My Return to the Water Gardens

Trip to the water gardens

When I first found out we were having a class down at the water garden I was immediately excited. I have only been to the water gardens once and I remember it fondly. It was freshman year before school had started. I signed up for Casa C frog camp, which is the one based in the Fort Worth area. Since I live in Massachusetts, frog camp was only the second time I’d ever visited the Fort Worth area. I think it was one of the last days of frog camp that we were scheduled to go to the water gardens. If I remember correctly, it was meant to be a shorter event before we all came back together as a camp and discussed the week. Even though it was scheduled as a minor event in the day I think it was one of my favorite parts of frog camp. I was very confused when they said we were going to the “water gardens.” To be honest I really had no idea what to expect. I assumed that it was going to be like a few fountains or something in downtown Fort Worth or something similar to the fountains in Sundance square. When I first walked up to the park I thought it was kind of in a weird area. In downtown Fort Worth near a highway on ramp is not the most scenic area for a place called the “water gardens.” As you enter the park, however, you seem to leave the city and enter an oasis within the metal jungle. As you go farther into the park the noise of cars leave and all you hear is water. Its an interesting feeling going from downtown to feeling like your in a park. When I first walked up to the main water fountain I was in awe. It was more than just a fountain. It was something completely different. It was like a giant waterfall in the middle of the city. Even though we were only there for roughly an hour it was fun walking around the fountain and feeling the mist in the heat of the summer.

 As Dr Williams explained that we would be going there for a class I was overfilled with joy. Thoughts of that day at frog camp immediately came back. As the weekend came to an end the monday we were scheduled to visit the water gardens had finally come. My class prior to Lit and Civ had been canceled so I was able to leave my house a little early. When I pulled up to where the park was I soon remember the “concrete jungle” that the park was settled in. As I tried to find parking I looked around and remembered how strange of a location this park was in. It took a solid 10 minuets until I found a parking spot within walking distance from the water gardens. I was about 50% sure I was not allowed to park there but I was tired of driving around. So, with my car most likely going to get a ticket, I set out on my adventure to the water gardens. I crossed two major roads and entered the park. This time, however, I entered from a different area than when I visited during frog camp. This time I entered from the far side of the park and walked by two fountains that I did not recognize. One had several small mist fountains all coming together to form a misty collaboration in the middle. The other fountain was a small pool where the water ran down the walls of the pit that it was positioned in. I did not remember either of these fountains from my first trip. I think I was too over whelmed by the main fountain structure that I did not venture off into the park to explore. As I continued into the park I saw my other classmates sitting by the main fountain. I walked up and saw what I had remembered as the waterfall oasis in the concrete jungle. It was just as glorious as I remembered it. The large waterfalls running down the rock siding and emptying out into the bottom pit. As I sit there with the rest of my class I felt at peace. I don't know what it is about listening to the sound of running water but it is extremely calming. After awhile the class ventured down into the pit where the water was emptying into. I walked down and found an area to sit down and just listen to the water flow. The sound of water filled my ears and I was able to reflect about life and other issues that where affecting my life at the moment. I also thought how strange it is how quickly time passes. I have already been at TCU for two whole years. Two years ago I was a freshman straight out of high-school and now I am more than half way finished with my college career. Just like the water in the fountain time flows on not waiting for anything or anyone. After about 15 minuets the class had started going back out of the pit so I followed. As the class came to an end I reflected about how I came here two years ago and here I am again, hopefully wiser and more mature. Overall the trip to the water garden was very enjoyable. It brought back memories, allowed me to reflect, and allowed me to get away from the hustle in my everyday life.

