Orange & Blue magazine - The Discovery Issue - Fall 2016

ORANGE & BLUE The Discovery Issue | Fall 2016

MAGAZINE

FLORIDA'S

THE 21 WORST DAYS OF MY LIFE

DIY

7

MUST-VISIT STATE PARKS I PUT WHAT ON MY FACE?

FOR YOUR NEXT TRIP

YOUR GUIDE TO OUTDOOR FASHION 2

ORANGE & BLUE MAGAZINE

THE DISCOVERY ISSUE FALL 2016 STAFF

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ART DIRECTOR

PHOTO EDITOR

SENIOR EDITOR

BLOG EDITOR AND SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

ADVISER

Melissa Smith Editor-in-Chief Catie Flatley Art Director Mireillee Lamourt Photo Editor Monica Andrade Senior Editor Lisandranette Rios Blog Editor and Social Media Manager Nicole Irving Adviser

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FROM THE EDITOR — The moment we are born, we begin to discover the world around us. From discovering our toes and who our parents are, to tasting new foods and eventually figuring out who we want as friends and what we want to be when we grow up.

Discovery can mean the physical act of going out and finding new things, such as we did with our geocaching story, found on page 9. But there is also a bigger, broader application of the word — discovering our true passions, discovering the nuances of our personalities and rediscovering who we are after tragedy strikes. When we talked to Ashley, a young woman who was addicted to drugs and alcohol, she told us of her road to recovery and what she discovered about herself through that journey.

As the five of us created this magazine, we, too, discovered things we didn’t know about ourselves and one another — that under pressure, we could come together, five strangers, and create this beautiful product for you. As you embark on a journey through the pages of our magazine, we hope that you discover something new and are inspired to get out into the world and be a part of all it has to offer.

If we stop discovering, we stop growing. We stop evolving. So, I encourage each of you to stay wide-eyed. Keep learning, keep challenging yourself and keep discovering the beauty of the world around us and the beauty inside yourself.

Melissa Smith

THANK YOU to our amazing adviser Nicole Irving, Ted Spiker, Diane McFarlin, Spiro Kiousis, Helga Williams, Matt Sheehan, Mike Foley, Rob Witzel and our cover model, Megan.

Orange & Blue is published semiannually by the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications students enrolled in Applied Magazines. This issue was printed by Alta Sys tems, Inc. Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without written permission.

Orange & Blue is protected through trademark registration in the United States. Send letters to Box 118400 College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

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CONTENTS TRAVEL State Parks Guide Geocaching Suitcase Must-Haves Towns of Alachua

5 9 11 13

LIFESTYLE Finding Your Passion Your Perfect Pet Trash to Treasure Local Artists UF Discoveries

16 19 20 23 25

FEATURES Addiction Pain and Illnesses 3

28 32

SELF Alternative Fitness Coping with Death Fashion with TRiP Chemicals to Avoid

35 39 43 48

INNOVATION / TECHNOLOGY Adventure Gadgets Future of Medicine Cade For the Kids Social Media Detox

50 52 54 56

FOOD Dragonfruit Recipes 59 Around-the-World Eats 61 Farm-to-Table 63

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TRAVEL

Paynes Prairie Manatee Springs Devil's Millhopper

Lake Manatee Jonathan Dickinson

PASSPORT TO FLORIDA’S STATE PARKS

A Guide to Natural Florida

By Melissa Smith The state of Florida is freckled with 162 award-winning state parks. I love this state, and I want to see as much of it as I can, so I’m trying to go to all of them. So far, I’m at about 55 parks. I’m making pretty good headway, but there’s a lot left for me to see. Being stationed in Gainesville is great, because we’re central to most of the parks from the Panhandle to the Keys. This makes it easy to plan trips depending on the amount of time you have to get away. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite parks for whether you’re looking for an afternoon of exploration, an overnighter or a weeklong adventure. Happy trails!

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Bahia Honda John Pennekamp

ONE DAY

If you have just an afternoon to spare or aren’t fully ready to commit to sleeping outdoors, visit one of these parks for a taste of what natural Florida has to offer.

MANATEE SPRINGS

Photos By Melissa Smith

Florida has countless springs, and Manatee Springs State Park ranks up there with the best of them. Swimmers, snorkelers and scuba divers alike can enjoy the 72-degree water year-round.

Manatee is a first-magnitude spring that pumps out about 100 million gallons of water per day. Don’t be surprised if you see one of the creatures the spring is named for. Manatees tend to congregate in the crystal-clear waters, especially during the winter months when the spring water is warmer than that of the converging Suwannee River. And while Manatee is one of the prettiest springs in the state, it’s worth visiting for the barbecue alone. Anderson Outdoor Adventures runs a full-service barbecue hut (that serves beer!) as well as a canoe and kayak rental program to meet any of your recreational needs.

Entry: $6 per vehicle Camping: Yes, full-facility camping only Hours: 8 a.m. until sundown, 365 days/year Families: Kids will not only have fun swimming, but they can also play on the Manatee Springs playground.

Address: 11650 NW 115 St., Chiefland

PAYNES PRAIRIE

DEVIL'S MILLHOPPER

With eight unique trails to choose from, there’s something for everyone at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. Each offers something a little different from the next. The La Chua trail, which is the most popular trail in the park, stretches for 1.5 miles and takes you into the heart of the swampy prairie. Watch where you step, because alligators are known to sunbathe on the edges of the trail. One of my favorite trails is the Bolen Bluff trail (pictured above). It’s about 2.5 miles long and is divided into two sections.

The first takes you on a tour through a hardwood forest, and the second juts out into the prairie, ending with an elevated observation deck for you to look out onto the entire stretch of land. Be sure to keep an eye out for animals and their tracks. I’ve seen everything from a feral hog to a wild pony cross my path.

Entry: $2 to $6 per vehicle, depending on entrance point Camping: Yes, primitive and full-facility camping Hours: 8 a.m. until sundown, 365 days/year Families: The trails are fairly easy with lots to keep your little ones entertained. Plus, there’s a playground near the visitor’s center.

Address: 100 Savannah Blvd., Micanopy

At Devil’s Millhopper Geological State Park, you can learn all about sinkholes and then descend 232 steps into one. The winding wooden staircase will take you 120 feet down into a mini rainforest. When you get to the bottom, you can go up a smaller set of steps to a landing with benches that are perfect for a small picnic or to relax for an afternoon of reading. And while you’re resting at the bottom, don’t forget to look up! The sights will amaze you. Your legs may be aching by the time you climb back up to the visitor’s center, but it’ll be worth it to have seen the lush swaths of green vegetation painted over the limestone. After you reach the top, you can walk a half-mile-long nature trail around the edge of the hole to get views from all sides.

Entry: $4 per vehicle Camping: No Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Families: Bring the family for a fun, educational ranger-guided walk, which happens each Saturday at 10 a.m.

Address: 4732 Millhopper Road, Gainesville

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ONE WEEKEND

So you’re ready to try out a night under the stars and really retreat for a weekend. These parks have a wide array of activities to keep you busy for a whole weekend.

JONATHAN DICKINSON STATE PARK Jonathan Dickinson State Park is a Floridian’s dream, and after spending a weekend there, you’ll still want to come back for more. It’s one of the largest parks with various creeks with the Loxahatchee River snaking through, ospreys flying above and some of the best sunsets in the state. Whether you love to fish, swim, hike, mountain bike or horseback ride, Jonathan Dickinson has something for the whole family. The River Store at the park offers rentals for canoes, kayaks, motorboats, standup paddleboards and bicycles. And as the day winds down, kick back on the patio of the food and beverage garden, which features beer, wine, organic food and a stellar view of the pristine Loxahatchee. For another great view, take a trek along the wooden boardwalk to the Hobe Mountain Observation Center.

It’s about a half-mile long trail through sand pine scrubland that leads up the 27-foot-tall Hobe Mountain tower. From the top, you can see the whole park, the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Entry: $6 per vehicle Camping: Yes, primitive, full-facility camping and cabins available Hours: 8 a.m. until sundown, 365 days/year Families: A horse-drawn wagon ride or guided boat or horseback ride is a great opportunity for family fun. Also, visit the Elsa Kimbell Environmental Education and Research Center, which explains different features of the park in a fun, interpretive way.

Address: 16450 SE Federal Highway, Hobe Sound

LAKE MANATEE

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Photos Courtesy of Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Lake Manatee State Park on Florida’s west coast is another can’t-miss site. The serenity of the park is unmatched, especially if you come to explore early in the morning or in the evening, after the rush has moved on. There are 6.5 miles of trails through scrubland and pine flatwood forests for hiking, bicycling and horseback riding. After exploring, take a dip in the refreshing lake water. If you’d prefer to spend some time navigating Lake Manatee’s waterways, rent a canoe or kayak and launch into the park’s 5 miles of paddling trails. Or, pack your tackle box and reel in bluegill and bass all weekend long. After all, Lake Manatee is known as one of the best freshwater fishing spots on the Gulf Coast. I went to this park for the first time after a big storm had rolled through. The sand in the park was indented with raindrops, and I saw a cute little gopher tortoise making its way back to a burrow in the scrub. It’s those magical moments that make Lake Manatee stand out to me. And any time you’ve got a free weekend, you can go out there and find that magic for yourself.

Entry: $5 per vehicle Camping: Yes, full-facility camping only Hours: 8 a.m. until sundown, 365 days/year Families: Lake Manatee is the perfect place to celebrate a birthday weekend or just get away from work and school. The lake is shallow near the shore, and there are picnic tables and grills to cook on and a playground for kids to enjoy.

Address: 20007 E. State Road 64, Bradenton

ONE WEEK

Ah, it’s your glorious weeklong vacation from school or work.

Get back to nature by immersing yourself in a truly Floridian experience (Don’t forget to pack the sunscreen and bug spray).

JOHN PENNEKAMP The Florida Keys boast some of the best snorkeling and diving spots in the U.S., and one site you shouldn’t pass up is John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. The park was named for John D. Pennekamp, an editor of the Miami Herald whose writing was instrumental in establishing Everglades National Park. Today, this Floridian treasure is the ideal destination to see friendly green iguanas, sunken war cannons and colorful coral reefs. You can also sign up for a snorkeling or diving tour to see the almost-9foot-tall bronze Christ of the Abyss statue that’s sunken offshore.

If you don’t want to get in the water yourself, take a glassbottomed boat tour to see the world beneath the waves from the dry comfort of an air-conditioned catamaran or rent a canoe or paddleboard and tour 2.5 miles of waterway trails through a mangrove swamp. And if you just want to stay on land, you can venture through one of the park’s three nature trails, relax on the beach and grab a hot lunch at the concessionaire. Don’t forget to stop into the visitor’s center to check out their 30,000 gallon saltwater aquarium.

Entry: $8 per vehicle Camping: Yes, primitive and full-facility camping Hours: 8 a.m. until sundown, 365 days/year Families: Here, there is something for everyone. From endless sandcastle opportunities to plenty of picnic areas and excellent saltwater fishing spots, you can guarantee smiles all around.

Address: 102601 Overseas Highway, Key Largo

Photos Courtesy of Florida Department of Environmental Protection

BAHIA HONDA The pristine white sand beach, which is the largest natural sand beach in the Keys, isn’t the only thing that should draw you to Bahia Honda State Park. The park is well-known for its iconic split bridge, which fell in 1935 after a Category 5 hurricane ripped through the Keys. Bahia Honda, which means "deep bay" in Spanish, is now a snorkeling destination for any water lover.

There are multiple sites for people to observe spiny sea urchins, massive green sea turtles and thousands of species of fish swimming under the bridge and in the waters around the park. To learn a little bit about what you’re seeing in the Keys, request a guided tour of the park or schedule your trip around one of Bahia Honda’s natural and cultural history programs, which are offered throughout the year. If you plan to bring your boat along, you can launch it from one of two ramps or dock it in the park’s 19-slip marina. Kayak rentals and snorkel boat tours are offered for offshore exploration or fishing. And at the end of the day, watch one of the best sunsets in the world from the shore, and stay the night in one of their stilted duplex cabins for an unforgettable, authentic Florida Keys experience.

Entry: $8 per vehicle Camping: Yes, camping and cabin rentals Hours: 8 a.m. until sundown, 365 days/year Families: Staying in one of Bahia Honda’s fully furnished cabins will be a fond memory you’ll look back on for years to come.

Address: 36850 Overseas Highway, Big Pine Key

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The Hunt Is On

Text and Photos By Melissa Smith

O

Kyle reaches for an ammunition box hidden on Southwest 13th Street.

