Maddie's Nature Blog

 

Nina Bacon, Maddie Droguett, Meredith Goldberg Dr. Dan Williams HCOL 4000 5 December 2023 Nature's Classroom: Surmounting Challenges and Cultivating Connections For our concluding presentation, we opted to address two recurrent semester themes: surmounting challenges and employing nature for interpersonal connection. As a group, we had unexpected experiences while exploring nature in this class, such as when we went canoeing and volunteering at the nature reserve. Despite encountering challenging circumstances, we managed to forge meaningful memories and now reflect upon the trials with humor. Additionally, by exploring nature with our journals throughout the semester, we contemplated on messages imparted by our loved ones, creating new experiences in sacred natural spaces. Our first major takeaway from this class is in relation to the impact of nature on our mental and physical wellbeings. We found, from our experience this semester, that overcoming challenges in nature continuous...

  For my last nature stroll of the semester, I headed out to the Waterside area in Fort Worth, tucked behind REI. This area is a frequent stop for my partner and me—him, for the joy of browsing through REI's aisles, and me, for the Whole Foods vibes. We walked leisurely through the small park nestled between these two shops, an area designed with families in mind. There's ample space for kids to frolic and play, with nice music playing as well, which helped drown out the noise from the sometimes screaming children.      In this area, there were many beautiful trees and potted flowers. It is a well-manicured place, so I’m not sure it qualifies as a true nature retreat. The trees lining the nearby apartment building caught my eye. But I do have to admit that the trees that lined the apartment building were interesting to look at since each tree was changing colors in different ways. In the play area, there were sprawling trees coming out of the deck. I wondered how old...