#finalblogpost

Throughout this course, we have touched on many things such as privilege, accessibility, learning types and more. All these things have helped me grow as a nature interpreter in so many ways. As a daughter of immigrants, I grew up in a household where my parents worked their very best to provide me with a better life than they had. I am very fortunate to have grown up in a country where I could go on hikes, learn about nature in school and watch birds and animals in my backyard. I had the opportunity to turn on a television, watch the Discovery Channel, and see and learn about amazing animals and wonderful ecosystems all around the world. I was able to go to places like the ROM and other museums that showcased dinosaur bones or paintings of wild landscapes that had me immersed. I distinctly remember a school trip in which we went to a high school known for its performing arts and watched a dramatic play about Shakespeare, a midsummer night's dream and many scenes took place in a forest. 

Art in this way shaped my understanding of nature interpretation at a very young age. Now, after taking this course, I learned that art can help others connect to nature too, as it can help them relive memories of them in the wild through dance or song, or learn about nature through visual and performing arts (Chapter 10: Arts in Interpretation, pg. 229). My tour guides during my summers in Madagascar would use storytelling as a way to explain the things we saw and in a way, that is how I first learned to appreciate nature beyond just observation. Storytelling made the environment come alive, it gave animals' personalities, landscapes their own histories, and ecosystems a sense of interconnectedness. They would often share their own experience and interactions that they had and it would leave me feeling excited to go back out into the forest every single day, no matter how tired I was. One story in particular struck a chord with me. The story tells of a king who drowned himself in a lake to avoid capture by his enemies. This act made the lake sacred, and as a result, hunting crocodiles there became strictly forbidden. Today, the once-endangered Nile crocodile population has rebounded, along with native turtles and fish, all thriving under the lake's protected status. 

Picture taken of a baby Nile Crocodile in Lake Ravolobe as my tour guide told me the story of why this lake is Sacred.

Experiences such as these have shaped my ethics as a nature interpreter. I believe that nature interpretation is not just about facts and figures but about fostering an emotional and personal connection to the natural world. My experiences as a child have shaped my perception and love for nature and now as I have learned ways to help others too connect to nature, my ethics and beliefs revolve strongly around accessibility and privilege. Somehow we have turned nature into a commodity, and many people around the world cannot access it. Whether through scientific communication that bars people due to education or through the assimilation of various Indigenous cultures, we have forced the disconnection of nature onto many, many people. As a nature interpreter, I believe it is my responsibility to break down these barriers and create opportunities for people to reconnect with the natural world. Nature is not something to be owned, bought, or restricted to those with the means to experience it. It is a shared resource, a fundamental part of human existence, and something that everyone should have the opportunity to engage with, regardless of their background, education, or socioeconomic status.

One of the biggest challenges we face is the way nature has been framed within academic and institutional spaces. Scientific language, while valuable, can often alienate those without formal education in the field (Unit 5: Nature Interpretation Through Science. By simplifying concepts, using storytelling, and incorporating diverse cultural perspectives, we can make nature interpretation more inclusive and engaging. Creative writing has always been a passion of mine and since coming to the University of Guelph, I have found it to be a powerful tool to connect science and academics to the public. I am currently immersed in op-ed writers such as Naomi Klime or authors such as Dr. Kerrian McGoogan who are using their skills in writing to interpret to a much, much broader audience than academia could ever reach.

Dr. Kerriann McGoogan's book, Chasing Lemurs is one of my favourite creative non fiction books and is a very important one due to the biodiversity crisis Madagascar is currently facing.

Through their writing, they make pressing issues relatable, accessible, and urgent, ensuring that knowledge is not reserved for the few but shared with the many. This approach is most suitable for me as I find reading about others' experiences with nature often helps me connect to them as well. Writing the script for my podcast also helped me realize my love for writing can be a powerful tool and a bridge between people and the natural world. Through storytelling, I can make complex environmental issues more accessible, weaving together personal experiences, scientific insights, and cultural narratives to create a deeper sense of connection. Moving forward, I plan to integrate writing into my work as a nature interpreter, using it as a tool to reach those who might not otherwise engage with environmental topics. Whether through personal essays, advocacy pieces, or podcast storytelling, I want my words to not only inform but also evoke emotion, spark curiosity, and inspire change.