The 19-year-old has found over 1,000 caches since he began geocaching when he was in fourth grade.

Kyle uses his GPS and the Geocaching app to find a cache in Sweetwater Preserve park.

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n the bookshelf in Kyle Rezek’s room, you can find a painted volcanic rock, a lobster fork, foreign currency and a tiny toy porpoise.

They’re just a few of the souvenirs he has taken while geocaching, a three-million-item treasure hunt that’s taking place all over the world.

The 19-year-old UF environmental engineering sophomore has been geocaching since he was in fourth grade.

“I’ve always loved scavenger hunts, pirates, treasure hunts — ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘National Treasure’ have been, like, my favorite movies, always,” he said. “When I first started off, I thought it was so cool.”

Years later, that enthusiasm hasn’t worn away. He’s found over 1,000 caches so far, 200 of which have been in and around Gainesville during his time at UF, and he’s hidden about 40 caches himself.

Geocaching started in the year 2000. Then-President Bill Clinton allowed for 24 GPS signals to be available to the public on May 2, and on May 3 a computer consultant named Dave Ulmer hid the first cache in Beavercreek, Oregon. He posted the coordinates to a black bucket filled with prizes like books and videos on an internet group for GPS users, intending to test the accuracy of the new signals. Three days later, two people had already found the cache.

Caches range from small plastic pill containers to large metal ammunition boxes and contain anything from just the log of who has found the container to small toys and trinkets people can trade out.

Around Gainesville, the best places to find caches are San Felasco, downtown, by Oaks Mall and along Interstate 75, where you can pull off (with caution) and find 100 in a row, which is called a “power trail.” And, of course, on UF’s campus.

“Campus is probably the place that’s most saturated with nottoo-difficult caches,” Kyle said. “It has a little bit of everything — a little bit of urban caches, a little bit of in-the-woods — ‘cause UF is huge.”

The way they’re spread across cities is one of Kyle’s favorite parts of geocaching.

“It takes you to places you would have never found out about if you hadn't gone geocaching,” Kyle said. “It's a unique way of

Kyle holds the contents of a geocache hidden near downtown Gainesville. Caches can come in all shapes and sizes and contain an array of trinkets.

discovering a city.”

He bikes around Gainesville about once a week to search for caches. Although geocaching is gaining popularity, Kyle said he’s sometimes questioned while looking around public places.

“A lot of people ask, ‘What are you doing?’

So I usually just tell them it’s like a scavenger hunt all around. Usually they don’t bother you, but I’ve had the cops called on me before [for looking suspicious],” he said. “The cops have come out and you have to explain, ‘Oh, it’s geocaching.’ Most people know about it.”

Every cache can be found using longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates. When Kyle first started out, he and his father drew paper treasure maps using Google Maps to plot the coordinates. Since then, he’s elevated to using a Garmin GPS and an app on his smartphone to locate caches. He usually uses the app, but the GPS comes in handy when he’s out of cellservice range.

“I load the coordinates into my GPS so I have the location but don't need the reception,” Kyle said, holding both devices.

Although the coordinates can lead you to the spot of the cache, you often still have to look around for the containers.

“Some of them aren’t really in plain sight, [but] geocaches are not supposed to be buried so

they always have to be like tethered to a bush or something,” he said. “Look for what’s out of the ordinary. They’re there, and hundreds of people pass them every day so look for things that look kind of strange.”

Sometimes passersby throw caches out, mistaking them for litter. This is called getting “muggled.” A non-geocacher is coined a muggle, a term borrowed from the “Harry Potter” series, which gained fame around the same time geocaching was becoming popular.

If a geocache was muggled, the owner has to replace it, Kyle said, so owners have to be strategic about location. If geocaches are in urban areas, they get muggled more often than those in the woods.

Kyle said he doesn’t get too upset when his caches get muggled because he knows it’s always a possibility.

“Muggled geocaches are part of the game, and you just go along with it,” he said. “Most hiders try to put something inside saying it’s a geocache and what geocaching is so people don't move it or throw it away.”

After Kyle graduates, he plans to check on his Gainesville caches if he visits town. But he may not have time if he’s travelling the world to look for geocaching treasures.

“My goal is, once I graduate, to find them all,” Kyle said. “So we’ll see how it goes.”

HOW TO GET STARTED 1. Download the Geocaching app or visit geocaching.com.

2. Register for a free basic membership.

3. Search your location to find caches around you 4. When starting out, look for caches that have low levels of difficulty and low terrain ratings. Choose one.

5. Enter the coordinates into your GPS or phone. Or, use the app to load the coordinates automatically.

6. Use coordinates to help you find the geocache.

7. Open the cache you find and optionally exchange something in it for a trinket you brought along.

8. Don’t forget to sign the logbook to let everyone else know you found the cache.

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1 2 5 7 9 Baby wipes

Although there are wipes for practically everything, baby wipes do a pretty good job of multitasking. They leave you feeling fresh and are gentle enough to use anywhere on your body. And if you want ones that will enhance your skin, go for Honest wipes. They’re infused with plant extracts and are made without alcohol. $4.95, honest.com

Portable charger

It’s better to be safe than sorry! Make sure your phone stays alive by investing in a good portable charger. The Flux charger is compact enough to fit in your pocket and powerful enough to fully recharge your phone at least once. Plus, you can charge anything else that connects by USB port with it. $29.95, fluxchargers.com

Shoe bag

In the past, I would have put my shoes in a brown plastic bag from Publix when I just couldn’t be bothered. But after hearing about these proper shoe bags, I never have to worry about where to put my footwear again. Shoe bags from Zappos work double time as they protect them from water and stains. $13, zappos.com

Multipurpose cream

Bringing eight different bottles of skin-care products can weigh down your suitcase, which is why it’s so important to limit your items to just the essentials. The Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream is one product I consider necessary while traveling. From relieving sunburns to rehydrating chapped skin, it does just about everything to soothe and heal damaged skin. Just don’t use it on your eyes. $21, skinstore.com

SUIT CASE

By Monica Andrade

Plastic bags

Worried about products leaking? Just head to your kitchen and pack a few Ziploc bags. You can keep your clothes safe from potential product spills by putting liquid containers in the plastic bags. My favorite is the slider bag, because it has the most secure closure. $2.58 for a pack of 15, walmart.com 11

As a young adult who suffers from a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out), I’m constantly on my feet.

It seems like every month I’m whisking away to go on an out-of-town weekend getaway with my friends, so I need to be prepared to pack up and go. If you’re like me, packing a suitcase can be such a tedious process, especially if you feel the need to take your entire closet with you. But besides the basic necessities of clothing, shoes and toiletries, I’ve compiled a few unconventional items to bring on any of your travels to make life a lot easier and your suitcase a lot lighter.

3 4 6 8 10 11 Sharpie pen

Sharpies are good not only for writing, but also for labeling. If you and your friend happen to bring the same item, it’s good to use a pen to mark a small initial on it so there’s no confusion. And if you’re staying at a hotel, you can initial key cards as well.

You never know when you might need one. $1.97 for a pack of three, homedepot.com

Stain-remover pen

I think it’s safe to say you probably won’t have a washing machine on your trip, so a stain-remover pen is your best bet. I personally rely on Tide to Go to help me not look like a complete slob if (and by if, I mean when) I get food all over my clothes. It instantly works to remove the stain, and it’s small enough to take with you just about everywhere. $5.79, officedepot.com

Portable speaker

MUST HAVES

There have been countless times when I’m getting ready away from home and want to jam out to music. I usually play songs off my iPhone because I forget to bring a speaker. By packing the ShowerDoorDirect, you can play songs for up to six hours while connected to Bluetooth. Added bonus: it’s waterproof. $21.12, homedepot.com

Sewing kit

Rarely have I had clothing rip while on a trip, but when it has happened, I’ve had no way to fix it. That was until I picked up a handy Singer sewing kit, which includes pretty much everything you would need for on-the-go repairs: scissors, safety pins, thread, needles and buttons. $2.50, walmart.com

Toiletry bag

Photo By Catie Flatley

Pocket knife

If traveling by plane, leave this one behind.

But if not, consider getting the Classic SD Swiss Army Knife. You can’t go wrong with this pocket-sized tool, as it comes attached with scissors, tweezers, a toothpick and a nail file — all for less than $20. $15.99, swissknifeshop.com

When it comes to cleaning up after myself, I’m extremely lazy. But I still want everything to be in its proper place. That’s why I think an organizer from Target is so amazing, particularly for traveling. You can keep all of your personal toiletries together but separate them into compartments. $16.99, target.com

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EXPLORING ALACHUA COUNTY

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY LISANDRANETTE RIOS

You don’t have to go far to vacation. Sometimes the best destinations are in your backyard. I’ve traveled all around Alachua County and picked which parts of each town were the best to explore. If you want to get to know a new city, start in its downtown area. There will often be events, friendly faces and cute shops waiting for travelers to visit. Discover the adventurous potential each town and city of Alachua County has to offer.

ALACHUA Old Theater Park is a beautiful spot for a wedding or an impromptu Instagram photo shoot with your loved ones. It has beautiful bricks lined with vines and tiny benches, and there is an arch with flowers blooming all over it. After you snap some fun shots with the pretty scenery, grab some ice cream and take a walk around the downtown area to get your shopping on. Go during the holidays to see the streets decorated seasonally. Alachua is quiet and beautiful, so it’s a great spot to unwind from a long week.

GAINESVILLE

ARCHER

There is so much you can do all over Gainesville, but the downtown area in particular has endless entertainment. On Wednesdays, you can go to Bo Diddley Community Plaza for the Union Street Farmers Market. Vendors line the perimeter of the plaza, selling crafts, food and the freshest fruits and vegetables from local farms. Bring a cozy blanket and lay out in the grassy area or sit on the short brick wall to watch people dance and twirl hula hoops while music plays. The vendors are on the plaza from 4 to 7 p.m. After dark, grab some food from one of the area’s signature local eateries or head over to the historic Hippodrome State Theatre to catch a movie or live performance.

Archer was home to the famous artist Bo Diddley. After visiting the farmers market at Bo Diddley Community Plaza in downtown Gainesville, you can go to Archer to see where the artist lived the latter part of his life. If you make it to Archer on Dec. 30, the town’s official Bo Diddley Day, you’ll be able to celebrate the Grammy winner’s contribution to the music world in a town he called home.

NEWBERRY Save up some energy and take a trip to Newberry for a day of play and exploration. Children can play on inflatable structures like slides and obstacle courses at Bouncin’ Big or head over to M2 Battlesports for laser tag fun on an outdoor course. For a more chill day, step back into history at Dudley Farm Historic State Park to get a glimpse of what the farm life was like in the late 1800s. Good ol’ southern comfort food can be found at Newberry’s Backyard BBQ, which is a must-try if you’re in this city.

If Mexican food is more your speed, visit Cilantro Tacos. If you’ve been to a food truck rally in Gainesville, then you might have eaten one of their delicious tacos.

MICANOPY In Micanopy, there are so many antiques to gaze over. It’s the perfect little town to shop for gifts that your loved ones will know were carefully picked out by you. Before dusk, stop in one of the small cafes to pick up coffee, tea or a baked good and hang out in one of the many outdoor seating areas to watch the sunset. In the fall, head over to Coon Hollo Farm to explore the crop maze.

The farm is a family-friendly environment and has seasonal activities like hay jumping, a burlap sack slide, pig races and a country carousel.

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MELROSE

EVINSTON

If you want to try fishing or are already an expert in catching fish, get some fishing gear ready for a visit to Lake Santa Fe to soak up the sun while the weather is hot. Melrose has beautiful views of lakes that will take your mind off of any of life’s stressors and on to relaxation mode. The best area to hang out near the water is at Melrose Bay Park. The park has a sand beach where you can wade in the water or dip all the way in or kick your feet up on a park bench and watch the sunset.

The historic Wood and Swink Store and Post Office in Evinston will definitely give you the small-town feels. More than 100 years ago, the Wood and Swink Store and Post Office had every basic necessity you could think of. It was like an old-school Publix mixed with a post office. In one trip, you could buy meat, stamps, toiletries and other household items. Now, you can take a tour to see the historic fixtures left behind at the store.

WALDO When you drive into Waldo, be sure to stop and take a photo at the giant white chair that has “Waldo Flea Market” written on it.

