A day in the life, a life in the day.
Posted by Malcolm on September 30, 2013
Over the weekend, instead of preparing for a podcast this week, I wrote a piece for Student Services titled “A Day in the Life…” and began researching a new project not assigned for class. Despite having ample time to organize a podcast that would talk about food waste (next week?), I decided to take this week off from podcasting to work on my audio editing skills (updated version of Episode 5) and write a little about myself (and my life).
I started this blog/podcast knowing that I would be filling up quite a bit of my free time. The piece for Student Services provides a good insight into the insanity that is a day in my life. If it isn’t Student Council, then it is Sustainability Council. If it isn’t working at Oceana, then it is working in The Commons. It amazes me I have time to work on homework assignments, presentations for class, and semester long research projects. This blog is a chance to get away from all of that and to talk about topics that interest me with people I don’t spend enough time with. In reality, the only person who I care if they enjoy my podcast is me (and I do). I have had a good response from my friends and family, giving me suggestions, ideas, and criticisms that extend beyond the realm of podcasting. I’ve eliminated the dreaded “um” from my vocabulary and realized “so” took its place as a filler. I plan on having more of my colleagues in the both to have discussions about environmental issues. I even hope to get all of the students receiving funding (conference funding or immersive learning funding) to record podcasts about their experiences. With more and more practice podcasting, I will be able to podcast about all sorts of exciting aspects of my life!
Ocean Voices, is the pending title for the research project that I am undertaking. The idea came from a question I have been asking at the marine speaker series, “what was the inspirational moment or series of moments that led you towards ocean conservation?” A similar question has been asked to fellow Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) students; the stories are intriguing and inspiring! Initially I was just gathering the stories for my own interests (who doesn’t love hearing an inspirational story?). Then it dawned on me, why not gather the stories and use them to create a narrative to inspire future ocean leaders? A few hours (or an entire weekend) of research on environmental ethics, sea ethics, and ocean ethics resulted in a plan for research. Working with the faculty in the Center for the Blue Economy (CBE), I hope to provide an ethical value to the Sea to add to the economic valuation literature being produced. Taking this seriously could mean a published paper!
Where does this leave me? As you may or may not know, I’m satisfied (see pleased/fulfilled) with how my life is going. I’ve found my voice, I’m surround by passion, and every day is a gift!
Stay awesome.
