The First Day

First we checked into our dorm rooms. We then were sent on a guided tour of the beautiful UVM campus. After our first lunch in Simpson hall we headed out to the field sites. Once there we engaged in such ice breaking activities as determining the length of our pace and calculating the actual length of a hike to the other field sites. After an initial tour of the field sites we were sent on a tour of the Ethan Allen Homestead.

After we got back to the dorms we had a meeting about the dorm rules. After that we worked in the Perkins Hall computer lab learning to make these very web pages.

The Second Day

Today we woke up early for breakfast. We finally have a taste of dorm life. Today is the first day we visit our field sites. The visits went good. We did some work on the succession of the raparian forest on the point bar of the peninsula. When we got back to the dorms we played some great games and got ready to present our personal triangles. We are growing closer as peers. The traingles were a really good exercise for getting to know everybody.

The Third Day

Still getting up to early in the morning. We are kept on a very busy schedule. Today we will be spending more time at the field sites. This time the faculty will be on rotation so that we can tap into their expertice. This afternoon we got to go to the Shelburne Farms. It is an extremely beautiful spot. The water is cold but it was to nice a place not to go swimming. A large game of ultimate frisbee was going on in a large field near the beach and we even celibrated a birthday. A dog caught a squirrel and everybody enjoyed themeselves immensley.

The Fourth Day

Tired!!!!!! Visiting the home field site again. But this time it is from a different percpective. On a canoeing adventure we canoed around our site allowing use to better access the river. We took a lot of measurements and learned a lot more about the site. The most fun of all, however, was the afternoon elective courses we took. I took one in electrochemistry because of my love for blowing things up, and boy did we ever. Helen the faculty member who taught the class introduced me to making pickles glow, burning Ammonium dicromate, and dehydrating sugar. My personal favorite is the Ammonium Dicromate. Tonight was also the Mentor/Educator dinner in Waterman Manor. An all around good day.

The Fifth Day

After breakfast headed out to the strawberry fields of the Winooski Intervale. On the organic farm, we reached just after a short hike, we picked about fifteen quarts of strawberry's. I don't like strawberries but I heard from the mmmmmm! that they were quite good. After that a short hike further we visited the wood burning power plant. Later that day we were fortunate enought to go out on the UVM RV Melosira. This is a research vessel run by the University for lake research. We pulled out specimens and went swimming. That evening we went to North Beach to go swimming. Unfortunatly after the heavy rains the bacteria levels were to high to actually swim. But we played soccer and had fun just the same. That evening a few adults in a sciense related field came to discuss their professions with us. We could ask questions and we were able to learn a little bit more about how they got were they are and what they do there.

The Sixth Day

We started in the computer lab and would spend many many many many hours in their throughout the day preparing our information for presentation in two days. After that we headed to the scanning electron Microscope on the UVM campus. We were able to look at samples that we had taking from the field a few days before. The pictures were quite amazing. After that we had the opportunity to visit the special collection of the UVM library. We saw old town maps and most spectacular of all were the air photos of the site form 1988. That evening we went back to the labs and spent all day their until past midnight. I had a lot of fun, but I can't speak for the rest of the people.

The Seventh Day

Still tired!!!! Today we are going to visit eachother's field sites. We will have to explain to everybody what we did for the past week in a forty five minute period. After this we are going on a hike/drive up Mount Mansfield. The view from the summit was beautiful. You can get a better look at just how many green mountains we really have from up at the top. Nobody was hurt or lost and we all had a great time. Not to mention the pizza that was waiting for us at the bottom.

The Eigth and Final Day

Today we got up around six. Some of us hoping to see the world cup soccer game. Unfortunately we were unable to find the television station that was showing it. After breakfast we headed over to Perkins to get ready for the final ceremonies. After that and lunch we will be sent home. Some of us like me just don't want to leave.