Human Ecology Essay

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Noah-ism/ adventures

People around us reflect upon the creation of our life’s personality, this is one of the fundamental elements that feed off of the experiences creating our life. Experiences make us who we are, whether they are small and in significant or large and personality changing, they create our lives. With out each person creating their own experiences then we would all become more the same. I have strived to become my own person throughout my life, the way this has been created is through adventures which in their own way are extreme experiences.

The way I tell a story is unique to me, no one in the world probably tells a story quite like I do. It does not always make sense or convey what I am actually thinking, but it is a rollercoaster ride. People that grew up with me came to appreciate them for what they were, as I have grown, so have my stories. They become a world of their own and as my experiences expand into new and exciting things so do the story’s that go along with them. The most significant things in my life always seem to make a great story, whether its canoeing down some great rapid or meeting some crazy person in the middle of a city they all make a great story when its all over.

Upon coming to College of the Atlantic, the essay I wrote was about the adventures I had before coming here. Now in my last year here I have created some of the greatest adventures in my life thus far. From hanging out with friends to skiing a mountain deep within the back woods of Canada, these adventures have shaped the person I am today. “Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.” - William Ellery Channing. With this in mind I embark on some of the most extreme adventures and challenges I have in my entire life. Each adventure challenges me to become more and more adventures. In the end I have learned from my expeditions into the wilderness and have become accustomed to living and working within the outdoors.

When I conquer something that is a challenge for me the feeling is the most exciting thing in the entire world. While starting my adventure on the Northern forest canoe trail I realized that the challenge set in front of me was mentally challenging beyond my capabilities. As I paddled the last couple miles of the Allagash, I suddenly realized that this accomplishment was the accumulation of my three years as College of the Atlantic. "I love reaching a summit it's that feeling of accomplishment I can't find anywhere else but more then that it's being able to see the other ones that want to be climbed" - Willie Benegas. During the whole 92 miles of paddling, the hardest part for me was beginning on route knowing that the responsibility of surviving were lying squarely upon my shoulders. "Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing" Henry David Thoreau. Coming out of it was the feeling of “I can do anything” the canoe I was within was built by my own two hands giving the accomplishment a deeper meaning then before. These Hands made the boat, paddled miles, traveled through the wilderness and back to life. Accomplishing this had made me stronger, but has given me a perspective that I can’t explain in words.

The duration of thesis adventures have been supported by photography, with every new adventure come images that describe the trip or adventure in more details. "The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep." - Paul Strand. With a greater understanding of self comes a greater understanding of my photography. It allows me to explain what can’t be put in words for me; the images I produce explain feelings, mood, and documentation. Righting has always been a downfall for me and always will, photography helps me control what I want to say with more accuracy then I could with a written piece of paper.

In life we pursue happiness. There is only one philosophy on this subject for me and it has gotten me this far. "Happiness is like wetting yourself, everyone can see it but you can only feel its warmth.” I don’t know who said it or why, but it makes sense. The best part about this saying is it makes you happy to hear it. You can’t help laughing because of it. The best place for this quote is yearbooks, think of all the little kids that will look back at their parent’s yearbooks and read this great saying!

As we all blunder through life there seems no time to be able to slow down and view what is happening in slow motion around us. This is why travel, outdoor adventures and camping help with the slowing down of life in general. Without this slowing down of life we would all rush by each other wanting to be a person that were not. Connecting with the outside world helps ground our existence to something personable. " Rush hour, out here the only thing you'll be passing is Time." Old town poster. Time is of no significance when you’re traveling as one with your surroundings. My dad always says, “When its light you wake up, when it’s dark you go to bed.” Life is simpler that way.

If you take one thing away from being at College of the Atlantic its that life will come and go, push and pull, but what you end up being because of it is more important then trying to find it on your own. Go with it, do what you like and like what you do, if your not having fun or feeling like life has got you down then changes it. " Don’t be a poser. Avoid being one of those dudes who puts a surfboard on top of their car, but never surfs, or a dude with a powder coated fixed gear bike and a messenger bag, but was never a messenger. Live the life. Earn your bona fides. " You can’t get anywhere in life if your not happy, happiness is the one thing that you can change and make your own. Don’t let life change that from you. "Don't cheat yourself by working primarily for a paycheck. If what you do with your life free-of-charge is so worthless to you that you'd be convinced to do something else in exchange for a little money or fame, you need better hobbies." Henry David Thoreau. When it comes down to it, human ecology is everything around us, it makes you who you are and what you want to be, accept it, change it, mold it, and make it! If I photograph something in the right light, it looks spectacular, if I look at something the right way and put it all in prospective, life is grand!