At the Waldo Farm and Flea Market, you can buy food, browse through aisles of all sorts of goodies and unusual trinkets or visit Waldo’s Antique Village. Be sure to take your time to look down the aisles. If you don’t, you might miss a really great deal or musthave item. I once found a “Caution: Dog can’t hold its licker” sign after browsing through an aisle again to pass time while waiting for a friend to finish shopping.

JONESVILLE You can have a lot of fun hanging out at the Tioga Town Center near Jonesville. There are shops, restaurants and on Mondays, the Tioga Town Market is in full swing. In Jonesville, you can also visit the Sun Country Sports Center for a more adventurous day.

They have rock climbing walls you can try, as well as a swimming pool and gymnastics floor.

HIGH SPRINGS High Springs is the perfect place to visit for a day trip during the weekend with a group of friends. First, check out my go-to spot for a yummy bite to eat: the Great Outdoors Restaurant.

Afterward, take a 12-minute drive over to Ginnie Springs to float down the Santa Fe River on a tube or drift down on a canoe. If you want to avoid the outdoors, you can stay on Main Street and visit the shops lining the city’s main drag. Look out for the painted mural for a perfect Instagram opp! Finally, sit back in the Priest Theatre, the oldest theater in North Florida, and watch a movie.

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CROSS CREEK If you liked the books “The Yearling” or “Cross Creek,” a visit to the author’s home at Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park might interest you. It’s a fun, educational look into the way Floridians lived years ago. You can go on a guided tour to learn about Rawlings' life, as well as the furniture and rooms of the house. Pack your cooler with a small lunch and head to the nearby local park to enjoy a picnic under the shady trees after checking out the park.

HAWTHORNE Take a trip to Hawthorne to visit the Island Grove Wine Company, where you can spend time tasting the blueberry wines. Their wine is sold in stores, but seeing where it comes from is a memorable experience not everyone gets to have. I recommend taking a sip (or two) of the Rustic Raspberry Grape Wine. You’ll want to eat after tasting the wine, and a unique place to sit down for a meal is The Yearling Restaurant, which is down the street from author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ home. The food served at the restaurant was inspired by her book “The Yearling.”

LIFESTYLE

SUBMERGED How a man went from being an engineer to owning a scuba diving shop

Photo By Melissa Smith

By Monica Andrade

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I

The Transition

The Beginning

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Joe Boehnlein wanted to open up a shop when he was younger, but he didn’t really consider the possibility until he had kids.

He’s been a scuba diver for 20 years, but he previously worked as a financial manager for a German company, which allowed him to travel the world.

“It was fun. I got to do a lot of things,” he said. “But it’s a corporation, and you don’t have full control of it.”

While the brothers liked being able to make their own decisions with the shop, Tim said the beginning of the venture was a very stressful time. They risked a lot of money and continued to work despite people telling them they weren’t going to succeed.

“A lot of my friends were skeptical, like most people are when starting a business,” Tim said. “Most of those people will never start a business, because they want to take the easier or safer path.”

If it weren’t for Tracey, Tim probably would

throughout the year like an underwater pumpkin-carving contest and an underwater Easter-egg hunt.

While Tracey is mostly in charge of handling taxes and paperwork, Tim and Joe share the workload on the maintenance side of things. Tim said his engineering skills have helped out tremendously for the shop because he’s able to fix machinery before things go wrong.

“We recently had an issue with our compressor, but because we caught it so quickly we were able to pull it apart, repair it, put it back together and all it cost us was a couple hours of time,” Tim said. “Whereas most places it would just completely wreck out, costing thousands of dollars to repair it.”

Although he occasionally misses his old jobs and the people he used to work with, Tim said he enjoys the challenge of owning a business.

“It wasn’t so much about how much I was

Tim trains Scuba Monkey dive students in a pool.

not have opened up a shop. He said she nudged him over time, inspiring him to finally do it. Scuba diving wasn’t even a hobby of hers at the time, but she supported it because of his passion.

So they stuck to their high-risk plan, and it panned out.

The Boeheleins hosted a grand reopening of their store this past February. They moved into a larger building across the street from where their old store was located. Around 500 people stopped by, making it the best weekend to date, Tim said.

In addition to selling clothes and equipment both online and in-store, they offer several training courses and host a dive club, which has at least 75 members.

They also throw various seasonal events

making that was really my driver,” he said. “I like putting the energy into it and seeing the reward, and I wasn’t getting that as much at a big business.”

The Future Tim looks forward to expanding the shop in the future.

After officially buying the shop’s entire building recently, he plans on using the extra space to create an indoor pool, which will let him not only conduct diving lessons, but also swimming classes for kids and adults, baby water-safety classes and aerobics. An indoor movie theater will also be installed so people can sit in the pool and watch movies.

Although Tim sees young clients drop by to get certified and buy equipment, most

Photo Courtesy of Scuba Monkey Dive Center

t began as a pipe dream. Owning a scuba diving shop was never in the picture for Tim Boehnlein, but when his last job got shut down, he decided to start up his own business. “We figured if we were going to be broke, we might as well be really, really broke,” he said.

So he set off with his business plan and opened up Scuba Monkey Dive Center in January 2012 with his wife, Tracey, and his older brother, Joe. If you asked Tim 20 years ago whether he saw himself owning a dive shop, he would’ve told you it had never crossed his mind.

After graduating high school, he enrolled in the Navy as an internal communications electrician and was stationed in Japan for almost six years. While in the Navy, a comrade who was a dive instructor encouraged Tim to become certified.

“A couple of my buddies were doing it, too, so that’s why I did it,” he said. “But once I went in the water, I realized I liked it. And then it kind of just took off from there.”

While Tim never thought about doing anything with diving for his career, after he got certified, it became a passion of his.

He continued on the path to become an electrician because he just saw scuba diving as a hobby.

Once he returned to the U.S., Tim took a job in Jacksonville as an electrician for United States Gypsum, a sheetrock company. A few years later, he moved back to his hometown of Melrose, Florida, to take care of his mother and work as a reliability engineer at a Hawthorne plywood mill.

Though Tim spent most of his time working during the week, he still managed to go diving on the weekends. To him, it was his way of canceling out the world.

“My mind is always thinking,” he said. “But when I’m diving, I don’t think about anything.

It’s kind of like a light switch for me. I can completely relax when I’m diving, and that’s what I like the most about it.”

But seven years later, his life changed. The mill was closing down, meaning he was left without a job.

Fortunately, Tim already had a business plan underway for opening a dive shop. He had started multiple business plans in the past, and scuba diving was the very last one.

While building up his business, Tim got an engineering job in Palatka. And once the business grew to a certain point, Tim left his job to fully dedicate himself to the shop at the age of 37.

“Looking at it now, it was a good decision,” he said.

Photo By Melissa Smith

A Scuba Monkey Dive Club member dives at Ginnie Springs.

of the shop’s customers are older than 30.

By creating a pool, he said he thinks more people from Alachua will come, creating a community within the shop.

And just like a shooting range, Tim hopes to create a spearfishing range so scuba divers can practice their skills without having to rent a $200 seat on a charter boat.

“If everything financially kind of lines up, then within a year we’ll have that going,” he said.

Sometimes the business keeps him up at night. The uncertainty is the most difficult part of it all. Next week he could have low sales, record sales or no sales at all.

“You always hope things are going to go well, but you really don’t know a hundred percent,” Tim said.

Before, if the shop made nothing, he and Tracey still had income coming in and a secure health-insurance plan with their other jobs. But now this is it, he said. There’s

stress involved in making sure his wife and two kids are taken care of. But on the flip side, Tim gets to spend more time with family than he ever did before.

Besides the money, Tim said owning a business doesn’t even feel like work. Two years ago, he went to visit Tracey’s family in Virginia. Toward the end of the trip, he realized he wasn’t feeling the dread he used to while working past jobs when a vacation is about to end and he has to go back to work.

“At the end of it, I was like, wait, I’m not miserable going back to work,” he said.

“Even though I’m doing more work now, I enjoy what I’m doing.”

Looking back to when he was younger, Tim envisioned on what his life was going to be. But every five years he said his plans pretty much got blown out of the water.

From serving the country to being an electrician and then an engineer, he had a perception of what he was going to do. He

knew he wanted to get married and have a house, but after achieving those goals, he felt he still wasn’t done.

He liked being an engineer, but even though he ended up in a different profession, he said he doesn’t regret any of the experiences he went through because they directed him into something else.

“Hawthorne closing was a bad experience in the grand scheme of things. I lost my job,” Tim said. “But looking back at it, that’s what gave me the kick in the butt to get the dive shop going.”

He said it could’ve gone two ways — it could’ve either been successful or it could’ve failed. He said he doesn’t know if they’re successful quite yet, but they’re definitely moving in the right direction.

“Most people want to do it, but they’re scared,” he said. “It has to be a calculated risk. You have to know what you’re talking about, but you also have to have a bit of courage and luck and just do it.”

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PETS & PEOPLE GET PERSONAL The kind of pet you gravitate toward can tell a lot about your life. It’s not a matter of saying people who likes cats will end up as crazy cat owners who lock themselves up at home. The pet you choose shows how hard you are willing to work for them and how they will complement your life.

People own pets for the comfort and company they Do you have time to care for a pet?

No

Yes

Somewhat

By Catie Flatley

provide. The level and amount that we need of these differs for each person, and the type of companion we choose to bring into our lives boils down to our personalities and lifestyle.

This quiz determines whether you will end up with a dog, cat, fish or even a pet rock.

Rock

Do you have money to invest?

Are you a social person?

Not Really

Fish

Yes

No

Cat

Dog

Yes

Rock

Fish

Chances are, you’re incredibly busy with school, extracurriculars, work or kids. Or all four. If you don’t have time to care for an animal and give it the attention it needs, don’t worry! You can always name your rock and make it a nice, comfortable home in your house or garden. A rock won’t care whether you remember it is there or not. It won’t make any noise, shed or require you to clean its environment. Plus, think of all the fun names — Rocky Balboa, anyone?

Now, we’re not talking about a 10-gallon saltwater aquarium here. Something as simple as a goldfish can add company to your life with little maintenance. A pet fish takes some level of commitment: You’ll have to change the water in its bowl, feed it and, well, that’s about it. And if you don’t think you can remember to feed it regularly, invest in a Betta fish. Their bowls can be topped with plants that the fish eat the roots of, which makes feeding one less thing you have to worry about.

Cat

Dog

They may give off a standoffish vibe and an impression like they don’t need us in their lives, but cats — at least some of them — still crave the care and affection we give them. They may not be as much work as a dog, as they can be left at home for a good amount of time without your attention, but a nice coughed-up hairball may be waiting for you when you get back. Most of your energy will go into a daily feeding, a water bowl change here and there, the occasional litter pan cleaning and taking a lint roller to your clothes… Maybe stay away from black.

They are known as man’s best friend, and they truly deserve this title after all of the time and money invested in raising them.

Dogs are practically children and tend to be high-energy pets.

You have to walk them, feed them twice a day, take them outside so they can do their business and bring them to the vet. You might as well give them your entire wallet and life savings. Dogs require a lot of attention from their owners, but the payoff is that you have someone to cuddle with at the end of a long day of work or school.

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FROM TRASH TO TREASURE FINDING NEW USES FOR OLD THINGS

Photo By Catie Flatley

By Melissa Smith

20

I

21

avenues of self-expression that you might not have even known were there,” she said.

“In the larger picture, I feel like the best part of repurposing is honoring what we have; honoring our resources. The Earth is a closed system so we only have so much to work with.”

There are no active landfills in Alachua County for garbage, so the county’s waste travels about 45 minutes north to a landfill in Union County, said Timothy Townsend, a UF environmental engineering professor.

Landfill operators try to make landfills as sustainable as possible by employing techniques like such as treating waste as it’s placed in the landfill and using the methane gas produced by decomposition as electricity, he said. However, the best way to minimize harm to the environment is to not throw things away.

“There are safeguards we can put in place to try and minimize environmental impacts, but clearly if we can reduce the amount of materials that are ever being put on the curb in the first place, then that’s a benefit,” Townsend said.

When we dispose of waste, a lot of energy goes into the process of collecting it, transporting it and making new products to replace what we dispose of. And while landfills are not seen as the best way to manage waste, they are simply a reality, he said.

“Generally, the more materials we throw away, whether we recycle them or dispose of them, the more environmental burden,” Townsend said. “Trying to produce less waste to reuse materials so they’re not thrown away in the first place is always the first step. It’s the ideal goal that we want to get to.”

But the challenge is taking the items we don’t want and making them available to people who do want them. He said efforts like The Repurpose Project support the best outcome for the ecosystem.