For my final personal blog post I am going to reflect this year as a whole. 

When I first came here to Ohio University I was all over the place. I never knew how long it would take to get to my classes, I never knew where my classes actually were, and I didn’t know many people. I loved the campus just as much as I do now and I knew that this was going to be the place I stay for 4 years of my life. 

As I sit here now, I think about how my first year here was actually great. I got good grades last semester and I am currently on the track to get good grades this semester as well. Our softball started right when I arrived on campus and I did not really know what to expect. Now that I have been playing this year I think that playing for this team is super fun and I am looking forward to the next three years with this team. 

This year is also the year that I met my best friend, Allie. She is fun loving and full of energy. I don't know some days how I would have made it through without her there by my side. She always knows how to make me laugh and is sunshine on a dull day. I am so happy that this school brought me her. The last picture on this post is a picture of us. 

I loved my first year here at Ohio and I can’t wait to come back next semester and continue my academic and softball career. 

FINAL BLOG POST:

I have really enjoyed sketchbook this year. It has helped me grow so much as an artist. I now feel much more confident and fearless when it comes to attacking a blank page. For this, I am thankful because now I won’t keep buying Moleskins and having a stackful of blank books. They will now be filled with beautiful pictures along with many terrible ones to demonstrate the journey I took to get there.

This year in sketchbook has really allowed me to discover a different artist within me.

I have always been attracted to the arts whether it be visual or performing. I took sketchbook because of all the beautiful notebooks I saw last year. I too wanted to create one little pocketed time frame of vivid and vibrant images. I also wanted the sketchbook itself to be a final work of art. However, that is not what I ended up achieving. I quickly learned that my sketchbook would not be a final presentation or token of artistry and a showcase of all my finest work, but rather a space in which I could hone in on different skills and practice practice practice.

We started off the semester with a unit on “scratching” (otherwise known as inspiration digging). We scoured the web for images and technique thats we might want to learn from and develop on. This remained a theme throughout the course—that we should always be looking for inspiration to draw from and motivate to try different techniques. Later on in the course we travelled to the heart of Williamsburg to the Brooklyn Art Library, that is home to The Sketchbook Project, to flip through what seemed like an infinite amount of sketchbooks. At first it was intimidating to see the amount of books stretched across the shelves, but once you looked for books and looked at other people’s selected books the whole experience was fascinating. It seemed as though people had a made sketchbook for every topic you could imagine. For every thought in your head there was a sketchbook to match it. I fell in love with one of the smaller moleskins types that had a somewhat bland outside and on the inside the author and artist used thread, needle, and watercolor to stitch, fold and paint the different pages as layers in the book. I couldn’t stop looking at this book. I Kept imagining what it would be like as wallpaper in my room or covering the sheets of my sketchbook. I was determined to try this technique back at school.

When we came back to school on Monday I began to search for the supplies necessary for the stitching and folding. I noticed a few things that would make this piece different from the sketchbook I found at the library. 1) My paper in my sketchbook was a lot thicker. 2) The thread was a lot thicker 3) the needle was a lot thicker. I felt like my piece was on a completely different scale. Regardless, it was interesting to go about this in my notebook because I was trying to think about the choices that the artist had made when doing her similar art. I was pretty sure I wanted to continue with stitching and folding, but my hand got really tired and the work began to look quite repetitive. This unit did teach me that you can turn your sketchbook into literally anything and it doesn’t always have to be pen and paper sketching. It taught me to think outside the box.

One of my smaller goals was to work with a variety of art mediums. I found some comfort in using a fountain pen and ink and creating little sketches in my notebook. Although, the ink would stain my hand for a day or two I felt proud of the drawings I created. One of my favorites were the pants on the man sitting on a shelf of books. What I realized though was the ink was too messy for me to work with and too often I found myself having to make a blotch of ink into some incredible artistic design—this didn’t always end well. and I noticed what I liked the most about ink and pen was the sharp tip of the pen… I decided to challenge myself to using a sharp pencil. I usually hated to draw with pencils because I felt like they were so boring, but I found all different kinds of pencils(HB, B, #2, #3, etc) in the art room which really helped with different shading and tones. I thought my sketching had gotten much better with my pencil period because of the hiking images I decided to draw. My favorite drawing with pencil was the one with two hikers on a mountain. I thought it showed a significant amount of progress from my ink drawings. I also think I was able to stop looking at the screen as much for the pencil drawings as I did for the ink. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, I gained confidence from drawing with ink, and secondly the pencil made everything nonpermanent.

