Example of a Parrotfish. This specific fish is a princess parrot fish, Scarus taeniopterus.
Example of a Damselfish. This specific fish the the yellow-spotted damselfish, Dascyllus trimaculatus.
In 2012 I participated in the Lawrence University Marine Program (LUMP) (single handedly the best academic program offered by Lawrence... well, in my opinion at least). Every other year this program is offered during spring term. The participants take a specific set of classes oriented around marine biology and then for two weeks during the middle of the term everyone travels to Grand Cayman and gets the amazing opportunity to dive and collect data at 8-10 dive sites all around the island. It was an experience I will never forget!
Map of the Cayman Islands, which are located in the Caribbean Sea.
Anyways, for my honors project I am using the fish and coral data we collected in 2012 along with the previous data that has been collected over the last 10 or so years. On Monday I met with my advisor, Bart, and learned how to use the the statistical analysis program called PAST. I started to get really excited about what results I might find! However, yesterday when I sat down to start analyzing my data sets I realized how much organizing I have to do before I am able to run the data through past.exe. I even found that some of the data already previous analyzed was calculated wrong. So I definitely have my work cut out for me. I say that this is my first test of patience because organizing data can be so tedious at times. However, I plan to implement my 3 daily goals strategy and cut through the work piece by piece.
On Monday I also got the opportunity to do a free 30-45 min life coaching session through the same site that I took my disc-profile assessment. First my coach asked me some get-to-know-you-questions and then he asked things like, what are your goals?, what stands in the way of reaching your goals?, etc. Overall the most helpful thing he was asked me is WHY? To every answer I gave him, he kept asking me why until I could no longer answer. To break it down, the goals I have for the rest of this year are as follows:
1. Successfully complete my honors project and graduate with honors
2. Physically prepare for the air force and swear in
3. Work towards my individual growth to prepare me for leaving the comforting surroundings of college life and entering the "real world"
So, why do I have these goals? Well, the reasoning is to push myself to reach my greatest potential so that I can reflect back on my life once I grow old and regret nothing. So when my coach asked me why it's important to me to reach my greatest potential and why it's important to live with no regrets, I didn't really know what else to say, other than to find my true happiness. Ultimately, isn't that everyone's greatest goal in life? We may not be able to answer the profound question of why life exists, but I think we all know how we want to live our lives and that's happily. :)
Signing off,
Huntress of happiness
this is interesting, and I know this program is awesome. I'd like to see a more direct connection to the themes of the course. So keep the blogs as explorations of technology in the broad terms of religion that we are laying out.
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