In addition to the environmental impacts, a plus to repurposing is that putting your own creative spin on an object can give you a sense of accomplishment, Raid said.

“Having a personal say in the design of your belongings is empowering and cool,” she said. “It’s a complete cycle of goodness from start to finish.”

Raid’s advice to people wanting to get into upcycling or repurposing old items is that “nothing is ever too weird.”

“If you have an idea, and you think maybe it’s too out there or you could never do it, just start,” she said. “I’ve just found in my own life when I put a project into motion, the right people show up, the right supplies show up and what sounded like a strange idea becomes really workable once I am in action. It makes all the difference.”

And the right people and supplies can be found at The Repurpose Project.

Hosting workshops on crafting topics like making stained glass and using power tools, as well as community events such as a Halloween masquerade party, has made The Repurpose Project a local hub for creativity.

Goff said Gainesville’s support of the project has kept it going.

“Gainesville is a really cool town with really cool people, and I think that’s definitely one of the biggest reasons why we’re still continuing to grow and succeed,” she said. “When I moved here, I knew that this place would be supportive of a place like this.”

Left Photo By Melissa Smith / Right Photo By Mireillee Lamourt

n a warehouse on Northeast 23rd Avenue, thousands of nails — some as rusty as a 1957 Ford in a salvage yard — fill four tin buckets. Across the room sit half-used rolls of wrapping paper and old party decorations. In one bin, you’ll find black leather broken-in ice skates; in another, cracked plastic Easter eggs. Six shelves are lined with 58 clear plastic pretzel barrels containing items like mismatched puzzle pieces, hair curlers, threadless spools and bottle caps. And it is all for sale.

The kooky items that overstuff every crevice of The Repurpose Project are meant to inspire people to find creative new uses for what seems like trash, cutting down on how much people consume.

“It’s funny because we’re like a retail store, but we’re trying to reduce the amount people are buying,” said Sarah Goff, a co-founder of the project.

But don’t confuse this Gainesville gem for just another secondhand store.

“When I first started working here, we had a regular books aisle. But we want to move away from being really like a thrift store, and we want to push the repurpose thing,” staff member Kylah Raid said. “So I took over that aisle, and we donated all of the chapter books for the most part.”

The supplies around the warehouse can be used for anything, from redecorating your house to putting together a Halloween costume.

Raid, 32, said her favorite projects have been making collages from old biology textbooks and yearbooks. She said the benefits of giving old objects new functions are immeasurable.

“The act of doing it in itself is great. Just the act of being creative opens up new

DIY Passport Cover Showing off your style around the globe is one of the best parts of traveling. By repurposing some old fabric to create a passport cover that’s all your own, getting there will be half the trendy fun. By using material you already have, you not only get to save money, but you can also feel good about reducing your waste. And because U.S. passports are all the same size, covers can be easily swapped with friends or given as gifts, too.

By Melissa Smith

1

Gather materials. You'll need a sheet of paper, a marker, a ruler, a pair of scissors, a needle, yarn and fabric.

Photos By Catie Flatley

4

Lay the fabric flat with the small strips on opposite sides, lining up the corners.

2

Cut the sheet of paper into a 6-inch-by8.5-inch rectangle and a 2-inch-by-6-inch rectangle.

5

Thread your needle, knotting the end of the yarn. Sew the pieces together all the way around the edges and knot your yarn.

3

Trace the rectangles onto the fabric and cut two pieces of each size.

6

Slip your passport into the holder, and you're ready to travel in style.

22

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Alfred Phillips Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Alfred Phillips was born to be an artist. The first time he felt like an artist was while he was sitting on his grandfather’s knee redrawing Felix the Cat cartoons out of the newspaper.

“I couldn’t have been more than four or five, and [my grandfather] said, ‘Look what this child has drawn!’ And he held it up for everyone to see, and from then on I was known as the artist,” Alfred, 70, said with a smile.

Alfred stopped counting his best-in-show awards after he received his twentieth. He has also received the Art Florida award, the most prestigious award given by the Broward Art Guild. His paintings have been sold all over the world, and he has been featured on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and in Watercolor Magazine.

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Alfred studied art at the Art Center School, a studio art school in Louisville, on a four-year scholarship. While he studied, he was trained not only in painting, but also in sculpture, fabric, jewelry making, printmaking and graphic design.

Afterward, he worked as a graphic designer for multiple advertising agencies and eventually opened up his own graphicdesign firm. Alfred worked for major tobacco and beer companies, but he eventually grew weary of that. In 2003, he retired with his husband to Fort Lauderdale to focus on painting. In 2013, they moved to Gainesville.

Alfred enjoys the college-town atmosphere and how quiet it is compared to bigger cities. But he has mostly enjoyed putting his efforts into improving the Gainesville Fine Arts Association (GFAA).

Today, Alfred serves as the gallery director and helps organize the

association’s exhibits.

Since working with the GFAA, Alfred’s main goal has been to improve the association’s diversity. He said over the past two years he has seen an increase in LGBTQ+ people and people of color attending and entering work into the exhibits.

“I want an LGBT show. I want a women’s show. It’s all beginning to change,” Alfred said. “We’re doing everything we can, and that’s our goal. We’re doing shows that are more inclusive rather than exclusive.”

When it comes to inspiration, Alfred mainly relies on his imagination and memory. He describes his work as “contemporary realism” and often paints how he feels rather than what he sees. He enjoys mixing both abstract and realist elements in his work.

“What I like to do is to get your attention from across the room and then make you want to come up to it and see what else is going on,” he said.

Diana Tonnessen Unlike a lot of other artists, Diana Tonnessen didn’t start her art career at a young age. Instead, she has been surrounded by art her whole life. While she was growing up, she took road trips from New Jersey down to Florida every summer. At 13 years old, she and her family relocated to South Florida.

As an advertising student at the University of Florida, Diana had learned basic design principles. After college, she worked as a journalist and magazine editor for several magazines including Health, Glamour, Self and Working Mother. While working for these magazines, she often wrote profiles of local artists, and for as long as she can remember, writing was the craft she was meant to do.

Beginning an art career was never on her to-do list.

But during her magazine career, Diana had interviewed countless artists to create profiles about them. It wasn’t until she met Leslie Peebles, another Gainesville artist who works with linoleum block prints, that Diana was inspired to learn the technique herself.

“When I saw her work, it reminded me of all the children’s books that were illustrated with wood cuts when I was a kid,” she said.

“And something with that resonated with me in a way that maybe none of the other artists that I had interviewed had done.”

Diana said she asked Peebles to teach her how to work with linoleum prints. But the wood carving tools she got for Christmas that year sat in a box for a whole year before she gained the opportunity to learn, she said.

Rather than working in a studio, Diana, 60, mostly works out of her kitchen. The process is tedious but enjoyable, she said.

It begins with using a carving knife on a blank linoleum block to create a design. Once the design is finished, she uses a brayer (similar to a rolling pin) to spread a black oil-based ink over the block. She then places the block in the center of high-quality hand-torn paper and feeds it through a hand-crank press. Once the black-and-white print is transferred to the paper, she paints it by hand. This way, each print she creates is not a reproduction, but an original piece.

Once she learned the process, she said she even took a few classes at Sante Fe College to gain a more in-depth knowledge for her newfound gift.

“Everybody, including myself — maybe myself more than anyone — kept saying, ‘Where did this come from?’” she said with a shrug.

But now that Diana has started, she doesn’t plan on stopping.

She has been inspired by postcards from the 1930s to 1950s, older Florida architecture, motels and signage. And while she said she was a little apprehensive to start, her positive reviews are what keep her going.

“I knew I was onto something when my Santa Fe art teacher said, ‘I want that,’” she said.

Today, Diana’s work has won a few awards, even one for bestin-show, and she has found success selling her paintings to the community. Her work is currently being commissioned for the Acorn Clinic and Blue Highway Pizzeria.

A true storyteller at heart, Diana plans to create more prints and collage work that gives more details about the old motels and buildings along the same highways she traveled during her summers as a child.

Diana said she is still learning about her own skill sets and artwork.

“I’ve discovered that it doesn’t matter what medium I chose to create things in. What matters is that I’m a creator,” she said.

Diana also said that if it weren’t for the Gainesville art community, she wouldn't have started learning this process in the first place.

“There’s an incredible art community here that is very welcoming,” she said. “I was never told, ‘No, you can’t come in.’

Everyone always said, ‘Come on in, the door’s open.’”

24

CAMPUS CONFIDENTIAL UF'S BEST-KEPT SECRETS

By Melissa Smith

Picture the University of Florida campus. You’re probably thinking vine-clad walls, brick buildings and a landmark like Century Tower or Plaza of the Americas. Although these do make UF beautiful, there is more to campus than meets the eye. There are a number of parts of the university that not everyone knows about or visits regularly. Most of them you can check out for yourself, but some hidden treasures aren’t accessible to the public. Whether you’re an outdoor enthusiast, biology aficionado or sports fanatic, I guarantee there’s a sweet spot on campus that you may not have known about. Here are some of my favorites:

BARTRAM CARR WOODS CONSERVATION AREA Sit under the shade of a massive sweetgum tree, soak up the greenery, listen to cicadas chirping in the trees, watch little fishes and turtles swim down a tiny creek and de-stress after an exam or between classes.

Bartram Carr Woods is an almost 9-acre upland hardwood forest area located between Frazier-Rogers Hall and the College of Medicine on the University of Florida campus.

The area, named after William Bartram and Archie Carr, two of Florida’s most renowned naturalists, is a great place to stay focused and relaxed while doing homework. And with a large grassy area, plenty of benches and a couple of picnic pavilions, it’s the perfect spot to take your kids for an afternoon of play and natural discovery.

The area’s main trails are paved in a porous rubber material made out of recycled tires and a resin adhesive. The material allows rainwater to seep into the soil below, sustaining the tree roots that run under the trails and reducing erosion in the area. Plus, it’s cushy enough to be easy on your feet on the walk through.

Erik Lewis, a UF senior planner, said the woods pre-date campus development. He said the buildings that have sprung up around the area make the perfect setting for fieldwork.

The woods are open to the public from dusk until dawn 365 days per year.

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Photos By Melissa Smith

“[The woods’] proximity to many natural-resourcesbased colleges makes it an ideal location to have students learn and experience the natural environment right outside their classroom door,” he said. “It also functions as a place for people on campus to get respite from the hustle and bustle.”

SOUTHEAST END ZONE GATOR HEAD

Photos Courtesy of University Athletics Association

Everyone knows the best place to spend game day is in The Swamp, sweating in the midday sun and cheering on the Gators with more than 80,000 other fans.

From chomping as the opposing team runs onto the field to swaying to “We Are the Boys” at the end of the third quarter, there are no shortage of gameday traditions at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. But there’s one tradition you might not know about: In the southeast end zone of the stadium, there is a replica alligator head that all of the players and coaches touch before each game for good luck.

The statue was given to then-coach Steve Spurrier in 1991 after he led the team to win its first Southeastern Conference Championship. Current punter Johnny Townsend, who has been playing for UF since 2013, said knowing it’s been there for 25 years makes the gator head special.

“All of the great players that came here before us and have won championships, they’ve done the same thing, so there’s just a lot of meaning behind that,” he said.

Defensive tackle Khairi Clark said “tradition, luck and coming out with a victory” is what the gator head represents to the team.

“It feels cool to be one of those people to touch it,” he said. “Not many people do.”

It’s such a valued tradition that in 2005, then-coach Urban Meyer, unhappy with the players, removed the statue and told players they had to earn it back.

It was a motivator back then, and to this day it remains the final thing that hypes the team up before taking the field.

“That’s our mascot,” Townsend said.

“Seeing that before we come out of the tunnel is one of the biggest motivators for us.”

Because the southeast end zone is closed to non-team personnel per team policy, you’ll have to score a job at the University Athletic Association or be part of the team to see it yourself.

26

FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ICHTHYOLOGICAL COLLECTION A room on UF’s campus holds 225,000 glass jars filled with 2.4 million dead fish.

But don’t worry — it’s for science.

like how a coin or mummy tells about early cultures, museum specimens tell about early ecosystems.

Part of the ichthyological collection of the Florida Museum of Natural History, the room is located in the basement area of the old museum building, now known as Dickinson Hall, on the corner of Museum Drive and Newell Drive. It’s one of the largest collections in the world.

