CheriNet's Notes

The California coastline provides a wide variety of habitats for ocean animals to live.

From a bird’s eye view, you can see otters rolling among the giant kelp fronds at the water’s surface.

But dive into the intertidal zone, and you’ll find an entire underwater world nestled in the tidepools. 

From a giant green anemone fighting for food to a hermit crab finding a new home, these critters remind us to pause, take a closer look, and appreciate the little connections around us.

Check out the full video on YouTube!

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The McComas Institute, known as Mountain School was founded September 10, 1867. Located in Joppa, Maryland, the school was one of three Freedmen’s Bureau schools in Harford County.

It was named in honor of local abolitionist, George March McComas, he was an abolitionist, a prominent landowner, and a tobacco merchant who worked out of the port of Baltimore. He appealed to the Freedmen’s Bureau for funds to build a school and a church for African Americans not far from his home in Linwood, Maryland.

It was built on one acre of land purchased for $30. A “colored” couple, George and Mary Ann Johnson, sold one acre of land to Abraham Waters, Charles Waters, Peter Bishop, Joseph Henry, and John H. Butler “for the purposes of erecting or allowing to be erected thereon a schoolhouse for the use, benefit and education of the Colored People of Harford County.”

The Freedmen’s Bureau provided financial assistance for construction and it continued to provide financial support until the Bureau was abolished in 1872. The Harford County Board of School Commissioners assumed operations and partnered with the nearby congregation Mount Zion Methodist Church, which had provided the labor for the construction and held the title to the facility. Church members made up a significant portion of the Institute’s board of directors until the school closed in 1939. Afterwards, the building was used by Mount Zion to hold Sunday school classes and church and community events.

It was home to several pioneering Black educators in the state of Maryland, including Mrs. Alma Mae Dorsey Nelms. She served as the sole teacher at McComas Institute, instructing grades one through seven. Local civil rights activist and Harford County educator, Janice East Morehead Grant, a former student of Mrs. Nelms, noted that her teacher educated “78 students comprising 7 grades [after walking] miles in the cold, making fires in a potbellied stove, and carrying water for us to drink.”

Since COVID it is safe to say most of us as a collective are still getting used to communicating and going back out of the safety of our homes. Though some of us couldn't wait to get back out and go places whether it be or without a mask, others, however, were a little more hesitant. Of course, this is a very natural response to everything that happened in late 2019 or early 2020 and no one would blame you for taking caution moving forward. Though it isn't publicized in the media as much, COVID is still a very real thing. It is not gone, but as we all know life moves onward. With that being said it made me think about the specifics of us during the time of COVID up till now and how it changed the virtual world industry. Did we gain more users on these virtual platforms? or did we lose them? This post will talk about all of the specifics, however, keep in mind there will be no statistics or numbers involved. Everything that will be released in this post will come from personal experience and researching other people's experiences as well as what I've noticed since the time of COVID up till now, almost the end of 2022.

Even as an individual who has a deep understanding of virtual worlds, there isn’t a set definition as to what a virtual world is. This is mainly because each individual uses a virtual world platform for something different. For example, my definition of a virtual world is going to come more from a creative aspect because that is what I use them for. For someone else, it could come from a business viewpoint. They could want to start a business in a virtual world in hopes it will take off. In this case, their virtual world experience would be more business-oriented. However, the most common is the individual who wants to escape reality. Virtual worlds are highly popular among individuals who try to escape their reality for one reason or another. This is because there isn’t a set goal or quests you have to go through like you would in a video game. You can do anything and be anything you want in a virtual world, and this is what ropes people in.

My definition of what a virtual world is would be; “A creative outlook and an expansive world where I can meet new people, network, pursue my creativity in interior design and create an online presence both through my avatar and land (or room depending on the virtual world).” With my viewing virtual worlds from a creative standpoint, everything to me is considered a blank canvas. A canvas in which an entire online community comes together and inhabits a vast online world that they create themselves.

However, my friend, who has been with me on my virtual world journey and has experienced them for himself sees it as both an escape and means of business. He knows virtual worlds won’t supplement his income but its something he enjoys as he is a workaholic in the real world, so when he relaxes he still needs to be doing something productive. His idea of a virtual world is; “A vast playing field of various blocks of ‘land’ that creates a full online world and is inhabited by a community of individuals who want to network, meet, and create. Just like an individual would experience in reality,” This proves that there are various definitions of what a virtual world is but these are just a few examples that explain it.

Nonetheless, it is essential to note that virtual worlds aren’t considered video games. You’re probably wondering how? Or why? And this is because, for the most part, video games no matter what even if their open-world has an end or end goal that you obtain. Not only that but video games also have quests, NPC’s, and a million different other things, for the most part, no matter what you’re always on a set path to reach the end of the game at some point. They also have story lines and dialogue throughout. Virtual worlds don’t unless you want them too. Virtual worlds are just like living in the real world but without the commitment. It has its own currency, pets, avatars, space to make your own whether it’s land or a room, and experiences that you make on your own or with others. Virtual worlds help to provide, for example; people like me instant gratification because everything is immersive and at your fingertips. You can have anything and do anything you want. Virtual worlds have more freedom then video games and are more than just a glorified chatroom.