What I'm up to this semester

Veg To the Edge

While living on the boat this summer I realized the value of sustainable resources that make this world easier to live in. I have considered building a grease car for a long time but have never had motivation or the knowhow to complete such an undertaking. After completing a strip canoe last year, I feel as though my abilities of hands on learning projects are endless. This project of building my own grease car a-lines with my life learning processes. Through completing this project I plan to take the car cross-country to experiences the world in a new light for my senior project.

Growing up cars have always been a mythical creature to me, they have become a goal in my life to understand what my engine go’s through on a daily basis. This fascination has also been reflected in my passion for computer repair, where we the concept of what is internally happening are known but what each part is doing internally is not known. This basic principal draws me to this project because the understanding of everything that is going on internally is there but what each part contributes to the overall process is not. Also a big part of this project will be gaining the ability to troubleshoot problems. The experience of troubleshooting and repairing problems will be gained by working with Mike Staggs on his three VW cars. All through are diesel, two of which he is in the process of converting to grease. Mike is a great resource for this project on many levels, his comprehension of the motor and its abilities will allow me to ask meaningful questions, knowing the answer will be complete and more memorable for me. The two projects mike will allow me to help with are: putting a new gasket on the head of this 80’s VW truck that is already running on veg. The other is finishing converting his Jetta wagon over. By completing both of these projects I hope to become more aware of the contents and ability of the motor.

After completing both of these projects I will then turn on my own project of converting my own car. The resources used will be a book called From the Fryer to the fuel Tank: The complete guide to using Vegetable oil as a Alternative Fuel, and Troubleshooting and repair of diesel engines. Through these two books and Mikes help the conversion process should be seamless. The hardest part of this will be finding a car that meets my budget for the semester. I will be using Davis garage again as a working place to convert the car, with permission from Andrew Peterson. By completing this project and using it for a sustained period before I begin to travel cross-country I will be able to learn what my engine needs and how to troubleshoot it.

In the end I hope to have a completed Grease Car that will run completely for a sustained period of time. With help from mike I hope to gain general knowledge of how the engine works and how to troubleshoot it. By putting myself through all of these general-purpose test and readings there will be leaps and bounds in knowledge gained. I believe in hands on learning and this is the best way I learn through doing. It has taken me a wile to figure this out, but now that I have, the possibilities are endless. This project will add to my knowhow and self-exploration in hands on learning.

http://mcharg.coa.edu/map/data/index.html

Coa Virtual map

During my winter semester at College of the Atlantic I took part in the GIS I class where my final project was the creation of a semi working interactive campus map. For this independent study I would like to gather more information on this program and complete the map to a final state that is complementary to the new admissions web site. The look and feel of the map are coming together but finishing touches to make it work efficiently need to be completed. Working with Gordon I will create a project that will allow me to expand my abilities in HTML code and advance my learning in the skill set for more advanced projects.

By creating an interactive map I will advance the schools interactive web ability. Provide for perspectives of the campus from a bird’s eye view. Working with Sarah Baker I hope to find funding for purchase of commercial licenses from ammapm.com. By purchasing a subscription we will be able to manipulate more of the map as well as display it legally on our web site. I plan to explore possibilities for expanding the existing interface to include green campus aspects or parking areas for events. The ability to click on buildings and view information about them with links to videos or other connected information will be integrated within the map. Working with Sean Murphy to find space within the pages of the website and space on the server for the project will also be part of the project. Using the map Danielle Meier has created to replace the existing one, will be integrated and expanded to create a 3D example of the campus to exemplify our campus outside visitors what our campus is capable of.

In completion of this independent study I hope to have a working map that exemplifies the campus and community that will be something our college can be proud of. I also hope to integrate the look and feel with the new web site that will be launching in a few weeks time. My comprehensions of the working aspects of this project are small but with time I plan to improve my ability to write the code that will make the site work. In completion of the site I hope to be competent in the map layout and Flash program incorporated within the layout of the map. With the completion of this interactive map the admissions office and others that use the map for explaining and showing the campuses layout will be able to navigate it in a useful manner.