Journal 1 - Introduction, Pre-conceptions and Sense of Place
My name is Matthew Magrone, and I am currently between my Junior and Senior years in college. I am a dual major in both Accounting as well as Analytics and Informatics with a concentration in Data Analytics, who is expected to graduate in the Spring of 2026. I did have some major preconceptions about this course as I expected it to be all about the environment and never really looked into the course as the environment, despite being something I do care about and have made efforts to get involved with in the past, has never been something of extreme interest to me. As far as my sense of place, I always assumed it was something that referred to one's role in society or if you were to think of a person as a puzzle piece, where exactly they fit in. As I learned more about the concept I thought about the location where I felt the most at peace, my room and I didn't think my sense of place would share many similarities to those of my teammates as I thought of them as extremely extroverted unlike myself therefore I thought they would enjoy more social experiences. My pre-conceptions did overlap a lot with those of my group members, as they also ended up rather surprised that we all enjoyed solitary experiences and thought colloquium referred to nature and expected this course to cover said topic due to this assumption. Truthfully prior to stepping into the classroom, I did not know anything about colloquium and just assumed it referred to nature due to my DegreeWorks requirement stating that this was a course that covered the environment. After our first class, it is clear that I should expect to learn about how people impact the environment, how we can initiate positive change within the environment, and how to mitigate our impact on our surroundings. After learning these concepts, I will be able to move through life more conscious of my everyday decisions and therefore be able to implement positive environmental change within my personal and professional lives. The things I learn throughout this course will provide me with an alternate perspective when I am both in and outside of my sense of place. After discussing with my teammates about their sense of place, I was fascinated by how all of them were fairly sensory experiences. I did find it interesting that, in contrast to my own, some stated that their sense of place was somewhere in nature. Truthfully, after all the discussions, I found it most interesting how we all had a different sense of place, yet all got the same sense of peace from each location. The thing I found most fascinating was the definition of colloquium and how it referred to discussion which is also supported by the following link: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/colloquium#:~:text=A%20colloquium%20is%20an%20academic,to%20do%20at%20a%20conference. It states, "A colloquium is an academic conference or meeting. At a colloquium, you’ll spend a couple of days listening to lectures with a group of people who all know a lot about one particular subject"(Vocabulary.com). It was truly interesting to think about the different perspectives all of us students had and how the course is intended to be a place for free discussion amongst students. FGCU states, "University Colloquium introduces students to the complexities of developing the sustainable societal patterns each will face as they launch their careers" (FGCU) (https://www.fgcu.edu/colloquium/). This means that the university hopes that its students obtain a mindset that enables them to live a sustainable lifestyle even after college. FGCU states that the mission statement of their University Colloquium Course is, "Empowering students to act for social, environmental, and economic sustainability in a changing world"(FGCU) (https://www.fgcu.edu/colloquium/). This also makes it clear that through this course the university aims for its students to truly have a positive impact on their surroundings and learn how to do so through this course.
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