Go GREEN!

Planting Native Trees for a Sustainable Future in Guam

Energy Conservation: Shading keeps your buildings cooler and reduces your energy needs for air condition.

Habitat for Fauna: By planting native trees, every patch of habitat becomes part of a high biodiverse landscape that nurtures and sustain a home for Guam's native fauna.

Air Purification: Trees remove harmful particles from the air. Trees help battle climate change by absorbing and converting atmospheric carbon to solid form.

Community: People feel more peaceful surrounded by trees and are more likely to be physically active.

Beautiful surroundings: Trees have an intrinsic and aesthetic value.

Reduced Run-off: Trees intercept stormwater by absorbing and dispersing water, and therefore mitigates the threat of flooding.

Increased Property Values: Homes, goods, and services sell for more in communities with trees.

Soil Stabilization: Trees will reduce erosion by binding the soil to the sloping land with their roots. As a bonus trees with increase soil fertility, beneficial for other plants.

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Learned more about trees, their functions, cultural uses!

TALKING TREES!

studying...

For one of my classes, nothing we discuss in class is on our test, only the chapter he tells us to read... I'm really struggling in that class, I'm good at memorizing places in geography because putting places with names seems reasonable, or in literature... talking about poetic tools and how their used in various poems... Every other class involves talking about the material, this is a complete curve ball.. I cannot use quizlet because theres no vocabulary, theres graphs but we don't need to know too much about them. I read the material maybe 2 or 3 times, high light... but still... haven't gotten an A. BAM.. As I typed this blog, I thought of paraphrasing. I highlight sections and rewrite certain parts, but paraphrasing each paragraph seems to be another route I can take. LOADS of writing but whatever gets me to pass, I guess.

for future generations!

On Arbor Day, October 14, my geography class was invited to the Island for Sustainability for extra credit. Dr. Underwood spoke for a few minutes, welcoming everyone however mainly speaking in regards to trees. He said, be as trees are with intrinsic values. He expressed his love for trees, spoke in Chamorro a few times. Ended by saying, the closer we were to trees would be the closer we are to finding ourself and where we stand in life. After his speech.. There was a little boy who also wrote a poem for trees in Chamorro, I was not too sure if he was chamorro but it was definitely pleasing to see and hear younger generations engaging in the culture and language. It was definitely great for me to see Dr. Underwood, someone much older than I am, and the little boy, much younger than I am.. engaging in traditions, in a bigger picture.. the environment. As we planted trees, one of the agriculture workers invited us to plant again.. on Oct. 22nd... On Saturday, October 22nd, I went tree planting in Merizo. It was possibly one of the most memorable experiences. I was able to see the hard work and dedication of those around me. It definitely takes a community to make a difference but it starts with one, connecting with multiple people and those people connecting with other people. I have been interested in extracurriculars such as this, environmental sustainability.. and, I got a chance to see my cousin enjoy the events also. She started to engage so much, that she also invited her friend.. next thing you know, there were three of us.. some may say "only three," but it's three more people that care about what surrounds us, what the future holds.

Assessments

In one of my classes,  I have 98% and above on about 85% of my work not including the 90% I got on one quiz and a 92% I got on one assignment. However, the two "assessments" that my professor gaves us I failed. I understood why I failed the first "assessment" because I really put no effort into it, but this next assessment was a 100 question test and I failed. I'm so torn because I really studied for it and I failed. She already said only one person in her last semester got an A, so I made sure to prepare myself as best I could.. but this semester only one person got a C and everyone else failed. It just makes no sense to me, she wants us to retake it but, I really don't feel like it'll make any difference. I will still fail the test, it was tough. It makes no sense to me that a professor who sees how poorly her students do semester after semester will continue to give the same test. HAVE YOU LEARNED ANYTHING?

Losing Motivation

I am currently at that point in the semester where I'm just losing all hope in my classes, feeling like there's more to life than school, anxiety and constant worry. I lose sleep over what's due and I am tired of it. For example, I've been so exhausted from school that I fall asleep right after class and jump up during my sleep because something else is due. I have yet to feel so free, but it kills me that I feel this way because school has always been a priority. I always strived for A's, and now... I'm stuck. This is the time where I need to suck it up and push because midterms are arriving and I'm still so lost.