   

First River Reflection

First River Reflection

For my first river reflection I chose a spot across the street form the botanical gardens.  I figured that this would be a good place to start because the city keeps this area relatively clean.  As I drive up I see the train filled with kids go by as some joggers run by my car.  As I park I remember all the times I’ve been down to this part of the trinity.  I think the first couple times I was apart of a group called LEAPS and I helped volunteer to clean up the trash around the river.  Because of groups such as LEAPS this part of the river is especially clean.  I remember walking down the side of the river and seeing joggers and bikers wiz by as yoga classes were going on to our left.  I remember being surprised at how much activity was going on.  I often heard jokes back at school saying that the trinity was extremely dirty and no one would ever go there to hang out.  This, however, was obviously not true (at least in this part of the river).  As I choose a spot to sit down and write this reflection I happen to walk by a familiar area.  I am having a tough time remembering why exactly this place was familiar but then it hit me.  I had come down here with one of the organizations I belong to and had a relay race sort of event in this clearing.  That day was fun.  We each were split up into teams and tried to finish a list of tasks and puzzles.  The day eventually ended in an egg fight as we got our hands on the egg cartons that were supposed to be used for the egg toss.  

I find my spot to sit and begin to enjoy the weather.  It is a nice Friday morning and the weather is perfect.  It is sunny but not to hot with a slight breeze.  There are some joggers running by and a few bikers.  The river looks especially clean and I can only think about the parts that we canoed through only a couple weeks ago.  The contrast between the two areas is extremely great.  Its hard to believe that one area can look clean while another part of the river can have trash floating on either side of your canoe.  

As I sit I hear the train go by again and wonder if adults can go on it.  Every time I drive by this area of the trinity I always think that it would be fun to hop on the train and go for the little ride.  I wonder what kind of looks I would get from the other parents on the ride that got dragged by their children.  Not wanting to go on the train at all they sit counting the seconds until its over as I hop up with a smile on my face and prepare for the short adventure.  I think the idea seems so fun because I can still remember a time when I was younger, at disney I think, where my family and I all hopped on one of their trains for a ride through a simulated rain forest.  This was such a cool ride and is such a great memory I think thats probably what I imagine this train ride being like, even though its about a 5 minute ride in an open field.  Either way I have enjoyed my time at the river and have seen a lot of interesting people and touched on some fond memories both from the trinity and other places.  I think for my second reflection I will venture to a different part of the Trinity and explore a lesser traveled path.  

My Fishing Activity

I have never been a huge fisherman.  Ever since I was a kid no one in my family thoroughly enjoyed it, however, we often seemed to go up to a small lake behind my house and fish.  This was especially true when I was younger.  I’m not sure what it was that kept us going.  The idea of fishing, to me, is very boring and not something that I enjoy doing, however, each time that my siblings and I would go up and fish we would always have a good time.  Just as the movie “A River Runs Through It” implies the fishing was more than just fishing.  Each time we would go up to the lake we would bond and spend time together.  We would first have to hike through our field and climb through some shrubs until we finally made it to the lake.  The lake was barley a lake as well.  It was a very small body of water that you could probably throw a rock to the other side if you tried hard enough.  Anytime we actually caught a fish it was no bigger than the palm of our hand and we immediately let it go because none of us even liked the taste of fish.  These moments, however, spending Saturday afternoon or a Friday night on our little lake will always remain cherished memories to me.  

This idea of the people your with greatly outweighing the actual activity is prevalent in the movie “A River Runs Through It.”  Even though the two boys thoroughly enjoy fishing they are getting the most gratification out of spending time together.  This bonding time allows them to forget all about their troubles and whats going on in each others lives and enjoy each others company.  This is how it felt when my family and I would fish.  It would just be a relaxing hour or two where everyone relaxed and forgot about real life.  In the movie the boys use fishing as an escape and do it often.  One example of this is when Paul decides to go back into the casino house when Norman tries to get him to leave.  As Norman is pulling out of the parking lot Paul runs up to the car and asks if he’d like to go fishing the next day.  Norman was visibly upset with his brother prior to this request, however, once fishing is brought up it appears that his anger is at least lightened.  

