Journal 20

Describe some of the high points or the things you found most difficult about colloquium.

There were a couple of things that I found to be difficult about colloquium. I think that the most difficult thing is the excessive amount of reading we have to do. Not only, are the readings excessive, but they are extremely repetitive. Save the environment, environmental education, sustainability, human impact, etc. After you have read four different readings you get tired of reading about the same things. On top of the reading being excessively long they are sometime hard to read. Now, I LOVE to read in my spare time, but those are books that I WANT to read not ones that I am FORCED to read, and there’s a big difference. The books and articles that we are required to read are also complicated at times. The authors use complicated phrases and words that I think if they just put more in laymen’s terms people would actually be able to enjoy reading their work more. The next difficult things about colloquium are the movies. When I say this I mean it is hard to watch a movie one week and get a test and fully comprehend what we saw three weeks later. Sometimes we are asked very intricate questions one a movie that yes, I personally can recall the gist of the movie, but not small minute details. I am taking five OTHER classes excluding colloquium, so one small detail in a movie, three weeks later doesn’t exist in my memory.

        It was also difficult not knowing what your grade was throughout the semester. Yes, I’m not going to lie and say if I knew I had a high grade then I would take it easier at times, but it would have definitely been helpful. Not knowing what you have in class does make a difference, because like most other students who take colloquium environmental biology or sustainability isn’t my major. While I think the things that we learn in class are very valuable, I think that my major classes are more valuable. I know that when I have a finance test coming up and I also know that I have to read 20+ pages for colloquium, I am picking finance. This is because finance is something that I am going to NEED when I want to get a job. If I don’t know the things that I am supposed to learn in classes that pertain to my major when I get out of college, but I know a lot about sustainability, realistically it’s not going to benefit me. I feel as though you can learn a lot of the stuff that we learn in class by just being and informed person.

        I also, think that it is difficult having a class schedule that isn’t really definite. It is kind of a letdown when you stay up till two in the moring reading things that you are supposed to be quizzed on in class the next day, only to find out that you’re not going to be. I’d rather have a class schedule that is followed or at least have an email sent out informing me that I wasn’t going to be tested on the material as planned. This just makes my ‘happiness or appreciation’ for the class drop lower and lower.