Day Trip #1: The Basics!

The starting point. This is only 

the beginning.

By: Alex Mosquero, EWWE student

The experience from Saturday, Oct. 11, was great! I got to spend time with some great people, young minds that will amaze the world, not one day, but are doing it already!

Ranger Sabrina Diaz showed us around the Anhinga Trail and told us a lot about the history of the Everglades. She talked about the history of that specific trail, how people wouldn’t be able to see nature for what it is; to me it is simply everything that surrounds us. Some people, throughout history, have seen certain animal or plant species as means to an end, which in their case was to make as much money as one can spend in two lifetimes.

It seems so hard to understand that those people, in the past and present, didn’t feel the appreciation for the beauty that nature provides in places like the Everglades.

In many national parks throughout the U.S. visitors get the chance to experience the beauty and uniqueness of nature and the wilderness.

How come the people that wanted to own a certain kind of snail or a certain kind of plant or tree weren’t able to see what I saw, what I felt?

It doesn’t take a genius to sit down, breathe the fresh air and enjoy the view.

I think that possessions mean a lot to people. It shows their social status and the more they own, the more they are worth. However, I disagree with that notion of possessions equals self-worth. That thought, in my opinion, has destroyed way too much in nature, everywhere around the world, and is something that I believe can be changed by educating the new generations in a way that being grateful for the still untouched portions of nature, the way we interact with it and the way we can preserve it, that is what I think can make the future generations see things in a different way and act differently.

We don’t need to own nature, in a way, nature owns us. We are just passing by in a short period of time compared to how long nature and wilderness have existed before we were even born, and how long it will still be here after we pass away.

What I am experiencing with these other great young minds can’t be compared to anything I have ever done before.

I am lucky to share moments of reflection about wilderness, its meaning, influence on us and the world, its power and role in our lives and our world.

Thank you Sabrina Diaz and Larry Perez for all your time and effort on that Saturday!