“It gives us the opportunity to visit our past — the natural world we weren’t around to see,” said George Burgess, the coordinator of museum operations. “To the average woman or man, they’re just pickled fish. But they are snapshots in time of biodiversity of the natural world.”

The room looks like a library but with jars lining the 74 rows of shelves instead of books. And just like a library, the specimens can be checked out for educational or scientific purposes by people all over the world, regardless of whether they are affiliated with UF.

Every specimen is tied to a data set by a catalogue number that tells where and when it was collected and by whom. The entire catalogued collection is available online, giving the public more access to the resource, Robins said.

“There’s so much that natural history collections can be used for today,” said Rob Robins, the collection manager.

Many specimens are loaned to scientists and graduate students who want to try to reclassify a particular group, study the history of a species or see what an environment was like in the past. Much

And while it is already one of the largest collections in the world, the ichthyological department has no plans to slow down.

“A library is a dead library if you don’t take in new books,” Burgess said. “It’s the same thing here.”

You can schedule a visit to the collection by calling 352-273-1957.

Photos by Melissa Smith

27

FEATURES

"Not Even Sure I Wanted to Get Sober" Text and Photos By Mireillee Lamourt “I live off this stuff. It gives me a little buzz,” Ashley said with a grin and a coffee in hand. She readjusted the purse on her shoulder and signed her name on the iPad at the counter of Know Where Coffee in Gainesville.

Ashley’s an alcoholic. An alcoholic who almost died more than a few times and wished that she had died a countless number of times. But Ashley’s not that girl anymore. She frequently speaks at the Florida Recovery Center, has sponsored dozens of women through rehabilitation and now teaches for Alachua County. She swirled her iced Nutella latte and took a long sip.

“I came from a really awesome family who gave me all the support I needed,” she said. “But a lot of people in my family are alcoholics.”

Ashley believes the root of her alcoholism began as a child.

When she was nine years old, she remembers feeling like she didn’t fit in. She said she felt like there was a hole inside of her.

“When I was in middle school, I battled with the way I looked for a long time, and I’ve always had issues with that,” she said.

The first time she drank was in eighth grade. Her family was visiting her older brother in Atlanta, and her older sister bought a case of Foster’s. After drinking two or three beers and a vodka and grapefruit, she remembers the warmth she felt and finally feeling like she was cool.

It wasn’t until Ashley was 17 years old at her best friend’s house party that she had her first experience smoking marijuana and being so drunk she blacked out. The next morning Ashley woke up and realized she had lost her virginity. And even though her friends would pressure her to, she didn’t drink for almost an entire year after that. She continued to smoke, but she was too scared to try drinking again.

At 19 years old, she moved in with her first boyfriend. Ashley said she vividly remembers coming home to her boyfriend tossing their dog against the ceiling. Her boyfriend was too drunk to realize that he was hurting Ox, their terrier mix. Each time Ox would hit the ceiling, he would bark and whine in pain. So Ashley grabbed her dog and locked herself in their bedroom just so that her boyfriend

wouldn’t end up killing their puppy.

“He was an alcoholic, but I didn’t realize it at first,” she said with both hands cupped around her coffee as her sentences became short and uneven.

“I didn’t realize that in relationships... you know... one night he became belligerent and raped me,” she said with wide eyes. “That was my first experience with alcoholism.”

After living with her boyfriend for about a year, Ashley moved back in with her family. Her reputation as a party girl quickly developed. She even sold marijuana for a short time until her friend, who had all of her money in his car, was robbed at gunpoint.

Although she was living at home, she said she was really only using her parents’ house as a closet and a place to shower.

“I couldn’t spend the night alone. I was always with company, because my self-esteem was too low,” she said with raised eyebrows and a shrug.

...

At 20 years old, while attending Santa Fe College, Ashley met Jess. Ashley said this is when her life choices began to take a toll on her.

“She was a 30-something-year-old girl who was a complete drug addict. But I thought she was awesome. And she introduced me to pills,” Ashley said.

Jess also taught Ashley how to drink underage at bars. Ashley said she remembers going to drink at The Dugout and BJ’s, neither of which is still in business.

“We used to get pitchers of beer, and we would get wasted. And it was so much fun. I thought she was so pretty and skinny and I wanted to be just like her,” she said. “I was meeting really trashy people, and I wanted to be them. That’s how sick my mind was.”

Around this time, Ashley was also suffering from bulimia. Soon enough, she started abusing cocaine and, no matter the cost, she was happy to be losing weight. At one point, she was only consuming alcohol and was losing about 10 pounds every week.

“I thought to myself, ‘This is perfect! I’m getting skinny, I’m going out drinking, I’m getting attention from older guys. And I’m

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Here, Ashley shows her annual milestone medallions, a small reminder of how far she's come.

not getting in trouble with going out in public and drinking either,’” she said.

In order to pay for her party lifestyle, Ashley was bussing tables at a restaurant, using drugs while she worked.

“I remember her coming into work in itty-bitty skimpy clothes and sitting at the bar for a long time before and after work,” said Ashley’s employer, Lily, while sitting at one of the tables near the kitchen of her family-owned restaurant.

Lily described her as flighty and off-the-wall. She said Ashley would do really weird things such as show up to work wearing an Applebee’s apron.

Ashley was spending all of her time with two friends she met at that restaurant and doing nothing but partying. She described a typical day at that time as sleeping in until 3 p.m., going to run stadiums (or “detoxing” as her and her friends called it), smoking pot, going to work and then drinking until 7 a.m.

...

Eventually, after months of hanging around cocaine dealers, Jess had broken up with her boyfriend and didn’t have a job. She starting asking Ashley for money and would never pay her back.

Ashley said Jess became really annoying in that way, so she ended their friendship. But by this time, Ashley’s partying habits had already taken shape. She became her own worst enemy.

Not too long after she stopped spending time with Jess, Ashley met her on-again, off-again boyfriend, George. He was very emotionally abusive, as Ashley describes it.

“He would say things like, ‘You need a boob job, maybe you shouldn’t eat, you need to lose weight,’ and it really made me feel like I was more of an item than a person,” Ashley said.

She took a deep breath and paused. “I had no self-respect for myself. I think after the incident where I lost my virginity, I had this misconstrued perception of what a healthy relationship looks like.

And I just wanted to use my body to get attention. I was the girl

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who would wake up and have to ask her friends what happened last night. I would go out and end up out-drinking the biggest dude at the bar.”

She remembers a time during her birthday weekend when she drank an entire bottle of Jaeger whiskey and was still walking. She also remembers not being able to take as many pill doses as her friends and feeling like she was a bad drug addict.

“I thought I just needed to practice more. I need to use more, and I’ll get better at it,” she said.

...

At this point, Ashley knew she was unhappy with the way her life was turning out. She had transferred to the University of Florida, but she was just barely making it through classes without falling asleep from the mixture of drugs she was snorting on a daily basis.

She contemplated committing suicide every day. But one morning, Ashley got a wake-up call from her mother and was told that her 18-year-old cousin had hung himself.

“He lived with us during the summers, so it was really hard,” she said. “So then I realized that I had to tell my family that I was battling depression.”

Shortly after, Ashley had two to three appointments a week between a therapist and a psychologist. She was prescribed a mix of antidepressants that added side effects and mood swings to her dependency on alcohol and other substances.

After one night of drinking, Ashley discovered that her boyfriend had slept with her best friend.

“I remember being really sad that night, and I remember going into the bathroom and just slicing my arms up and down,” Ashley said while sliding her thumb from her forearm to her wrist.

Hours after taking a blade to her arms, Ashley had to be resuscitated from an overdose. That night, she slept in blood-covered sheets.

“I was just mad because everyone was so embarrassed. I had to

...

...

wear long sleeves in the summertime.”

just told myself that I needed to make a change.”

Once Ashley was legally old enough to drink, she had her first experience being sober. Her parents sent her to Puerto Rico to live with her older sister, and for three months, she took her medications as prescribed and didn’t have a single drink. But once she returned home, she picked her old habits right back up.

A few weeks after returning home, Ashley was checked into the detox ward at UF Health Shands Psychiatric Hospital. During her stay, she learned about a 12-step program for rehabilitation.

After 87 days of being sober, Ashley went to get her nails done, and her nail technician handed her a joint.

“I remember feeling so much relief,” she said.

Soon she fell back into alcoholism and started living on a friend’s couch. She had also dropped out of school. This friend was underage, and soon Ashley started teaching her how to drink at bars. But once this friend discovered Ashley had a drug and alcohol problem, she took her directly to Ashley’s parents’ house.

Ashley knew she needed help, but she also knew how expensive rehabilitation programs could be. Ashley remembers her 90-day stay at UF Health Shands Florida Recovery Center amounting to about $30,000.

“My mom knows people who have had to sell their houses just to pay for rehab. Because most people end up going multiple times,” she said. “People think alcoholics are homeless. But there are a lot of rich people that are on drugs. A lot of professionals, lawyers, doctors, teachers.”

Ashley is right. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, people who make $20,000 to $49,000 per year show an increase in drug use compared to those who make less.

So in order to help both herself and her family, Ashley found a donation-based rehab center in Georgia called Bridges of Hope.

This way, her family was only paying about $700 per month.

“I had this moment of clarity, and I knew I had a problem. I was sick of life. I was only living so I didn’t have to hurt my family. I didn’t want to do to them what my cousin had done to my family. It was the only thing that was keeping me alive,” she said.

“So my mom set it up and she drove me there. I had this perception where I thought it was going to be like summer camp. I thought it was going to be so much fun. So I packed all my bathing suits, all my booty shorts, all my cute clothes and hair stuff and I was so excited. Well, we get there and we’re in South Georgia, in the middle of nowhere, and this place was surrounded by cotton fields,” Ashley said.

She said she remembers driving toward the program facilities, and as her mom raved about the beautiful scenery, all Ashley could fixate on was the women outside doing hard labor in the southern sun.

At Bridges of Hope, Ashley lived in a home with anywhere from 30 to 50 women at once. The home was operated by recovering alcoholics, and all of the women were being housed.

She said there were two communal bathrooms, and she was only allowed 10 minutes to shower. If any of the girls were late to a meal or didn’t show up for their assigned duties, there were strict consequences, which Ashley said she needed so she could be humbled. During her stay, Ashley detoxed from drugs, alcohol and her medications cold-turkey.

Also while in rehab, Ashley said she came face-to-face with all of her insecurities. Because the other women were recovering as well, Ashley said they could be strangely mean.

“They made me feel like I wasn’t cool enough because I didn’t use needles,” she said with a shrug. “But as soon as I got there, I

After just five months, Ashley’s life had turned around. With the help of the 12-step recovery program and the big blue book that is used to encourage members through the program, she had become sober.

“I started having this sudden relief. And for once in my life, I started feeling OK with being alone. And I didn’t care that I wasn’t the popular girl in rehab,” she said.

Although she would occasionally fantasize about drinking, she was too focused on working on her own development to let herself turn back. Even five months later, after Ashley had left rehab and returned home, she still had work to do.

She went back to school, continued to receive encouragement from other recovering alcoholics in the community and began sponsoring other women, helping them through the recovery process. No matter what it took, she was determined to help others and herself.

“I would drive to two different treatment centers and put [my sponsees] in my crummy ’99 Mercury Cougar with no AC in the summertime, and it would always break down,” she said and paused for a moment. “And it was awesome.”

With each meeting Ashley attended, she said she began to feel more like herself. She started to understand that she could experience pain, accept pain and know that she didn’t have to cover it up with substance abuse. She was able to use that pain and grow from it.

“I came to this program wanting to get my family off my back, not even sure I wanted to get sober, and this program gave me a completely new life,” she said with her hands rested on the table and her palms open toward the sky.

“Recover — if you look up the definition, it means having something which you once lost. Well now, and especially at this time, I had so many things I never had before. I have selflove, acceptance, patience — all these qualities that I had never experienced before,” she said as she grinned.

Before long, Ashley’s family life began to mend. Ashley attended

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a conference for young and recovering alcoholics to celebrate her first year of sobriety. And once she met that milestone, she called her parents.

It was then that her mom shared the story of the day they dropped Ashley off at rehab. Although her father had been upset that day and wasn’t speaking to Ashley, he wanted to take a picture of her and her mother. Years later, Ashley found out that her father took that photo because it was the last day her father believed he would see her alive.

“They really believed that I was going to die. And all three of us just started crying from happiness,” she said.

...

During her second year of sobriety, Ashley was becoming accustomed to being more responsible. She was working and regularly attending classes at UF. That same year, her father had a stroke.

