First River Reflection

As I sit by the Trinity River, I remember back to my time working with LEAPS. LEAPS is a community outreach program that TCU sponsors. There are two events every year, one per semester. Before each event, you get to pick the area that interests you the most. They usually have around 10-12 activities, ranging from volunteering at a school to picking up trash. Last year, I decided to plant trees along the Trinity River.

Waking up at 7 AM on a Saturday is no easy task. With long, busy weeks full of exams and papers, signing up to plant trees on a Saturday morning did not sound very appealing. My entire lab had decided to participate in this activity, so I felt like I should contribute as well. Once we arrived in the commons, we were placed in our respective buses to go to our sites. We drove around for 45 minutes, hopelessly lost. Our guide had no idea where we were supposed to be. This did little to ease the morning grogginess. We finally arrived at our site, and one of the park workers taught us how to plant trees. All of us paired up, picked up our tools, and got to work.

Initial reluctance to waking up early on a Saturday turned into enjoyment with each tree planted. I felt alert and awake. My mind felt clear. The sun had just rose, painting its light across the park. The air felt clean and wasn't too hot. It was a perfect morning.

Planting the trees reminded me of growing up back home. My dad and I would often wake up on weekend morning and work on the lawn. He would teach me how to use all the various tools. We would dig up old trees and plant new flowers. As I got older, I was allowed to use the power tools such as the lawn mower or hedge trimmers. I'm sure my dad was a lot happier than I was when I could finally mow the lawn. After we finished our work, we always got to jump in the pool. I will forever remember those mornings. I honestly believed this is what contributed to my enjoyment of the Trinity River tree planting. It brought me back to careless mornings with my dad.

With a stressful week behind me, this river reflection was just what I needed. It gave me time to recollect my thoughts and prepare for the upcoming week. Although I found it kind of strange initially, I am glad I spent the quiet time just looking at the river. I can not wait until my next river reflection.

The Big Thirst Reflection

Coming from a science background, my knowledge and experience with water is probably a lot different than most people. While most people just use water for personal use, I have taken classes that have in depth studied the science behind water. I feel like I have learned way more about water than is necessary. When I heard that there was a "science" chapter in this book about water, my ears immediately perked up. I actually sat down and read the whole first section in one sitting.

Being a numbers guy, I really enjoyed the first two chapters. Some of the data is mind-blowing in regards to the amount of water that we use. It is impossible to even wrap your head around how much water is used by a nation in a year. We just have nothing to compare it to. Once Chapter 2 started getting into the scientific details, I really became interested. A lot of the information about the physical and chemical was already familiar to me. The section about the "fourth state of water," however, came as a big surprise to me. I knew compounds could exist in anhydrous or hydrated forms, but I never really connected the dots. Humans have barely scratched the surface of the Earth. We have never drilled down more than a few miles into the crust. We do not fully understand what is going on in the mantle/core. Theories have been developed, but they can not be fully understood and accepted until we drill deeper. With this limited understanding of what is below us, it makes sense that we have all this water in a "fourth state." There are methods of extracting the water, but it is not economically feasible. Until we have a way to extract this water, we must be prudent in our conservation of water. Water never disappears, but if it is unobtainable, then it can not help us.

Going along with the science theme, conservation of water is an important theme that I feel is absent in scientific study. The book constantly refers to water as an "invisible problem." We do not see water being lost. We turn on our faucets; water comes out. People no longer have to go pump water from a well. Water bottles are sold almost everywhere. In the science community, water is obviously a very crucial substance. As Chapter 2 outlined, water is a universal solvent. It is used in countless applications. I currently work in a research lab, and water conservation is not discussed. We have a hood that we conduct many experiments in. Water must be run the entire time it is used to power the vacuum inside it. Sometimes, someone will work in the hood for hours at a time. That is gallons of water just being sent down the drain. Water is often used to clean glassware, but no care is taken in minimizing water usage. Often the sink is just left on, wasting gallons of water. The sad part is that this occurs in a single small lab at TCU. This practice is prevalent all over the world, and we are doing nothing to stop it.

Finally, I enjoyed the debate we had in class about Chapter 8 in particular. The chapter addressed the water issues going on in India. With the river Ganges being held as a sacred body, Hindus flock to the river to bathe and worship. Unfortunately, all waste eventually flows into the river. The dark brown water is in question. Should it be cleansed or left alone? Do the Hindu people have any responsibility in cleaning the water? Personally, I feel like they are free to do what they want with the water. As we discussed in class, water crises are regional problems. We can not reliably and financially ship water to areas with water shortages. It is too cost-intensive to pipe water to areas without clean water. If the Hindu followers want to worship in the Ganges and keep the water dirty, that is well within their rights. They must, however, be ready to accept the consequences of their actions.

Overall, the Big Thirst was a very eye-opening novel. I have always enjoyed non-fiction literature, so this was a pleasure to read. It definitely will affect some of the choices I make regarding water usage and conservation.