Certain people have different activities that act as fishing did for Norman and Paul.  I think that it is crucial to find your “fishing” activity to allow yourself to relax and unwind in times of stress.  I have currently found a new thing that I enjoy doing: listening to music.  I find music therapeutic and often just listen to music for hours surfing the web trying to find new sounds that I’ve never heard of before.  I have gone to multiple music festivals and concerts over the past couple years and have enjoyed them thoroughly.  Like the river I think that music is able to bring people together and allow them to forget about their troubles and whats going on in “real” life.  Its amazing how thousands of strangers can come together and enjoy the music as one.  

Water vs Oil....They might not be so different

With the world continuing to grow resources are becoming harder and harder to acquire.  More and more people are going without the essentials in life: food, clean water, etc.  This problem does not seem to be slowing and needs to be acknowledged and dealt with.  Multiple influential people are beginning to recognize the issues and take a stand.  Multiple speeches about global warming, lack of clean water, and population growth have been given in the last couple years.  Leonardo DiCaprio recently gave a speech to the UN addressing the issues of climate change.  In his speech he explains how big of a problem it is now and how we can “make history…or be vilified by it.”  DiCaprio and people like him are trying to use there influence to alter the way people think.  

I recently read an article about clean water that put the discussion in a new light for me.  The article compared water to natural gas.  When I first read the title I thought it sounded ridiculous to compare water to oil.  The two seem very different in my eyes.  When I first read this article I was not aware of the huge water issues happening world wide and viewed water as something that most people had access to.  Oil on the other hand is a natural resource that countries have started wars over.  The biggest different between the two for me, at the time, was that water does not disappear while oil is used up.  This was the biggest flaw in the authors article in my eyes (at first glance). 

Once I started reading the article, however, my opinion quickly changed. The author stated that as clean drinking water became harder to find for certain countries and the populations continued to rise water would become one of the worlds most prized natural resources.  I was unaware of the struggle, even within the US today, to find clean drinking water.  I am from Massachusetts and we rarely have water issues so when I heard that states like California and Texas were having extreme water issues I almost didn't believe it.  

As I continued reading the article the authors argument began to make more sense.   He argued that in the future water would, just like oil, be the cause of wars against certain countries.  Water would soon become a valuable resource and countries that have an abundance of natural clean drinking water would become more powerful.  This was such a strange idea for me to wrap my head around.  All my life I have went to the faucet in the kitchen and water has come out.  To think that one day, within my lifetime, there could be wars to keep this water running is a very strange concept.  

Overall the article was very persuasive and interesting.  I had never thought about water in this point of view.  To compare water and oil seemed like such a strange pairing at first, however, after reading the article the two fit perfectly together.  I am interested to see how countries handle the water shortages to come in the future and what will be done to cut water waste.  I know in the US there are several things that people waste unreal amounts of water on.  I believe the statistic was something around 50% of the water people use outdoors is wasted.  This is an obvious problem and could be cut down so easily.  A lot of towns and counties have created fines and laws that cut down the days that people can water their lawns.  As time goes on I think it will be very interesting to see how the US and the world deals with the water crisis and if the problem can be resolved.  

Speaking Partner

When I first heard that my Speaking partner was from Hong Kong I was excited.  I have studied Chinese for roughly 6 years starting freshman year of high school so I was excited to try my language skills again.  The first contact I had with Ricky was an email exchange trying to set up a time to meet.  We both had relatively busy weeks and could only meet on thursday at 6.  We agreed for me to pick him up on stadium by the BLUU.  As I pulled up I saw Ricky standing on the side of the road and I pulled in to pick him up.  When he first spoke I was surprised at how well his english was.  He had a few accent errors but that is to be expected.  Overall he spoke english was very well and was easy to communicate with.  

After I picked him up we went back to my house and began talking.  We discussed our future plans, how he came to America, and why he chose TCU.  Ricky had a very impressive plan for the future.  He plans to become a practicing minister.  His god father was a minister in Malaysia and he wanted to follow in his foot steps.  Ricky was also very passionate about music.  He talked about his aspirations to be able to be a minister and teach the choir at a church.  After his time at TCU he plans to go to southwestern, a school that specializes in ministry degrees, to study both religion and music.  He said that southwestern was the Juilliard of religion schools which was very impressive.  