“The doctor told us that he wouldn’t live to see the next day. I stayed with him all night in the hospital,” she said.

The next morning, her father had recovered from the stroke, and her family found out that he had stage-four prostate cancer.

The following year was really difficult for Ashley, because she became consumed with fear. She stopped spending time with her friends and would spend more time alone.

“I would just go to meetings and cry because I love my parents so much. They have been there for me through every step. And I wasn’t depressed, but a part of me was taken away,” she said.

Today, Ashley’s father is still alive, living with cancer. She said now her family has stopped worrying about the future and has started to focus on making memories.

...

After four-and-a-half years of sobriety, maintaining a healthy weight, completing her teaching degree and being able to teach others, Ashley said she rediscovers herself every day.

“I love my job, but sometimes I freak out because I’m dealing with these teenagers that I have no control over,” she said with a laugh.

“And I have this constant panic with work because I want to conquer the world. I want to just be the most inspirational, just the best teacher in the world,” she said.

But it’s in these stressful moments that Ashley said she can apply her recovery program.

“They have a saying: You can’t eat it all at once, you have to take a bite at a time,” she said. “You know, baby steps.”

Ashley said that as she teaches, she makes sure to let her students know she loves them and truly cares for them. As a teenager, your body is filled with raging hormones, you have to deal with a lot of stress and you have to try and discover who you

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are, she said.

Whenever her students start to act out, she encourages them to come and talk to her because most of the time it’s a reaction from something else.

Now Ashley believes she was meant to be an alcoholic so she could mentor others.

“Maybe [my students] have that hole in their lives that I did at that age. And I let my students know that alcohol can ruin lives, and that it’s not the answer,” she said.

Ashley said her main goal is to ensure her students become productive members of society, which is what her recovery program taught her. Whether if it’s for school supplies, a snack or advice, Ashley said she wants her students to know they have a safe place to go and someone to talk to.

“Today I can say that I have discovered that I’m a loving person — with a past — who is able to make a better future not just for herself but for others,” she said.

“I want these kids to have the security of knowing that they are perfect in the skin they’re in,” she said as her eyes looked out toward the traffic on University Ave. “I want to influence and mentor children who might not get that chance from somebody else.”

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“I can depend on her,” said Lily.

On the weekends, Ashley serves tables at the same familyowned restaurant she worked at before her recovery. Lily said she was apprehensive to hire her back at first. But because Ashley had other family members who worked at this restaurant and vouched for her, Lily was happy to work with her again.

“I don’t have to worry about her flaking out. I don’t question her judgement, and I trust her,” Lily said.

...

“When I was active in my using, my oldest sibling wanted me to either die or leave the family and never come back.” Ashley said. “But I needed to hear that. I needed to know that I was really harming them. And she actually didn’t acknowledge my existence until I was two years sober.”

Ashley’s other sister, Elizabeth, recently told her that at one point, her entire family had accepted she was going to die. But today, Ashley's family and friends tell her constantly how proud they are of her.

The book from Ashley’s recovery program is ripped, stained and falling apart. She's read it more times than she can count.

The ice in her coffee cup was melting and her expression became even and calm as she said, “Today, I can say I have my life together.”

* Names have been changed to protect privacy.

MIND OVER BODY

By Monica Andrade

Photo by Mireillee Lamourt

“In so far as the mind is stronger than the body, so are the ills contracted by the mind more severe than those contracted by the body.”

-Cicero Lauren Nieves has always tried to be in control of her own life. But after being diagnosed with several incurable conditions, she has come to accept that sometimes there are certain things she has no power over.

And she’s OK with that.

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rowing up, Lauren Nieves had a relatively normal childhood.

Aside from her parents divorcing, she came from a big loving family. She was born in Arkansas, but she moved to Ohio when she was 6 and then to Florida at age 9. A year later, in the fifth grade, she noticed her growth was stunted. Lauren was supposed to be 5-foot-6, but she fell short by 3 inches.

“Turns out I had a thing called hypothyroidism,” she said. “Basically it’s just a really low thyroid, so my body doesn’t process carbohydrates or other things as well.”

Having hypothyroidism also meant Lauren would put on weight much easier than other people. Ever since her diagnosis, she’s struggled with her weight. Whether it

was eating too much or not eating enough, she couldn’t seem to find a balance.

So she made a New Year’s resolution her sophomore year of high school to lose some weight.

“It really wasn’t supposed to be as much about weight loss as it was to be healthier,” Lauren said. “But I started seeing results in my body, seeing the numbers on the scale drop, and it just became an obsession with trying to lose a certain amount of weight each week.”

Because of her bad knees, she couldn’t play sports anymore, so she thought her resolution would be good for her. But it got to the point where Lauren felt she was in a competition with herself to see how much weight she could lose. But no amount of weight loss was ever enough. At first it was

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Apart from her weight issues, Lauren has dealt with having tendonitis in her wrist.

She noticed it a bit in high school, but it worsened once she got to college.

“After the many more hours of homework I was doing, I had to stop writing because I couldn’t do it anymore,” she said.

“The pain was too sharp and would shoot up my entire arm.”

She got a cortisone shot once, but it didn’t work for her. There’s really nothing she can do besides exercise to strengthen the muscles around the tendon.

Lauren’s sophomore year of college was arguably the most painful time in her life. She’s struggled with headaches ever since she sprained her back playing basketball in eighth grade, but she began getting them every single day. Lauren didn’t think anything of it until she went to the ophthalmologist to get new glasses.

Her doctor noticed an issue with her optic nerve, so Lauren went to see a specialist to undergo some tests.

It was there she found out she had something called pseudotumor cerebri, in which the symptoms mimic those of a brain tumor. Although her doctors are unsure of how she got it, they believe it's because she took birth control and a severe acne medication called Accutane.

There have been a few cases in which the medications have been said to cause it.

The specialist performed a spinal tap on

her, which was supposed to help alleviate pressure in her head by draining some of her spinal fluid.

For Lauren, concentrating would be the most challenging part of the condition.

“You have to work a lot harder to pay attention to the task that you’re on. It’s difficult to focus, because all you can think about is how badly your head hurts. Trying not to let it disrupt your life is really difficult, but I pride myself on not letting things take away from my life, so it’s just additional effort,” she said.

She now takes medication to help with her headaches. After being on the medication for six months and losing 10 pounds, the headaches basically went away. But if she misses her doses for more than two days, they will come back. She has also dealt with stress headaches, which are different than cerebri, as the headaches happen in the front of the head rather than in the back of the head and everywhere else.

“I’d like to think that one day I’d be able to get rid of it,” she said. “I’d like to believe that one day something’s going to work.”

Fortunately, the cerebri hasn’t bothered her in a while. But later on during sophomore year, she was diagnosed with another condition she thought she would never get.

One day, she woke up with a sharp pain in her uterus. Lauren said she’s never

Photo by Mireillee Lamourt

about eating healthier, but then Lauren began to count calories, which quickly turned to cutting calories. She even started waking up every day at 4 a.m. to work out before she had to get ready for school.

After a couple months, she weighed 110 pounds. Lauren was so thin that every one of her ribs showed, yet she still believed she wasn’t thin enough.

“I remember friends in high school telling me I wasn’t eating enough,” she said. “I had one friend who’d get mad because I was so obsessed with the weight loss that I kind of let it control me. People would tell me to have a cheat day, and I wouldn’t let myself.

My doctor was like a week away from shipping me off and sending me to one of those places where they force you to eat.”

Lauren doesn’t know why she became anorexic in the first place. She really doesn’t know how it stopped either.

“After my entire sophomore year of being that way, it just shut off one day,” she said. “I think I ate a pizza with my family, and after that I kind of stopped being that way. I couldn’t explain why — it just happened.”

It wasn’t until college that Lauren faced issues with her weight again. Everyone else ate junk food, like her roommate. She didn’t put on any pounds, but Lauren did.

“It’s been difficult in college,” Lauren said.

“It just means I have to maintain my weight and can’t eat like other people.”

Photo By Lisandranette Rios

had painful periods, so she didn’t know what it was. She thought she sprained her pelvis, but doctors diagnosed her with endometriosis.

“Every woman in my family has it,” Lauren said. “I thought I was the white horse that wasn’t going to end up having it, unlike everyone else.”

In a nutshell, endometriosis is when the endometrium, or inner layer, grows outside of the uterus instead of inside of it. It can spread to other organs if it’s not treated.

After three to four days of constant pain, Lauren’s gynecologist discovered a 5-centimeter cyst on her 2-centimeter ovary. She was told nothing could be done other than surgically removing the cyst, but that they usually go away on their own.

It finally ruptured a few weeks later when she was sitting in class during her first semester of her master’s program.

“I just remember sitting there and this sharp, shooting pain came. I couldn’t move.

It was probably the worst pain I’ve ever been in my entire life,” Lauren said.

After the cyst ruptured, the pain never went away. For two months, she was in constant pain, which made her finally decide to have surgery to remove the endometriosis patches. Although there is no cure for it, surgery provides significant pain relief, even though it’s only short-term.

“Endometriosis is not curable; it’s manageable. But it’s different in everyone. I got the surgery and felt fine afterward, but

my sister, who’s had two surgeries, is still in pain,” she said.

There is no known cause for endometriosis, but Lauren believes it was genetically spread down to her.

In addition to surgery, she is now on a hormone-based treatment that causes fake menopause, which she said will help prevent the endometriosis from growing back. However, her biggest concern with the disorder isn’t the pain. It’s about being able to start a family.

“I’ve chosen this form of treatment because I eventually want to have kids.

The pain doesn’t bother me as much as the idea of having a doctor telling me my endometriosis has come back and it’s so bad they might have to take everything out because it could destroy your ovaries and your chances of having kids,” she said. “I’d like to not be 23 and be told, ‘This is your last chance.’ I want to be 27, secure in life and have everything to provide a family.”

It was really upsetting for Lauren at first, because she never foresaw herself having the disorder and the same difficulties that the rest of her family members have had.

But seeing how her younger sister is still in pain after surgery, she is thankful it worked for her.

“There’s so much uncertainty about the whole situation, and you kind of have to take it as it comes,” she said. “That’s been difficult for me, because I’m kind of a control freak.”

But college has taught Lauren to loosen her grip a bit. Back in high school, she always had to take care of her younger sister emotionally. She’s had to be a mediator between her sister and parents for a long time. Lauren thinks that’s where a lot of the controlling comes from.

“My predisposition is towards making everyone happy and trying to please everyone. And you can’t always do that,” she said. “That’s probably where I tried to loosen control.”

And even though she’s had to deal with all of these other conditions, she believes everything happens for a reason.

“There’s a lot of times where bad stuff happens, and you feel like this is the worst thing that’s ever happened in the world.

Two years will go by, and you’ll realize why that happened. You’ll learn from each instance,” she said.

Despite every setback, Lauren refuses to let anything stop her from accomplishing her goals. Lauren has been in college for almost three years now. Even though she’s just a junior, she has managed to get all A’s in her master’s program in international business and will graduate in December.

She started the program at the same time she was diagnosed with endometriosis, but she never let the condition affect her grades. She’s only 21, but she’s already a manager at Hyperlynx Media, a local startup business. She looks forward to taking on the management position full-time and being given the opportunity to take on more responsibility in her work, despite her limitations.

And when it comes to her personal life, she’s glad she has been able to maintain her relationships with her friends and family. Occasionally she’s had to miss a few events like her best friend’s 21st birthday due to her conditions, but it hasn’t altered her ability to be happy in life. It has been difficult for her to deal with everything that’s happened, but she feels fortunate to have had such a great support system.

Soon enough, she’ll also be getting married to her long-distance boyfriend.

When reflecting on her past experiences, Lauren realized how strong she actually is, even though she feels weak in some moments. She said she has gained more confidence and has been able to open up more to people despite not wanting to burden them.

“I try not to complain too much. I’ve learned that I’m stronger than the things that are happening to me,” Lauren said.

“Everything is meant to build you into the person you’re supposed to be.”

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SELF

Check our sweat-o-meter to see how sweaty you'll get

A LT E R N AT I V E FITNESS How to work out in cool, fun ways that beat the norm

By Lisandranette Rios

Working out is something I have not always consistently done.

I like the gym and the feeling I get after a sweaty session, but getting there is more than half the battle. It wasn’t until I put down the weights, the ones I pretended to know how to properly lift, and stepped out of the gym that I discovered how to consistently work out my mind and body in a way that made getting out of bed and to the gym more exciting.

There are many alternatives to the traditional workout regime.

