\\ Journal 9: Service Learning //

I did my service learning project at the Rotary Park Environmental Center in Cape Coral, Florida. The caretakers at this park do many different things for the park, including a butterfly garden, nature trail preservation, and a dog park. For the sake of my project, I was basically going to show up and do whatever work they needed to get done to improve their park. For my first visit, I spent some time uprooting a certain kind of invasive plant. We then mulched a space and added some gravel to another. This endeavor counted for my first three hours of work. The rest of my visits were all the same and all completely on my own. I was tasked with removing a particularly pesky invasive species of plant from a patch of land that one sees when they first drive into the park's parking lot. In order to do this, one must use a shovel to cut into the root of the plant, then uproot it with the shovel. Finally, you still have to remove it forcefully by hand. It was admittedly a very strenuous experience. I would spend two hours doing this, then three hours a few weeks later, and then two more hours a week later to finish up my hours requirement. As I've mentioned in the reflection essay, this instilled within me a deeper appreciation for all of the hard work that goes into up-keeping a space for environmental sustainability and as a space for people to enjoy spending time in.