At the beginning of the semester we did a collaging activity and I was pretty confident at the time I would not continue to do any collages in my notebook, but as it turns out I ended up with what I started. I had been drawing images of food recently in my sketchbook and then I realized I wanted to draw people, and so then I thought why not combine the both. I decided to combine people and food together through college. I loved collecting obscure bits of food and faces and creating a bank of images.

Television has consistently changed throughout the years and on the daily basis, especially today in 2016. This trimester in my Television Studies course, we discussed and explored in how television changed throughout the years has progressed. For homework, were assigned to watch a few modern television series that were only available on Netflix. Those shows were The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Jessica Jones. Both shows demonstrated different forms of trauma in two women’s lives who’s lifestyles were totally opposite. 

I’m not going to lie, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was such a hard show for me to actually get into. At first I thought, “What the hell is my professor making me watch?”. After getting through a few episodes I started to get really interested and I was stuck on this show. It may seem really stupid at first but it is worth the watch. Throughout the first few episodes, it is obvious that Kimmy is having a hard time trying to fit in and get the grasp of living and acting like an adult in New York City. “For such a deliberately cartoonish show, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has a remarkable grasp on its central character’s buried traumas and the ever-widening gulf between New York City’s moneyed class and the victims of their wave of gentrification.” (Sims, 2016). Though Kimmy has been through a lot because of her past of being trapped in the bunker, she is a very independent woman and is determined to get back the life she lost and to continue to grow as a woman. “The show doesn’t address sexual violence head on; it’s possible to watch without dwelling on the details. But Kimmy’s ugly history comes through, in inference and in sly, unsettling jokes about trauma, jagged bits that puncture what is a colorful fish-out-of-water comedy.” (Nussbaum 2015) Again, Kimmy has been through a lot and some of the things that she goes through on her own in New York City remind her of what her life was like before she was rescued from the bunker. Some of the things that she goes through make her remember what it was like being in the bunker and it scares her. Many of those moments that make her remember, you can say they are her PTSD moments. 

Jessica Jones, another great show that is on Netflix and one of the shows I had to watch for my Television Studies class. When I first saw this show, I saw that is was made by Marvel, so I immediately thought about superheroes. Superheroes with capes and tights. But with this show, that is not the case, it is the complete opposite. To me, Jessica Jones is a very dark show that is not afraid to actually show what happened. It was hard for me to continue watching this whole series, I even had nightmares because the show is so dark. But don’t get me wrong, Jessica Jones is a really great show and it shows another way in how women can be independent and that they do not need a man to take care of them or do anything else for them. One of the things that I noticed about this show and that somewhat bothered me and I guess my classmates too was that Jessica Jones always wore the same damn outfit in every single episode. Even though she wore the same thing, she sure did kick some ass and showed that women are also strong as men. Just by watching the credits of the show for the intro, you can automatically notice that this show also shows some sort of trauma that Jessica went through before she got to where she is today. 

Just like Kimmy, Jessica also seems to suffer from several PTSD moments while she’s going on with her day. After being captive by Killgrave and being able to escape, she tends to hear his voice in her head as she is either walking through New York City or helping on one of her cases. “something a little bit different, something more edgy and not just a rehash of the gritty opener, and Jessica Jones fit the bill in the way perhaps no other comic book hero could.” (Goss, 2015). Jessica Jones is such a unique hero. But just like all the others, she also has a life to live and a job that helps pay for the bills. Even though Jessica Jones has been through a lot, it does not stop her from wanting to help others and but the bad people where they belong. This show shows another way in how women can be strong and independent on their own. 

