This is a quote, blog, unquote.
I have been at Eckerd for officially three weeks! Three whole weeks! It has gone by so quickly. I really cannot believe it. My autumn term class was called "Existential Imagination in Post-war France" with Professor Hilliker. We read "The Plague" by Camus and watched three French films, "Le Temps du Loup," "La Haine," and some other film that was supposedly funny but I didn't think so. It was still good. Or goot.
It has been a crazy three weeks!
I met with the other freshman research projects students and the professors last week. At the meeting they talked about the projects we could do and the advantages the FRP can give you as a freshman. A lot of their students have gotten amazing scholarships and internships because of their FRP. It's pretty cool to hear about. The project choices are as follows:
1. Studying a group of Gulf dolphins, identifying them and studying their behaviors and interactions.
2. Dolphin acoustics, how they communicate.
3. Looking at pipefish dispersal, what happens after pipefish are born, if they migrate immediately or stay in their original location. No one really knows what happens to pipefish after they are born.
4. A study on armored catfish, which are just algae eaters (like we used to have in our aquarium at home), that have recently become very populous in FL and no one really knows how they got here. This project would try to figure out if it was a singular preggers catfish or if it was several catfish that escaped/were dumped into the waters.
5. Restoration ecology. Not really sure what to write about this one except that it would involve a lot of field collections.
At first I REALLY wanted to do the pipefish. But then a few days later I changed my mind and decided that I wanted to work on dolphin acoustics. Weeeeeeoooh dolphins! I am very excited. The professors seem really cool and nice and all the people in the project also seemed really cool. Although a lot of the students already had experience doing research and such, which makes me nerrrrvvy knickers.
SO YES, I will get to play with dolphins, hopefully : )
But Dr. Stenislowski (or somesing ending in -ski) said that most people would get to participate in the field work, like collecting pipefish and such, which is seriously SO cool because I cannot wait! SO yeah. Exciting stuff.
I ALSO had a meeting for the honors program that I am a part of this past Monday. It requires two extra books, one of which is written by my professor. At the dinner meeting I sat at a table with Professor Felice, who will be one of the professors teaching the class. He was very nice. Professor Felice told us that the honors program is not meant to require a ton of extra academic work, but to rather serve as a forum for tip top notch students in it. The honors class is HUGE this year, normally I think there are only thirty students, but we have nearly SIXTY! So we are splitting into two separate classes. At a volunteering event I met the other professor, Professor Brunello, who is very funny and likes the Toledo Rockets.
Today the upperclassmen are moving into the dorms. Not very many people are moving into my house, but nearly the entire top floor of the neighboring house has had to move in today. It's been kind of crazy with all the moving in and such. I've just been chilling though. I did all of my laundry, and it was successful except I accidentally shrunk my pantaloons, my favorite ones, too. I got SUCH a kick out of doing my laundry from start to finish to hangning it up and putting it away. It was weird. And cool. I felt very accomplished, in fact.
Today I also found a piano. Which was awesome!
Real classes start Monday and I am very excited.
Very excited.
Vair vair nervous.
My classes are:
1. Intermediate French 201
2. Geological Oceanography!
3. Precalculus,
4. Western Heritage plus a two-hours-ish extra thing for honors.
Doesn't that sound awesome? I'm going to be very busy, I think. But like I said, I am excited.
Hey, I will talk to you all latah' because right now I am going to go to a soccer game. Wooooohoooo!
Love, Syd!
