Day 1 5/20/14- Discovering Troy and Peebles Island

Painting located near River Front Park

 

River Street, Troy NY 

At first when we were sent out to take pictures I was not sure where to even begin. I kept thinking to myself this is such a big town and what is the point of taking pictures of a town that I thought at the time had no beauty to it. My view point of Troy soon changed after looking at the different buildings, trees and many other things found in the surrounding I was able to see that Troy is more than a 'run down town.' The picture above shows River Street in troy. These buildings are very beautiful in their architecture and just shows there is more to Troy then meets the eye. Sometimes you need to look closer at objects to see the true beauty. Looking at the buildings you can see different characteristics such as the windows and iron into the frames of the buildings. 

River Front Park Troy

Turtle statue near Uncle Sam's bus stop                                            



During this picture spree I began to look at Troy as a town filled with beauty, something I have never done before. This allowed me to discover new things around Troy. At the bus stop known as Uncle Sam's bus stop, I discovered a cement turtle. Since turtles are my favorite animal I was instantly in shock and had to take a picture with the statue. Then down near the river I began to look at each plant and tree closely and I discovered a tree that really interested me. The tree just seemed flawless and beautiful. I realized from this adventure that beauty is more than what you see at first glance. Sometimes you need to really focus on what is around you or you might miss the true beauty of the town or simple things around you. My examples of not noticing a statue of my favorite animal near the bus stop I am always at or a tree that I pass very often when walking by the river just shows that I do not always open myself up to the world around me. This is something I hope to improve with this program.

 At Peebles' Island I was fortunate enough to see more beautiful scenery. After using what I learned during our picture spree in Troy, I began to look all around my surroundings to make sure I captured the full experiences. Looking up at the trees it was so pretty to see the branches of all different shapes and sizes come together. I was also lucky enough to see turtles. I never have seen a baby turtle like the one in the picture above.

Saving the fish from the puddle in Peebles Island

A snake found on our hike around the island

 At Peebles Island I was able to experience two events I never have done before. First as a group we saved fish that would have been eaten because they were stranded in a body of water not connected to the river. To put the fish back into the river we were fishing the fish out with out hands! This was so cool for me because growing up I always loved fishing but I would always use a net or a fishing pole not my own bare hand. The second event I experienced was touching a snake. Growing up I have always been so afraid of snakes and when I was forced to touch it today I nearly had a heart attack. It was a very scary moment for me. Then I realized people are often afraid of the unknown. In life people experience different things and growing up in the country rather than the city allowed me to be comfortable with catching fish with my hand while those who did not grow up around that setting may be more fearful of the situation just as I was afraid to touch the snake because I have never done that before.

After looking at everything we did today and learned, I realized this program is really going to help me grow as a person. It already has so much in just the one day of the program. I am starting to look at my surroundings in a different view and was able to experience things I never have done before and never would have done if it was not for this programs and the professors pushing me. I am really excited to see what else this program brings.