When most people hear about Easter Seals they’re first reaction is to say “Oh yeah, don’t they make postage stamps?”. But recent business endeavors with luxury jewelry designer Elise Rosenstock of Elyse Ryan Designs has allowed for the foundation and the designer to reach new goals. ElyseRyan’s unique jewelry and accessories, specifically designed for Easter Seals, and created by Easter Seals participants has combined accessorizing and giving back.

The foundation provides services, education, outreach and advocacy to people living with autism and other disabilities. These services include giving a young adult with disabilities a place where they can learn and develop useful life skills and job training.

When I asked Rosenstock about how she got involved with Easter Seals she explained, “A friend of mine is extremely talented with organizing non-profits and building non-profits in Hartford area. She showed me around Easter Seals and I had no idea what it was at the time, I soon realized it was something very special”.

And that is the truth, as Easter Seals has been around for more than 90 years since it was founded in 1907 by an Ohio-business man named Edgar Allen. It was only fitting that Rosenstock teamed up with Allen’s foundation in the Eastern Connecticut region since she is an Ohio native herself. Her design for Easter Seals is a cuff bracelet with three charms on it, which are different designs depending on which of the three style options you purchase. They come in silver, gold, and a slate black color, and each are different themes which are: The Friendship Circle cuff or two different Women’s Leadership Council cuffs. The bracelets sell for 35 dollars and 10 perfect of your purchase goes directly to Easter Seals.

I asked Rosenstock how the process works and how the participants are involved, She said, “Easter Seals is helping kids with serious disabilities have a job and get paid, and learn great skills they might have not been able to learn before. There are different social enterprises that allow them to work in making electrical products and jewelry”. She expressed how she saw people there who were around her daughters’ ages and felt grateful for the opportunities they have been able to have, “I’m so blessed my kids can go to college and have a normal life. We take small things like being able to work a job for granted. The fact that these people can learn job skills and have a bright future with this program is great”.

“Building businesses is life changing for them and it’s a great program.”

                 Rosenstock has used her brand for many other foundations including Alex’s Lemonade Stand which all proceeds go toward pediatric cancer research and also the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. But Easter Seals has struck her in a new way, “I feel blessed to be apart of this, put on this earth to make jewelry and art. I am so passionate to take what I’m good at and help others. Something like this makes me want to get up everyday and it puts many things into perspective for me. Changing someone’s life is so amazing,” She explained. She has worked closely with the participants of Easter Seals where they put together the products, everything from attaching the charms to the quality check. “It’s so rewarding and something we all take for granted, she said. They see the whole process of their own work and are very proud of the finished product!” A fantastic foundation combined with a great brand and designer has given people with disabilities a way to feel productive and work a real job that they would’ve otherwise had trouble finding.

 “Everyday there’s something exciting, someone new, who touches your life. Every day I try to connect with someone who adds something positive to my life. This is what Easter Seals has done for me. Every day I have something to be grateful for and someone who has touched my life in a positive way.”

1.) From my first essay to my last of this class, I can feel the growth I’ve had with my writing. I began as a timid writer, for I had not written about film’s too often before, however once I got into the swing of things I noticed my grammar, sentence topic choice, and punctuation got a lot better and more fluent. I also became much more active in the class’s group chat, and my annotations started holding more and better annotations. I appreciate this class most for that.

2.) I know for a fact from here on out I’m going to start viewing films differently. Style, plot, characters, shot types, imagery, etc are all things that I never really took notice of before that I know for a fact I will take notice of from here on out. It has already happened when I was watching the film “Juno”, I witnessed myself watching out for imagery, shot type, and plot more then I had ever before for any movie, especially this specific movie I’ve seen many times before.

3.) Originally I would say my weakest part of writing about films was imagery, however as I’ve grown as a film critic/writer I’ve noticed this has became my strongest topic of discussion. My weakest I would have to say is probably plot, I’ve always had trouble with that topic.

4.) I related most to this past unit involving Wes Anderson. I think this is because his films have that relatable feel to them for young adults like myself. I think I related least to the Billy Wilder unit, just because it was old fashioned and that’s not really my cup of Joe.

5.) I would say my weakest blog post was my first one on “LOVE & HATE” just because it was my first one and I wasn’t completely used to the feel of the blog posting/online class thing yet. My strongest was probably my blog post about my favorite movie just because it was a very personal blog post so it got the best out of me.