TCU he said was a great school but was just a small part in his future plans.  Apparently when he originally applied to southwestern he did not pass the english part of the entrance exam and needed to get certification from a school like TCU.  He says once he is done with this semester at TCU he will apply again and hopefully get in and be able to pursue his dream.  

Ricky also talked about some of the struggles of being an international student in the US.  He said that the culture is very different and that he doesn't understand some jokes.  My friend, who was also sitting in on the discussion, happened to be wearing pajamas for a sorority event and Ricky did not understand the concept of pajamas.  He said that with a lot of cultural references he just smiles and laughs when other people do because he does not understand.  This reminded me of when I was in China and would try and interact with the Chinese students and wouldn't understand certain jokes.  Ricky also said that he thought that all Americans look the same and that he couldn't remember anyones name which I thought was funny.  

Overall the discussion went well.  I learned about Ricky’s future plans and what he hopes to get from TCU.  I think that it was a successful first meeting and I look forward to talking to him more.  We plan to contact each other next week to plan another meeting. 

Rowing the Trinity

It has been almost 3 years since the last time I stepped into a boat and rowed.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was my senior year of high school and I was on the rowing team.  There are very few feelings that can equate to rowing.  When you fully understand how to set the boat and get the most out of a stroke the feeling can not be described.  When I learned that we would be participating in a trinity river trip I was very excited.  I missed the feeling of complete freedom and control in what happens to the boat.  

Once the day had arrived I went to the rec filled with anticipation.  I had hoped that I could use my own boat prior to getting to the rec and within minuets we were informed that some of us would be allowed to use individual canoes.  I knew this is what I wanted to do and immediately volunteered for the canoe.  Although I had never used a canoe before I figured it couldn't be that much different from the boats I rowed in for crew.  

At the lake we each separated to our individual boats and brought them down to the water.  I was a little nervous at first and worried that the boat would behave differently than a crew boat, however, the second I got into the water that worry vanished.  I felt at ease in the water, as if I had never stopped rowing.  Once the trip started all my memories of my high school rowing started to come back and I felt at home.  

As we rowed down the river I began to notice all the trash and pollution lining the water.  I was unaware of how poorly the trinity was kept and it was pretty upsetting to be honest.  The river I used to row on back home was also pretty dirty but no where near as bad as the trinity was.  As we progressed through the river the pollution began to die down until it was not noticeable anymore.  

The final part of the trip was by far the best.  Dr Williams had spoken about a view of the city but I had not thought it would be as amazing as it was.  For the entire trip there are very few things to look at…trash and dirt essentially.  It is not until you enter the final 30 minuets of the trip that you really experience Fort Worth and understand the reason why this canoe trip is popular.  As you turn around the river bend and under the bridge you see the back drop of downtown Fort Worth.  I don't know if it is because I am from a small town or what but for some reason I find city lights to be one of the most mesmerizing things to look at….So as I went around the corner I was awestruck by the Fort Worth skyline, which is a much more interesting skyline than I would have ever thought.  

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.  It brought back memories from my high school and allowed me to experience Fort Worth form a new point of view.  The freedom that one can experience on the water is different than anything else in the world.  I am glad I was reminded about what this feeling is like.  

What is Civilization/Literature?

"Civilization is a group of people with similar interests and goals living in a related space.  Literature is a form of art that only needs to be recognized by the one who wrote it." -Samantha Forshaw, Student

"Civilization is a community filled with people that have similar beliefs and culture.  Literature is a form of creative writing that stems from a societies culture and beliefs." -Brittney Cannon, Student

"Civilization is a group of people with similar cultural view working to better both themselves and the community as a whole.  Literature is a form of expression that can reflect the culture, ideas, or any other aspect of the individual that is writing it."  Ryan Maxum, Student