Extra Credit

My good pal David Manahan taught Environmental Studies courses at Sacramento State over the past few years.  As a big supporter of this project, he offered his students the opportunity to get some extra credit for exploring our website and writing about their experiences.

Recently David moved to Australia to take a teaching position and in cleaning his files he passed on to me a stack of reflection papers his students had written about their experiences with our website.  Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"I have never been part of blogging.  If I was to become a blog addict though, I would like it to be with an organization like Saving The Sierra.  It was interesting to listen to the different stories, and hear the varying definitions on what conservation means to people.  It was inspiring in a way to see that so many people are willing to come together in order to conserve a part of nature.  It also made me feel like I should be making more of an effort like these citizens, and gaining some real memories by being part of something"

"After finishing this activity, I now realize how important it is to save the Sierra.  I think it is really important to get people in the state of California to be aware of the situation in the Sierra Mountains and how our actions affect it. I know that I will be more aware of my own actions and that I will do things that are environmentally beneficial and not harmful."

 "From the blog, I learned more about the issues in the Sierra and how people are taking action to help.  It showed me another side of the Sierra that I never knew.  From hearing the stories of people who are active in the environment, it really inspiredme to do more and to help protect our environment that we all live in." 

"I think the things people are trying to do to conserve the environment, culture, and economy of the Sierra Nevada is very powerful.  The things that the people are doing are very inspiring and motivational.  It makes you want to do something to make a difference."

"From the blogging experience, it was great to see the different comments and views people have on the different stories.  It was surprising to learn what goes on that we really don't hear about.  For me personally, I just know what is going on in our community and sometimes we need to see what is going on throughout the state.  We don't realize that everything affects us. I just hope that the majority of citizens will become more aware of what's going on in our environment and help end some of the current issue we are dealing with today."

Any thoughts you'd like to share on how this website has made a difference for you?