Finally, thank you Mr. Pyzik for the class, I really dug it and you’re an outstanding teacher. I know I was an annoying little s*it for the majority of the semester, but I blame the period, antsy to end a long day of clogging my brain with stuff I don’t necessarily feel I need. I wish you the best in your future endeavors. 

Sincerely, 

So it's been a while since I've written a blog post. Realized I never published my last post. This one's a long one as it covers 20 days! I never actually got around to writing the text for days 97 - 110, but here are the pics... because a picture is worth more than a thousand words :P

Plus to be completely honest I don't even remember what captions and funny stories I was going to put for the pictures I selected for those days, so rather than publishing something that may or may not be correct, I'll leave you guys with the pictures of a much younger, and much more innocent Geoffrey. A Geoffrey that believed that true love could conquer all, and that nothing could stand in the way of two people who wanted to be together. But now this is coming from a much more experienced Geoffrey, who has gone through several months of heartbreak and pain. I no longer believe in all that daft bullshit, and am much more of a realist instead. Love is only an arbitrary concept that humans make up to explain why they'd go to such lengths to link with another person, instead of explaining their attraction to another by simple lust. From the past 1 and 1/2 years of my life, I've learnt that hardship doesn't always result in happiness and success, but instead could just be a waste. But by all means find that out for yourselves guys.

Thanks for being here with me along the way though! So long and thanks for all the fish :)

DRAFT AS FOLLOWS: So contrary to my last post, I might as well complete my blog to the last day. It'll take me a while though, so I'll put this up and update it as I go haha... it's been sitting in my drafts since the end of June.

My Final Blog Post.

I'm really sorry for not posting earlier! So I've just finished exams, and finally getting around to updating my blog, so let's get into it:

Saturday 21/06/14 - Day 91 - started off with yet another day at the Racecourse. But this time, they had drinks for us for some reason! I don't think we were meant to go outdoors into the public area with them, but eh who cares. And yes, I know how bad my hair looks LOL, more on that later!!

Look at that view ahhhhh. And that crisp apple.

LOLJKS as if they'd let us drink at work. It's actually just some sort of sparkling apple juice. Still amazeballs though ^^

Anyways as mentioned before, my hair was looking really shoddy, and with clerkship season coming up I decided to go get a haircut! Here's my first photo afterwards :P

I then headed to Nishiki Wagyu Yakiniku, a restuarant in the North Shore where there's a $72 all-you-can-eat Japanese dinner. This isn't a buffet though - everything is prepared fresh per order, and they don't limit how much you can order each time or anything. They also don't take their sweet time, as many "all-you-can-eat" places seem to do.

We do this every month as a meeting of Shen, Von, Naffon, Kelvin and myself haha. A monthly bleeding of the wallet more like -_- however this time I couldn't miss out as it was also a farewell to Nathaniel, who would be going to Shanghai for the holidays to study at Antai Foreign Exchange program.

Anyways, look at that food ERMAGAWDDDDDDDD. Unlimited sushi, sashimi, self-BBQ meat of all sorts, cooked meat, rice, salad, anything you want really......

Oh so here we have a okonomiyaki and a garlic prawn dish on the side, to be cooked on the BBQ, with meat (potentially Ox Tongue?) on the side.

And here we have 20 sushi. Grilled scallops and grilled salmon I think.

So after 90 minutes of gluttonous stuffing of faces and bodies, we started dessert. And I got 13 scoops of ice cream. No joke, check it out. There's only 1 spoon....... 

No really. Only 1 spoon. Green Tea and Black Sesame flavours ^^

And the finished plates. Ahhhh the food.

Ok I was just kidding haha, I actually had 4 scoops. Which is still a lot I guess....

Oh yeah and we had oysters as well! They were so fresh! And check out some of the meat we ordered in the background. Shen is obviously a much better photographer than yours truly haha ;D

It's not common to both have top notch quality and quantity, but Nishiki you've found that link. I don't know if I'll be going back simply because of the price and the distance to the city, but i feel like I got my money's worth of food haha.

