Honestly, I am not very connected to the natural world. It changed a lot, I think last Thursday, when I realized with the help of two very special girls. It is important to connect to the natural world because if you do not than what is the purpose of life. You are going to become like a robot if you do not connect to nature in some shape or form. Well it is interesting to sit down and observe your surroundings, once in a while. So last Thursday, my baby sister (9 years old, third grade) and my cousin’s daughter (6 years old, kindergarten) visited me on campus after our Environment and Sustainability class. It was a wonderful surprise to see those two.

What I loved the most about those two is that they were fascinated by the littlest things. I passed by those same trees, flowers, bushes, water fountains, etc…everyday and they now have started to blend in with the crowd.I am usually so busy trying to make it to my next class that I passed by those things without taking a second to look at the water fountain and enjoy it. Those two little girls asked nonstop questions and had comments about everything they saw. “Is it lunch time? Where are the little kids? Why are all of these big kids outside? Is it recess for everyone? What grade are all these people in? Omg!!That tree is bigger than that house. How old is it? Awww. this is such a cute baby flower. This water fountain is so pretty. Is that a baby turtle sitting on the mommy turtle’s back? Etc…” They were curious and wanted to explore and run around everywhere. It made me miss being a kid and being that carefree and curious, too. It was legit an adventure for those two. The thirty-minutes that I was with them, I too started to lose track of time and started seeing things through their eyes. They both found the campus to be beautiful and thought it was so cool that we had different professors for each subject and different classes for each subject. They loved meeting you guys (Profs. Saunders & Beckingham) and thought you guys were super nice.

After our little adventure of walking around they went to lunch with my cousin and I went back to doing my assignments. What I learned from this is that we are so busy focusing on social media,homework assignments, exams, finals, jobs,etc…that we forget to take time to connect with nature. Truth be told, the thirty-minutes that I was with those two on our little adventure around campus made my day. It was a good escape from worrying about what I had to get done. My point here is that it is healthy to take some time to enjoy life and hangout with family and friends. I am not saying to neglect your responsibilities, but rather try to find a balance. Taking some time once in awhile to observe where you are. Smell some flowers. Sit outside and enjoy some sunshine. 🙂

My personal goal is to pay more attention to my surroundings especially here at campus because our campus is beautiful.