Huck Finn Reflections

Like most of my fellow classmates, I had already read Huck Finn. If I remember correctly, we read it in our English class around freshman year of high school. I was not a fan of English, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I used a lot of outside sources (Cliffnotes, Sparknotes, etc) to minimize my time reading. Although there were a good amount of pages to read before each class, I was determined to actually read this time. I have began to actually enjoy reading lately, so I was very optimistic about the assignment.

Although I had read the book before, I was not very familiar with Mark Twain's life. I knew that was his pen name, but that was about all I knew. The short movie we watched about his life definitely helped explain the writing style and content of Huck Finn. Every author is different due to the experiences and culture that they have experienced. Some authors are well-educated while some are the complete opposite. Some authors are very public figures (Mark Twain), but some are like Emily Dickinson, living as a recluse her entire life. All these different lifestyles are going to live imprints on the literature. Understanding Twain was a crucial part of understanding Huck Finn.

An interesting facet of the novel is the prevalence of its censorship. With one of the central themes being racism, it makes sense that schools would not want this book in part of their curriculum. The language and sentiments shared by some of the characters are very offensive. With one of the main characters being a runaway slave, the reader is able to witness some of the terrible treatment he must endure. A part of the book that I love is the authenticity Twain uses with the language. Depending on the background of the character, Twain stays true to how that character actually would have spoken. Since Jim is not educated, he speaks in a completely different dialect than Huck. While I hated trying to "translate" the first time I read through this book, I really enjoyed it this second time through. I felt like it made the story much more believable. It fully immersed the reader in the times.

Another theme that really stuck out was the clash between society and practical knowledge in Huck. Being raised by the Widow and Miss Douglas, Huck is constantly being indoctrinated by them with religion. For example, they teach him how to pray, but he completely misses the point. After not receiving the fishing hooks he prayed for, Huck gives up on praying. Here we see Huck gravitating towards the practical side instead of religion (society). Huck's famous quote "I don't take no stock in dead people" further illustrates this purpose. In this statement, he writes off history and religion in eight words. Huck wants what he can experience now, basically instant gratification. This will mold his actions throughout the course of the book. Perhaps where the reader sees the greatest struggle between these opposing forces is with Huck and Jim. Society would tell Huck to return this runaway slave. Practical knowledge understands that Jim is useful for Huck's journey. Although he doesn't see him as an equal at first, Huck even begins to treat Jim as a normal human being with emotions. Huck struggles multiple times on the river with wanting to turn Jim in. Huck actions, however, always end up keeping Jim safe. He even states that he will do what is "handiest." Through this, the reader can truly understand what Huck is going through. They can see the dichotomy of the forces acting on Huck.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book the second time around. I think I have matured in my English abilities and was able to fully understand concepts that I missed before. I am glad to have put aside the time to actually read the text.

Second Conversational Partner Meeting

After our last meeting, Sari and I decided to meet up every Friday as long as we were both free. Although he was relatively quiet last time, Sari seemed much more engaged in our conversations. I am sure that it was just nerves the first time. He had never met with a conversation partner before, so I am sure he was a bit nervous. Luckily, his English is very good, so we rarely have a misunderstanding. I try my hardest to not use idioms or slang, but that is usually where he gets hung up.

We met at Chick-Fil-A again and caught up about the previous week. He seems to be enjoying his classes and effectively managing his work load. I filled him in on the pre-med class load. He had not heard of "Developmental Biology" or "Mammalian Physiology" which comes as no surprise. It was fun to try and explain those classes in layman terms. "Embryology" or "G-protein coupled receptors" just don't translate very well.

The main topic of conversation though was Fort Worth. Sari was wondering what to do around Fort Worth. He lives in downtown Fort Worth, but he had not ventured out much. He had been to the cinema and mall, but that was the extent of his exploration. After compiling a list of his "interests," here is the list that I came up with for him.

My first suggestion was the TCU vs OU football game. Sari is a huge fan of volleyball, basketball, and soccer. He has never seen an American Football game. I explained to him how big of a game this was for TCU. He had never even been inside of our stadium. I told him that this was the "stereotypical American" activity that he had to do. He also had never heard of tailgating. Although he doesn't drink due to religious reasons, he seemed very interested in the food. I will have to check with him to see if he went to the game. He was a little bit concerned because he did not know any of the rules. I assured him that someone there would explain the game to him.

My second suggestion was the Fort Worth food truck park. Everyone can appreciate food; it transcends all cultural boundaries. The first step was trying to explain to him what a "food truck" actually was. He had never heard of them before, and they are kind of difficult to explain without seeing them. I explained to him that there is a truck park about 10 minutes away that usually has 6-10 trucks.

Finally, I suggested that he visit the Fort Worth Zoo. He had been to a zoo before, but he had never been to the FW zoo. To my understanding, baby elephants were just born a few months ago. That would be really cool to see. Also, the weather is starting to cool off, so the animals will probably be active. During the summer, they usually just hide in the shade to beat the heat.

Sari said that these would probably be good for the next month or so. Hopefully he has the opportunity to visit a few of these local attractions. I hope that he went to the football game, so I can see what he thought about it.