Aloha Oi...Until we meet again my friends.

Aloha all.

Welcome to my final blog.  As I reflect on the magnificent experience abroad in Florida’s water based ecosystems I can state emphatically the entire event significantly improved my life. We gave it all we had and that’s a huge lesson to share…always give your best whatever you do in this life.

With a kick off orientation at USF St Pete, we got to know each other, buddied up, and created a caravan of personal vehicles and headed off to explore the Florida coastal ecosystems together. What a great group of students, eager to undertake the unknown, twelve budding scientists and our teaching assistant.

I’m so very grateful to the Florida Institute of Oceanography and their sponsorship continuing this course for a second year. Thanks to my home University of West Florida for their selection and scholarship, which enabled me to attend by covering course tuition. Well done and thank you to all the faculty, staff, administrators, and everyone else involved in the year long planning and logistics that made this a great success.

Each educational facility, laboratory, and field station visited and studied on our circumnavigation of the Florida coastline gave us the opportunity to literally be immersed into the water based ecosystems offered and we embraced it!

We did everything together; study, problem solve, hike, dive, swim, make meals, offer encouragement, and share life stories. We became a great team of evolving scientists, oceanographers, and marine biologists.

This experience was pure energy and even greater motivation to me personally to immerse deeper into stewardship of our ocean planet and sustainability of the marine environment for future generations.

 We made many contacts and got connected to a wider academic network of associates that are all interested in our futures completing undergraduate degrees, moving forward to graduate school, or employment in the area of our chosen discipline at a Florida university of institution.

I recommend this course to everyone and I keep the new friendships close to my heart looking forward to building upon those relationships.

Aloha Oi.