being in awe of all the air plants on the trees, so pretty in there

• Visit Lake Okeechobee

  • was nice, but tbh, we were cold tired and hungry, there was literally a horrible storm coming in

• Free day: shell hunting on Marco Island & a hot meal

  • I had never been so grateful for fries, got some pretty shells, did a bit of swinging, enjoyed the beach though i wasn’t dressed for it ( I didnt have my suit but had on quick dry pants, sun protection i guess)

  

  

  

  

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Bio Research on Sapelo Island July ‘24

A week long research trip on an island with one way on and off, no convenience stores, and limited residence. You have to have a reason to even get permission for the boat ride over, got a nice sweatshirt from their gift shop too :)

• D0

  • Settling in, picked rooms ( got my camping besties), enjoyed a sunset, ate a great meal by the on staff cook, ended the night with a practice run of ghost crab collection

  • did i mention the truck was an exposed bed, wooden benches arrangement, and half of the bench was coming off, quite bouncy roads

• D1

  • on the beach at 8am, watched a baby sea turtle make its journey to the ocean. we got a tour around the island, tons of beautiful landscapes to take in, however my ass was hurting by the end of the day bc of the bumpy terrain, laughed it off though, you have to be in positive spirits to be in field work baby :)

• D2

  • Start data collection on periwinkle snails and fiddler crab biometrics and core sampling, lab work day

  • walked around the beach after dinner, did some shell hunting

• D3

  • Morning trawel, got to see a dolphin , mark-recapture of periwinkle snails in the marsh hiked a trail, ended the night with water quality sampling and drying cores

• D4

  • morning water sampling, lab work day, spent some of the day in the library browsing books, night beach time

• D5

  • dune vegetation sampling, lab work day, took a walk around the area for a break, there was a snake outside our dorms. night beach time

• D6

  • started the morning with watching presentations at the symposium. our last tour of the island and boat ride back to mainland

ENVS Camping Week Trip Nov ‘24

My final camping trip before graduation, this one had some sentimental feelings. My bestie and I, although drove independently, traveled there together. We were attached on this trip bc I felt we both knew we weren’t gonna see each other again for a while after this.

The drive up was gorgeous, always so grateful to see the fall colors when im surrounded by only green all year. It was freezing every single night, i had a sleeping bag rated under 10 degrees and was still cold in my layers.

• Camp at Cloudland Canyon State Park

• Hike to Stephen’s Gap, Spelunking

  • I didn’t go in, I just wanted to visit the forest again

• Visit the Tennessee Aquarium

  • still one of my favorites for butterflies and frogs

• Tour the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute

  • we got to tour their labs, learn about their ongoing research, and learn about the environment and species they are fighting to conserve

• Drive Home :(

  • atlanta traffic could kiss my a**.

Anyways theres my recap. I have other kayaking day trip experiences too.

I miss school, and Ive been thinking about taking up studying again. Everyone keeps posting about these personal curriculums and I kinda wanna incorporate notes my college days into it.

Bye for now!