Plant Tax Refecltion

Prior to taking Plant Taxonomy, I wasn't aware of all of the possibilities and obstacles I would have to face on the way. I was taught how to correctly identify plants by putting together their characteristics, habitats, range distribution and other relating factors. In order to become more hands on in our process of achieving this, our class went out to Timucuan National Park to collect different species for our labs. This experience every Thursday was much more beneficial and motivating than sitting in a lab looking under a microscope as I did in previous labs. We were able to see these species alive in their natural habitats. Unfortunately this process didn't come with much ease.

Growing up in a city for most of my life, I'm used to cars, buses, trains, shops, and people; not bushes, trees, and shellmidden. I am not an animal friendly person, in fact I'm deathly afraid of them. Walking through the trails at Timucuan made me feel as if I was walking through an unknown world, paranoid, watching and waiting for something to attack. It was unclear to me why the rest of the group was acting so calmly through the path, as if they were just strolling through campus. As a clung tight to my pressing, staying close to the professor for protection, I jumped at every noise I heard in the bushes. I was afraid of everything and felt extremely uncomfortable the first couple Thursdays. Eventually I learned to have an open mind and go off on my own, sometimes even leading the group through a trail. Going through this, I was able to face my fears and grow as a person.

With regards to the plants in the environment, initially everything looked the same. I couldn't understand how we were supposed to identify so many different species from this selection. As the course progressed, my skills of observing different charactersitics and becomming familiar with all the diffreent families grew. Towards the end, I began to identify