Indiana Myer

Well, the Low Ropes were pretty....memorable to say the least. From the guide wires course, which left me with a few physical memories (Note to self: let GO of the rope when falling), to the Rope swing course, where people were starting to call me Indy (He’s still better with the ladies than I am.) All in all, just a typical day.

Jack Myer

Tuesday happenings

This morning after breakfast the two groups divided up and went off to do their days activities. My group proceeded to go to the low ropes course and complete the intended obstacles with only a few minor problems. Since we had a fair amount of time left after the course we played ultimate Frisbee. After the game we went to eat lunch and then back to Spencer hall. We met our professor there and we then proceeded to walk several of the trails. During this hike we learned about earlier peoples and how they lived, as well as the importance of water. We also visited a coal mine. Then we hiked to the van and went home. Now I’m about to go eat dinner.

Forrest Wilkerson

Trees, Trust and Teamwork

Today, I went with counselors Katie and Nathan to the woods. There, we played many games that involved trees, trust, and teamwork. (Wow, that’s three t’s)! We helped each other swing across a chasm of lava, climb a wall, get everyone on a small island, get from tree to tree on tightropes, and we even did the trust fall. I think that these exercises strengthened us as a group.

After lunch, we went on a hike with history professor Dr. Willis through Abbo’s Alley and followed the Beckwith and Piney Point trails. We stopped to see the very cool inside of a coal mine. Dr. Willis told us that some of the structures, even this university, were made mostly out of sandstone and have been around for many years. He also told us how the university began and how the lives of people who lived in this area worked many years ago. This hike was very interesting and educational. Overall, today was a very fun day and I can’t wait to have more!

Katie Depperschmidt

Up at 6:30 this morning

Today was our first full day at SEI, and we did a LOT. My roommate and I stumbled out of bed at 6:30, got our backpacks packed full of waters and Gatorades, and set out to the dining hall to claim our breakfast. After breakfast, we met Dr. Smith, who led us through sites where houses and churches once stood, and told us how to “read the land like a textbook” by looking for indicator species of plants that could tell us where buildings or other man-made objects once stood. After lunch, we journeyed through the northeastern part of the domain with Dr. Evans. We started by discussing the differences in the soil in the plateau versus the lowlands, and learned that while the lowlands’ soil consists mostly of limestone, the plateau’s soil is mostly sandstone. Sandstone, however, is a poor Ph buffer which makes the Ph of the soil very acidic, and is more prone to erosion than limestone, which makes the plateau’s soil quite infertile. Afterwards, we hiked a trail which ran through multiple ecosystems, which were all linked by their differences in water retention. Although the trail was only a couple of miles, there were astonishing differences in each ecosystem. The Domain is likely one of, if not the most, unique and diverse lands I have ever seen.

Kevin Farmer

Our First Day

We spent the start of the day with Dr. Evans learning about the ecosystems that are around Sewanee. It was fun to take a hike and see the different kind of habitats that are in the area and learn what kind of plants and animals live there and why. The second part of the day we spent with Dr. Smith and learned to search the landscape for clues to people who lived in the area and what they may have done with their lives.

Tamura Dunbar

Sweat

Today, while resting, I looked around and noticed a design printed on everyone around me's lower back. It looked like lungs. Lungs of sweat. I touched my own back in fear of whatever grotesque sweat-pattern had emerged from my skin. Only after I realized the extent of my back sweat did I come to terms of how well-deserved it was. I had spent the morning bounding through high ground covering plants, using them as clues to decipher the lives of those who were at Sewanee before me, and after pausing for lunch, I hiked through the Cumberland Plateau and observed the diversity of the habitats there, all in high temperatures with still, humid air. No wonder I was so sweaty.

Simona Zappas

SEI 2010

Here it is - our blog for 2010! Every day we hope to give some snippets of what goes on at the SEI Pre-college Field Studies Experience. So let's get started!