Week 4 - USFSP - Eliannis S.

I never thought I would actually enjoy being in a classroom for 7 hours until I met Dr. Judkins. Usually, my regular classes only last about two hours and they go by very slowly, but during this week, everyday was a new experience. We had the opportunity to learn more about the open/deep ocean and all of the organisms that live within it. Not only did we learn about it, but we were also able to witness it ourselves, and although we did not enjoy how sick it made us, we did enjoy seeing some of its wonders. On the boat ride out on the WBII, we saw many dolphins and even a sea turtle. Being on the boat allowed us to use and learn about some of the equipment that scientists use when working in the field, such as the otter troll, the dredge, the CTD, and the neuston/bongo nets. My favorite part was pulling up the troll to see what types of organisms we had caught, then sorting them and identifying them. On this boat ride, I finally came to terms with the fact that I dislike crabs very much and concluded that I will try my hardest to avoid work with them in the future (they remind me of spiders). 

Other than the ride on the WBII, I also enjoyed the lectures and fun activities that we did, from finding our bioluminescent buddies to building our own plankton or visiting the Florida aquarium. Overall, I think that our group presentation was one of the most important activities from this week. Yes, it was stressful to complete our presentation because statistics is not our strong suit, but it definitely taught us many things that we should know as future scientists. I was very nervous to hear all of the comments on what I had done wrong, but it turned out to be really helpful to hear what could make my presenting skills better. I feel grateful that we were given the opportunity to do this, so that now I can be more prepared for the future.