My first experience in a non-traditional fitness environment began when I was walking down the anxiety-inducing maze of people at Turlington Plaza on the University of Florida’s campus. As I made my way through the corridor of tables

and people all representing a new and fun opportunity, a young lady reached out and handed me a flier inviting me to a meeting at a belly dance student organization. When I finally got the guts to actually show up to one of their meetings, my hips creaked to the sounds of the drum but my heart fluttered at the excitement of doing something that was completely engaging. This changed the way I thought about working out.

Now, instead of dreading getting up and heading to a workout I was not interested in, I was filled with motivation and ready for all of the benefits and fun belly dancing provided. So, whether you twirl down a pole, shake your assets or climb your way to a healthier you, putting yourself in a new workout adventure can be just the change and push you need.

ROCK CLIMBING One great alternative to the standard gym workout regime is getting sporty with your fitness. Rock climbing is one of the many adventurous fitness alternatives you can try. You will use your arms, legs and mind to get yourself to the top of the climb.

everyone to rock climb, even if they have a fear of heights. Push that fear to the back of your head, remember to not look down and just start climbing, he said.

Photos By Lisandranette Rios

“Rock climbing in general is a good alternative fitness,” Lague said.

Whether you choose an outdoor setting or opt for an indoor rockclimbing gym, you are guaranteed to get sweaty by the end of a session. With rock climbing, you can set goals for how high you want to climb, how fast you want to climb and what type of routes you want to master.

The Outdoor Adventure Recreation organization at the University of Florida goes to the Sun Country Sports Center in Jonesville every Wednesday to climb on their rock walls. The rock wall at Sun Country spans 2,500 square feet, according to the center’s website. Brian Lague, a member of OAR, said he encourages

In any fitness regime, you work really hard and after a while reach your long-term goals. In rock climbing, not only do you work toward a long-term goal of being fit and healthy, but you also achieve short-term goals of finishing difficult routes, he said. Then you can push yourself to finish an even more challenging route after that.

OAR doesn’t only cater to students — people from the Gainesville community and other Florida cities can join in on climbing adventures as well by visiting ufadventure.com.

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POLE DANCING Stop that thought you just had about pole dancing. Pole fitness is for everyone, and there are different styles to the art. The dancers move confidently, using their own body weight to traverse a tall pole. By learning this art, you will learn how to trust your body and how to be more eloquent. Plus, your body will tone up. Gainesville’s only certified pole-fitness instructor is also well-known in the aerial art industry. Jacqueline Valdez, owner of Gainesville’s Elegant Body Pilates with Jacqueline Valdez, was deemed the “Pole Ballerina” because of how she mixes her ballet background into her fitness classes.

The routines are simple. While doing a pole-dance workout, you use your arms and legs to get up the pole and then, using the same muscles, twirl down. After some time practicing, you will start to see those dancer legs form, and your arms will have great muscle tone. There are no restrictions to who can learn how to pole dance for fitness. The competition poles Valdez has in her studio do not have a weight limit. That means people can have bad knees, an ankle injury or be overweight and still learn pole fitness.

“I encourage people to explore their own creativity and one that I love, and I'm very proud of it. I love helping my students find their voice and find their style,” Valdez said. “I feel like it's very important to not compare yourself to other people and not try to dance like other people and listen to your own body and follow your own journey.”

For more information on class times and prices, visit elegantjacqueline.wixsite.com/jacquelinevaldez.

BELLY DANCING

Coins on vibrant scarves tremble with every drop of a belly dancer’s hip, creating a satisfying sound to the beat of the drum playing through the speakers. Letting your body flow to the melody of the music and shimmy to the rhythm of the beat will get your heart working, skin glistening in sweat and before long your body will tone up.

The movements in belly dancing require you to isolate different parts of your body, so you know exactly which muscles you’re working. To belly dance, your knees are constantly bent and your arms are moving up and down, always engaged and not sloppily hanging by your sides. The moves are easy to learn, but the trick to a complete workout is doing more than one move at the same time. That’s how you really get your muscles working and your heart rate raised.

There are different studios you can go to for belly dancing, and each will offer something different. At Ethnic Expressions, the dancers practice dance styles from different cultures like Turkish Gypsy, Spanish Fusion, Lebanese and Moroccan. There are also different class levels so you can start in a beginner class and work your way up to an advanced level.

For more information on class times and prices, visit ethnicdanceexpressions.com/ClassPrices.

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Photos By Lisandranette Rios

Belly dancing is beneficial for your overall health because it can help prepare your body for childbirth and help with bladder control. Sallamah Chimera, owner of Ethnic Expressions, said the moves in belly dancing help to strengthen muscles and build up your confidence.

AERIAL YOGA Yoga in the air might be the best new way to unwind in Gainesville. I signed up for an early evening class and headed to one of Gainesville’s fitness studios named Flowspace. When I arrived, a long purple aerial yoga hammock was hanging from the ceiling creating a U-shape above a yoga mat and floor mat.

A few of the windows were propped open, letting the cool breeze move through the large room. Breathing deeply through my nose, I wrapped my wrists once around the hammock. Upon exhaling, I lifted my body off the ground and started following instructor Lexi McCaughey as she guided me through different yoga poses.

Although your body will be off of the ground for most of the moves, you'll be eased into each pose, and your instructor will guide and spot you until you are comfortable. The hammocks are strong and can hold up to 2,000 pounds. McCaughey mastered her aerial yoga skills by going to a circus school in Colorado when a yoga studio she managed near Chicago wanted to bring something new to the studio.

There is something relaxing about moving your body through yoga poses that feels even more amazing in an aerial hammock.

“I really like how [aerial yoga] offers a lot of support to you where you don't feel it sometimes,” McCaughey said. “You can hold on to the fabric and give your weight into it a lot, which opens up a lot of doors for you, but then you can also flip around and completely scare yourself. It has the widest range for how it can make you feel. You can surrender in it or get your heart pumping and get really sore.”

STADIUM WORKOUT

For more information on class times and prices, visit facebook.com/FlowSpaceGnv.

Top Photo By Lisandranette Rios / Bottom Photo By Mireillee Lamourt

Are you easing out of the gym-rat mode and want to try something new but have a tight budget to manage? Another alternative way to work out is by using the world around you.

In Gainesville, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is the perfect place to get your sweat on. Even if it rains, you can still use the covered concourse to workout.

Every Monday at student section 44 by gate 15 of the stadium, a group of all ages joins Danielle Gertner of Gertner Grind for a free or by-donation workout. Gertner is a graduate of the University of Florida and has her own business to help people motivate others to live a healthy lifestyle and work out. She uses the bleachers, stairs and ramps for body strengthening and total body exercises.

Using the donated money, the company purchases new equipment for the group to use during the workouts. Some of the equipment includes kettlebells, jump ropes and resistance bands. Because the workouts are on an incline and decline, you are sure to get your heart working and body sweating. The workouts are modified to your fitness level, so don’t worry about being able to keep up with others in the group. Gertner said she just wants to help people get on their “grind.”

“I think a lot of people have this image of just going to the gym and lifting weights when there is so much more,” she said.

“There's so much you could do. The world is your gym.”

For more information on Gertner Grind, visit facebook.com/gertnergrind.

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Months Feel Like Years Coping with the loss of a father Text and Photos By Catie Flatley

F

resh eyes. Clean cut. Strong build.

Just by looking at him, you would never expect tragedy struck Brian Lee’s life. But it did. And that tragedy hit home.

Brian’s father, Randy, died in August 2016 after battling cancer, and the few months since his passing have seemed like an eternity.

...

It all started with a spot underneath Randy’s left foot.

In September of 2012, Randy went to the dermatologist to get it checked out.

They treated it as a wart. When it didn’t seem to heal, they treated it again, still as if it were a wart. There wasn’t a single sign of improvement.

A year later, he went to a different doctor.

The doctor did a biopsy, and that’s when the results came back.

It was melanoma, a form of skin cancer.

When Brian, a 21-year-old University of Florida English senior found out his father had skin cancer, he did not feel the need to prepare for the potential heartache of unsuccessful chemotherapy treatments.

Brian never expected he’d have to watch the man he had always looked up to slowly

become weaker while confined within bleak hospital walls during his last days.

Brian assumed everything would be fine.

“He had skin cancer, and skin cancer normally is not a big deal. You see it, you cut it off, and that’s the end of it. You don’t worry about it,” Brian said, shaking his head.

He hoped his father would be there to cheer for him and his younger brother the day they each receive their diplomas from UF. He hoped he would be there when they each one day decide to settle down and start families of their own.

But by the time doctors caught it, the cancer had already spread to his lymph nodes. He was treated immediately, but it was too late.

“It just kept spreading basically everywhere,” Brian said.

Randy was admitted to the hospital on the first day of August 2016.

Brian was sitting in a summer class that day at UF when his mom called with news that the cancer had progressed to Randy’s brain. She told Brian it would be best for him to come home to Miami to be there with his father.

“I sat on the 20 — the bus — and I just cried my eyes out,” Brian said. “That was

hard, and then I had to drive home.”

Randy passed away 10 days later. He was only 53 years old.

The cancer had spread into his bones, his lungs and his brain.

“In those 10 days, I just felt like I aged 10 years,” Brian said.

A few days before Randy passed away, the father of one of Brian’s high school classmates committed suicide.

This put everything into perspective for Brian. He was lucky to be there to say goodbye and to tell his father “I love you” one last time.

Brian and his family were able to be there to comfort Randy as he spent his last moments on earth.

“His death was more or less pretty peaceful,” Brian said. “He just kind of slipped away, just like falling asleep.”

...

There’s not just one memory that sticks out to Brian. There are a lot of little moments he will hold on to for the rest of his life.

The father and son pair used to spend late nights watching their favorite show, “Seinfeld,” or just sitting and talking about politics, history or really whatever was on

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“You always think things are going to happen to somebody else.

Always. There are certain times where you might become somebody else’s somebody else.”

their minds from day to day.

Now, there are no more of those days.

Instead of jokes about soup Nazis and the puffy shirt cracking him up, ‘90s sitcoms make him reflective and remind him of the best friend he used to share laughs with.

“Our personalities were very aligned — like more so than me and my mom or him and my brother. We were pretty much the same,” Brian said with a smile.

Brian said he has never been one to show any negative emotions, no matter what is happening in his life.

His high school friend, Becky Mar, described him as a pistachio.

“You have to try really hard to open the shell,” Becky said. “But once you do, you hit the core.”

Randy was the same way. He remained positive even though he was hurting.

...

Brian’s mother, Arlene, played a huge role throughout Randy’s battle with cancer.

“My mom will never get credit for what she did, but she was always with my father for every step of the way. Every doctor’s appointment, every scan to see what was going on,” he said. “I just couldn’t be more grateful that she’s my mom and that she was with my dad through everything.”

Before Randy died, he handed Brian his small black Swiss Army pocketknife. Brian wears it around his neck every day so it sits close to his heart.

It’s there to remind him of the good times they had together and that Randy will always be with Brian in spirit.

“I would absolutely have had that first 21 years and just experienced the bad in the last few weeks than just not have that 21 years happen at all,” Brian said.

...

When loved ones slip through our fingers, we often ask how something so awful could happen to them and to us.

Brian never contemplated how something so tragic could happen to

someone as amazing as his father.

“I never really had those questions. I think it’s just, like, by chance. He got it [so] it could happen to anyone,” he said. “It can be really hard to live in the moment, and you always think things are going to happen to somebody else. Always. There are certain times where you might become somebody else’s somebody else.”

Even though his friends can’t bring his father back, they’ve been there to help console Brian and make the awful days significantly easier to get through.

Brian said although his friends may never truly understand how their support has helped him, everyone should try to let others know what they mean to them.

“As difficult as it can be, just take like five minutes out of the day, and just tell your parents you love them, or like tell your brother, your sister, your boyfriend, your girlfriend — the people you love, just let them know,” Brian said. “Because nothing is guaranteed.”

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A [ FA S H I O N A B L E ] YEAR IN THE WOODS Text By Melissa Smith / Photos by O&B Staff

Meet the models: Austin, Megan, JP and Will are part of the University of Florida’s Travel and Recreation Program, commonly known as TRiP. Part of the job of being a TRiP leader is knowing exactly what gear is — and is not — good to take or wear on a journey through the great outdoors. We consulted with them to find out what clothing is in their packs for each season of wilderness exploration. Outdoor fashion isn’t really about looking good. It’s more about practicality. From durability to weight, there are many things to consider when investing in gear. And with active clothing, price doesn’t necessarily indicate quality — some of the best pieces can be found at discount stores or second-hand retailers.

