This morning, we woke up to clear skies and French toast for breakfast, which continues to be a fan favorite. Following breakfast, we hopped into the truck and drove to Cockburn Town to see the Lady Francis, which is San Salvador Island鈥檚 mail boat. We learned that this boat delivers the island鈥檚 mail (and goods for the stores, resorts, and the GRC) approximately every week, coming from Nassau. After watching the mail, we split up into two groups based upon which research project group we were in. One group is researching Brittle Sea stars in intertidal zones, so they stayed with Dr. Phillips at Bonefish Bay, while the rest of the research groups continued down to Snapshot Reef to work with their own project data collections.
After the groups were done at Snapshot Reef, they drove back to Bonefish Bay to pick up the research group that spent their morning there. The truck ride back to the GRC proved to be a wet ride as we all got pelted with rain. Luckily, this rain stopped once we made it to the research centre, allowing for us dry off before lunch.
Once we had eaten lunch, we all prepared to split once again. One group planned to go to the government dock to continue their research on their final projects. The second group planned to go to supposedly one of the most beautiful reefs of San Salvador, known as Gaulin Reef. Unfortunately, thunderstorms threw a wrench into everyone鈥檚 plans so we had to quickly decide what else to do with our afternoon. We had a couple hours before dinner which we used to continue working on our group organism projects as well as studying for our 2nd exam. After our dinner (which was pizza, and you can鈥檛 go wrong with that) we were asked if we wanted to put new nets on the basketball hoops that we have been shooting around on all trip. Considering one of the rims was missing a net entirely we were more than happy to do our last little bit of community service for the GRC. We then went back to the lab after a short break at the snack bar to get some last second cramming in before the exam.
Dylan鈥檚 Reflection:
I came into this program with nothing but high hopes for what I was going to experience and the connections I was going to make with my fellow 性视界 students, a lot of which I did not know previous to the trip. I may have started this trip with a bit of a big ego with how well I was going to handle this trip as I have done a lot of the things we have done here before in terms of school trips and snorkeling and such. I also had a handful of my best friends coming with me so what could possibly go wrong? Being honest the first half of this trip really humbled me and had me debating if this was really for me, between the hundreds of bug bites and 85-degree rooms I really struggled at first and even debated finding the first plane ticket home. However, as my body began to adjust, I began to embrace what this trip is truly about which is experience. I have made multiple life-long memories on this journey and have made some great friends as well. I have always loved the ocean even as a little boy I would watch Finding Nemo daily and tell my parents about wanting to be a marine biologist and I know for a fact if I saw what I鈥檓 doing now I鈥檇 be utterly amazed. This trip may has changed me in many ways for the better and that includes my love for what I get to do. I have never been a morning person and yet I wake up every day at 7:00 AM absolutely ecstatic about what I鈥檓 about to do with my day. I can鈥檛 thank 性视界 enough for the opportunities I have been given especially JW and KR as I have now gone on two separate marine science-oriented trips with them and have gotten to experience more than some people get to in a lifetime.
Haley鈥檚 reflection:
Coming into this trip, I was feeling a mix of emotions. Part of me was hopeful and anxious for this experience. Although, I must admit that I was also nervous because I did not have any previous experience with marine science, and I had only ever had a few conversations with the other students on the trip, so I was slightly worried about making new friends. Writing this with only a few days left on the trip, I wish there was a way I could assure my past self two weeks ago that there was absolutely nothing to worry about. I made the decision to come on this trip relatively last minute, and it has proven to be one of the best decisions I could have made. It has exposed me to the wide world of marine biology and has inspired me to explore pursuing a marine science minor when I return to Witt. In addition, it has also inspired me to look into going into the marine science field post-graduation. Reflecting on aspects of the trip outside of the classroom, there were definitely moments that forced me to learn adversity, but also many moments of laughter and excitement. I will forever be grateful for the Bahamas 2024 trip for having me step outside of my comfort zone, giving me a plethora of stories to tell, and most of all introducing me to 10 new people whose friendships I look forward to continuing when we leave San Salvador and return to Springfield in the fall.
-Haley Pitman 鈥�26 and Dylan Rice 鈥�27