Reflection

I transferred to Stockton in the fall semester of 2009. I was a junior at the time and transferred my credits from Washington College. Washington College was a small private school in Maryland which had an excellent environmental program. When I decided to transfer to a larger school closer to home it was important for me to choose a school with a program which would meet the standard set by Washington College. Stockton was it. It was a highly recognized program and offered the opportunity to take courses that concentrate in wildlife. Wildlife has always been important to me and Stockton has definitely prepared me for a possible career in working at conserving wildlife. My Ecological Principles course with Professor Cromartie has been my most important experience thus far in my studies. I have experienced identifying wildlife and the process of logging my observations on a daily basis. The field work it has provided me with has allowed me to get my feet wet in working in the field. My first experience in working with wildlife occurred in a group project where we had to survey Stockton’s campus for amphibians. I enjoyed the experience and it showed me that this kind of work could be my future. Not only did I learn valuable field experience from this project but I learned how to work with others as well. This is something I am certain will be a part of my future career. Stockton has provided me many opportunities to work with others which help in improving my communication skills and my cooperative abilities. If I am to work with conserving wildlife I know what to expect in working with fellow scientists.

Coming into college I had a very good idea that I wanted to work in conserving wildlife. It wasn’t until recently that I have become very satisfied with the other environmental fields I have studied. Environmental Issues and Environmental Planning are courses that touch on all the different fields. Environmental Planning went into so much depth about the planning of the many environmental issues and Environmental Issues went to great lengths of the different effects from the different issues. I have now gained an interest in sustainability thanks to these classes. Environmental Issues is giving me the opportunity to work in a group to construct a functioning rain garden. This project requires a lot of planning and knowledge of ecology. I am on the planning side of the project and my duties involved choosing which plants to purchase for the rain garden and where to plant them. It is projects and courses like this that make me feel confident with what I am learning because I know that I am prepared for other careers other than wildlife conservation if I needed to go into another field.

This summer I traveled through the Southwest studying the water, energy, and natural resource management and stewardship issues in the US Southwest. Our main focus was learning about the ecosystem of the Colorado River and the effects caused by damming the river.We also had the chance to learn about the different issues facing the National Parks in the West. It was amazing to learn about these issues in the prep course we had during the Spring semester and then had the ability to see the problems hands on. For instance being at Rockies Mountain National Park and actually seeing the effects on the ecosytem caused by the overpopulated elk heard. The experiences I took in from this trip were extremely valuable. I am now an experienced hiker and I feel I can cope with many different environmental conditions. I go into great detail in another blog which outlines my entire trip in the West which covers everything I learned from being in the West for 25 days. http://pozzitrip.blogspot.com/