I’m crazy.  Science is crazy.  Alligators are crazy, and typically hungry as well…

It was to be the most intense biological experience of my life – a weeklong trip to the Florida Everglades to study the ecosystems within.  Sitting knee-deep in Cyprus swamps, observing the alligators and crocodiles as they silently stalked their prey – what better way to learn more about a habitat than first-hand???

The class was BIO295 – Field Studies in Biology / Everglades Ecology – the most advanced biology class offered by our friendly, neighborhood community college.  Some people mock community colleges because they’ll let in just about anybody, and you can bet that I definitely had my share of wise-cracks (and still do!), but with all fairness, NCMC easily offers the pinnacle of study-abroad courses in Northern Michigan and should at least get credit for that!  Our badminton team may suck, but just ask anybody who’s going to Mexico in a few months if they care!

Honestly, although it was a full-fledged college class with credit and homework, it was secretly just a big vacation for me!  After two weeks of enjoying the Christmas holidays and four-day weekends, the next logical step was to take a week off from work altogether, but why take one week when you can take two?  Add in weather that would make any Michigander melt, a couple dozen friends and a handful of breath-taking Florida sunsets and you’ve got possibly the best way to wrap up two years of “hard work and studying” at college.  And when I figured out a way to both get the homework out of the way and knock out a feature for the magazine at the same time, I was sold!  Did I mention that the girl-to-guy ratio was 6 to 1???

One thing I will admit is that I really wasn’t prepared for what I was going to see, and after the fact, I seriously don’t know how anyone could even begin to imagine what lies hidden in these forgotten swamps at the tip of Florida.  All of the photographs, videos and lectures I’d been exposed to in preparation proved insignificant as I peered out the windows of the bus as we cruised down Tamiami Trail towards our destination in Flamingo, nestled in the heart of the legendary Everglades.

Although that would’ve made for a pretty easy job on my part, I’m guessing that it might not be exactly what Kathy’s looking for!  All in the same, these words which we continuously heard at each of our class meetings came surprisingly close to the truth; it’s going to be quite the challenge to do the Everglades justice with a mere combination of witty banter and pretty photos, but I’ve got a degree riding on this project, so we’ll just have to see what happens…