Sunday 22/06/14 - Day 92 - Took Jason to a piano competition today! The McDonalds Sydney Eisteddford 2014 is actually a really prestigious competition, though sponsored by maccas haha. Anyways he only had one piece to perform, but unfortunately we had to wait until the very end of the section of about 50 people before we could get our rankings, report and so on. It was a freezing cold day but I brought my ski jacket, and sat outside trying to study for Wealth Management, my last exam haha..... but the Shore School, where the comp was held, was absolutely beautifully maintained and located with great views, over in North Sydney very close to the station. Check out the Harbour Bridge:

And from this following pic you can see how long I sat there for haha, waiting for the end of the comp. The sun's setting and the wind's picking up......

Anyways, because it got too dark and cold, I decided to go for a walk. Went to the local Aldi and saw Green Apple Schnapps for $19 plus bought some chips for the brother when he finished (because by now it was around 5pm and neither of us had eaten since breakfast...). i also bought some chocolate-covered biscuits ahhhh.

Monday 23/06/14 - Day 93 - Had a job interview today at Deloitte! Went in for an Assessment Centre from 9am - 1pm which was a case study (with small group, large group and individual portions) plus a senior manager interview. Was really daunting because I'd never really considered commerce as a career path, but it was a fun experience nonetheless.

This face accurately describes how I felt for the entire time.

And just something I want to add.......... my dad's getting really unhealthy nowadays haha. Every Monday or Tuesday he gets a special deal from Dominos where he gets 3 large pizzas, 2 garlic breads and 2 1.25L drinks for really cheap. Every week now...... we're going to become a really fat family haha. But god pizza tastes so good :3

Tuesday 24/06/14 - Day 94 - So I technically started off the day with study for Wealth Management, but then I watched the AUS v ESP game (aussies vs spain). We got beaten obviously. Still, I feel that Australia put on a good show, and am sad that we didn't make it through an admittedly tough group to qualify for the round of 16.

Anyways, at night I went out with my baby to San Churro! She had a free voucher for her bday so we decided to find the Eastgardens location, and found it hidden away. The restaurant was amazing and cute though!

And here's my baby!

Da duuuummmm

Da dummmmmmm

Da dummmmmmmm

DA DUMMMMMMMM! ARGHHHHHH :P Hehe I love her <3

The churros were amazing. We got the Churros for 2, with milk chocolate and caramel dipping sauces. I preferred the caramel and she loved the chocolate, so we ate accordingly :P

Everyone around me seems to be wanting me to put on heaps of weight haha. At least I'm warm in winter I guess!

Wednesday 25/06/14 - Day 95 - So with my last exam looming, I decided (wisely.....) to stay home today! I was trying to be healthy so i had some cheese for breakfast.

But alas, that wasn't enough, so I ended up making myself packet dumplings (and a lot of them =/ ) for lunch. Sigh.

Thursday 26/06/14 - Day 96 - So after a long 10 hour shift at work, I picked up Carolyn and we went out to celebrate her second-last exam being over (for the semester)! Also because neither of us could be bothered studying haha... I had a chicken laksa and she had an eggplant and rice dish. Both were absolutely amazing! I recommend Yong Jing in Kingsford for any culinary experience :)

My baby always looks cute :3

Whereas me on the other hand haha......

As per usual, we went to Yogurberry after! We got Taro, Burnt Caramel and Strawberry i think, but I'm not entirely sure... and as per usual my baby put lots of popping boba in there :)

Friday 27/06/14 - Day 97 - a

Saturday 28/06/14 - Day 98 - a

Sunday 29/06/14 - Day 99 - a

Monday 30/06/14 - Day 100 - a

Tuesday 01/07/14 - Day 101 - a

Wednesday 02/07/14 - Day 102 - a

Thursday 03/07/14 - Day 103 - a

Friday 04/07/14 - Day 104 - a

Saturday 05/07/14 - Day 105 - a

Sunday 06/07/14 - Day 106 - a

Monday 07/07/14 - Day 107 - a

Tuesday 08/07/14 - Day 108 - a

Wednesday 09/07/14 - Day 109 - a

Thursday 10/07/14 - Day 110 - a