Whether you’re lounging around the campfire or climbing on a rock wall, here’s the gear you’ll need to optimize performance and comfort.

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Megan’s wool Peruvian hat: “Some people think that you lose most of your heat through your head. I'm not a scientist, so I can't speak to that, but I always bring a hat when I'm camping in the cold, because it keeps me and my ears warm!

This hat is wool. I'm pretty sure I bought it on campus through a fundraiser — you can get a wool hat from many places, doesn't have to be some fancy outdoor brand.”

Get a similar one: El Toro Peruvian Beanie Hat $17.95, villagehatshop.com

WINTER Austin’s Patagonia Down Sweater: “What separates this jacket from others is it's warmth-to-weight ratio. It's extremely lightweight, yet far warmer than many of those clunky ski jackets... Also, Patagonia's reputation in customer service is bar to none.

If one of the bellows becomes unstitched — tomorrow or even 30 years from now — they'll repair it at no cost.” $229, patagonia.com

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Will’s Adidas running tights: “I like running tights because of the compression on my muscle, the range of motion and the fit. The range of motion helps me make dynamic movements to conquer even the toughest of climbing routes.”

Get similar ones: Nike Dri-Fit Essential Tights $60, rei.com

SPRING JP’s synthetic-fabric workout clothes: “They're moisture-wicking, so the sweat just rolls off! They’re also extremely lightweight and breathable. I wear the shorts all the time.

The running shoes are just Nikes. I use them because they're lighter weight and more comfortable than my boots, and they are good for short trips.”

Get similar ones: Shirt: Men’s PFG Zero Rules™ Short Sleeve Shirt: $40, columbia.com Shorts: Hanes Sport Men's Performance Running Shorts: $14.99, walmart.com Shoes: Nike Air Zoom Wildhorse 3: $110, nike.com Shorts: $17.99, hm.com

JP’s Hawaiian-print button-down shirt: “For some reason, I find myself attracted to the color blue when picking out clothing.

The brand [of this shirt] is Ivy Crew, and I got it out of a Good Will. I like the button-down because it adds a touch of style and is a lot easier to apply than sunscreen.”

Get a similar one: Caribbean Joe Casual Tropical Button-Down Shirt $50, kohls.com

SUMMER Will’s lightweight T-shirt and H&M Short Swim Shorts: “I don't actively search out bright-colored gear during the summer, but I think bright gear can be fun, and visibility is important, too. I like to wear a casual T-shirt and shorts because they work just as well on the river as they do around a campfire with friends.”

T-Shirt: Get a similar one: Patagonia Powder Peaks Lightweight Cotton T-Shirt: $29, patagonia.com Shorts: $17.99, hm.com

Austin’s Darn Tough Hiker Boot Sock Cushion and Teva Original Universal sandals: “Tevas are great ‘camp shoes’ — the shoes you get into when you want to take off those wet, dirty boots. They're lightweight and can easily be clipped on the outside of your backpack, ready for post-hike comfort. When it's cold, you usually don't want to be going sock-less, so whenever you're around camp you have socks and then Tevas. Somehow that fashion choice made it's way into my daily get-up! Not too bad, I don't think.”

Socks: $23, darntough.com Sandals: $50, teva.com

FALL Megan’s Columbia Full Zip Fleece Jacket and hiking pants: “I like it because it's thick and really warm, and I can usually layer it over a baselayer and under a puffy [down jacket] or rain jacket. I like to wear [the pants] because they're super lightweight and breathable for hiking. They're also water-resistant and dry relatively quickly, which is a huge plus in my book!”

Jacket: $60, columbia.com Pants: Get similar ones: Mountain Hardwear Wandering Solid Pants: $55, rei.com Shorts: $17.99, hm.com

THE PRICE OF

BEAUTY

An inside look into the chemicals that go into cosmetics and their side effects on our bodies.

By Monica Andrade In a world where mostly everything is labeled, we feel like we know more or less what we’re using on our bodies when it comes to personal care products. But do we really? From the list of ingredients typically found on packaging, there are usually less than five words that are understandable. And as for the rest of the words, forget about even coming close to comprehending, much less pronouncing them. We trust governing authorities to ensure the companies we buy cosmetics

from don’t put toxic chemicals in our favorite products, but one Google search can change all of that.

Type in “chemicals in cosmetics,” and an array of articles from different websites will spring up, cautioning consumers of the dangers lurking within skin care ingredients. A number of studies from the U.S. National Library of Medicine have shown that what we put on our bodies is slowly making their way into our bodies, with some things possibly causing

4 Chemicals To Watch Out For

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Phthalates Although these chemicals have been banned from cosmetics in the European Union, they are still used in some American cosmetics. The four types of phthalates found in cosmetic products are dibutyl phthalate (DBP), which reduces cracking in nail polishes by making them less brittle; diethyl phthalate (DEP), used as a solvent in fragrances; dimethyl phthalate (DMP), found in hairsprays to create a flexible film by avoiding stiffness; and Di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP), used in eyelash glue. The FDA says “it’s not clear what effect, if any, phthalates have on human health,” but some studies have linked it to reproductive organ abnormalities, endometriosis and obesity. At the moment, the FDA continues to monitor levels of the chemical in cosmetics.

Product they’re still found in: Ardell LashTite Eyelash Adhesive, Dark

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more harm than others. Chemicals placed on the skin absorb into the body, causing researchers to speculate something as innocent as baby powder could lead to ovarian cancer because of talcum powder, an ingredient originally deemed safe.

Depending on what chemical it is, your health can be affected in the short-term or long-term. While it is extremely rare for death to occur, the chemicals may be detrimental to your health in other ways.

Triclosan Intended to reduce or prevent bacterial contaminations, triclosan is an ingredient found in toothpastes, deodorant and soaps. In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned companies from marketing products with triclosan because they were unable to determine if it was safe for long-term daily use and if it was more effective than regular soap. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a news release that “data suggests that antibacterial ingredients may do more harm than good over the long-term.” Long-term exposure to triclosan could cause bacterial resistance or hormonal effects, and it has been linked to uncontrolled cell growth and birth defects. Dr. Margaret James, a professor and chair of the UF medicinal chemistry department, specializes in toxicology and has studied triclosan. She said that although most adults can easily detoxify triclosan in their bodies, pregnant women are more susceptible to its effects. “I am concerned about the use of triclosan by pregnant women, or women who wish to become pregnant, because of the documented effects on the endocrine system, and the recent studies linking triclosan exposure with pregnancy loss,” Dr. James said.

Product it’s still found in: Colgate Total Toothpaste

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3

Formaldehyde Mainly found in nail polishes and hair relaxers, this preservative is the same one used in funeral homes and medical labs. Formaldehyde is naturally occurring at low levels in the environment, but can become hazardous if high concentrations are inhaled. According to the American Cancer Society, the concentrations found in cosmetic products are not considered to be dangerous.

However, using professional keratin hair smoothing treatments can release substantial amounts of the chemical into the air, which could potentially reach a harmful level. At the very minimum, the preservative can still irritate the skin, eyes, nose and respiratory tract.

Product it’s still found in: OPI Nail Treatments Nail Envy Natural Nail Strengthener

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Polyacrylamide This polymer can almost be considered cosmetic glue for products such as facial moisturizers and anti-aging creams, as it binds ingredients together. Polyacrylamide is made up of trace amounts of acrylamide, which has been strongly suspected as being a carcinogen even though the polymer itself is not a concern. According to the National Toxicology Program, daily exposure to the chemical through cosmetics has a similar effect as smoking a pack of cigarettes per day. Studies show that large doses of acrylamide cause nerve damage in humans and cancer in animals. Though the European Union has set limits for the amount of acrylamide permitted in products with polyacrylamide, the U.S. does not currently have any regulations.

Product it’s still found in: Neutrogena Men Razor Defense, Face Lotion

So...

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Photo By Catie Flatley

Should we throw away all of the products that contain any of these chemicals? Well, the answer isn’t so simple. Dr. James said she thinks more studies should be done, especially for chemicals like triclosan. More research needs to be conducted on the long-term effects in order for us to come to a conclusion about the legitimacy of the chemicals’ health concerns. And when it comes to the law, the FDA is not required to approve cosmetic products and ingredients (with the exception of color additives) before they go on the market. For the most part, current research shows that these chemicals, along with an array of others, are safe when used in small amounts. Ultimately, it’s up to the consumers to decide if the products they use containing the ingredients outweigh the potential risks.

INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY

GADGETS TO GO

Must-have devices to help you keep discovering

By Melissa Smith Whether you’re prepping to thru-hike the Florida Trail or just planning a weekend kayaking down the Suwannee River, having a few gadgets in your pack can help you move through the wilderness safer and smarter. These four devices have proved tried and true for the O&B staff, and they are sold at affordable price points, making them perfect additions to all of your adventures.

Brunton TruArc 7 Compass Photo By Melissa Smith

Weight: 2.2 ounces // $29.99, basspro.com

The TruArc 7 is a mirrored compass that’s perfect for beginners and seasoned outdoor enthusiasts. It has an inclinometer that makes it easy to measure incline and heights, which can be helpful when trekking in the hilly Panhandle and in mountainous areas north of the border. The sighting mirror can double as an emergency signal mirror and is also helpful for day-to-day self care like shaving or applying sunscreen. The TruArc 7’s scale is set to 360 degrees with a two-degree resolution, offering accurate bearings to help you get exactly where you want to go. The TruArc 7 is great for travel because it features Brunton’s trademarked Global Needle and tool-less declination, which allows for dependable accuracy and easy adjustment anywhere in the world. It can be stored easily in your pack or can hang comfortably around your neck on the included lanyard.

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Garmin eTrex Touch 25 GPS Weight: 5.56 ounces with batteries // $249.99, basspro.com If you’re looking for a basic handheld touchscreen GPS, the Garmin eTrex Touch 25 is a high-quality unit with an affordable price tag. Not only is it compact, but also it is rugged and reliable. It receives both GPS and GLONASS satellites for continuous accuracy and unparalleled signal strength. With 4 gigabytes of memory, the eTrex Touch 25 can hold up to 4,000 waypoints. It also has a microSD card slot that is compatible with Garmin’s full mapping line, which means you can upgrade your unit to show saltwater, freshwater and topographic maps, among others. The eTrex Touch 25 is waterproof, has a screen that’s easy to read even in direct sunlight and is durable enough to hold up through the worst of Florida’s elements. It runs on two AA batteries and can last up to 16 hours on a single set. Lightweight and easily storable, the eTrex Touch 25 is a viable option favored by hikers, kayakers and adventurers worldwide.

Luci inflatable lantern Weight: 2.4 to 4.4 ounces // $11.95-$24.95, mpowered.com MPOWERD’s Luci inflatable solar lanterns are an ultralight, sustainable alternative to the traditional outdoor lamp. The lanterns’ 10 LEDs are charged only by a solar panel. The plastic lights collapse to 1 inch-thick discs, so they’re easy to tote.

Lucis have four light settings: super bright, bright, low and strobe. They’re fully waterproof and, because they blow up like beach balls, they float, too. They can also be hung from straps on either end. On a full charge, the lights shine for up to 12 hours. The full line of Luci lanterns includes the standard Original and Outdoor 2.0; EMRG, which is a pocket-sized emergency model; Color, which cycles through eight vibrant colors and is perfect for a pool party or festival; and Lux, which is a warm, ambient light in frosted plastic for pretty yet durable outdoor décor. You can also make your own Luci with a custom logo or design.

SPOT Gen3 Satellite GPS Messenger Personal Tracker

Weight: 4 ounces with batteries // $149.99, gandermountain.com

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Photos Courtesy of Manufacturers

The SPOT Gen3 Satellite GPS Messenger Personal Tracker is the best way to stay connected when you’re not in cell-service range. Two custom messages can be pre-programmed to send with your GPS coordinates via SMS text and email to up to 10 pre-set contacts or on social media. The SPOT Gen3 has a tracking feature, which sends your coordinates at pre-set intervals to your list of contacts. It is also the ideal tool to have in your pack for emergency situations. With the push of the S.O.S. button, an informational message and your GPS coordinates can be sent to emergency first responders near you. Pressing the SPOT Assist button will alert your list of contacts that you need non-life-threatening help. It runs on four AAA Lithium batteries and can send about 1,250 messages on a single set. The SPOT Gen3 requires a $149.99/year service plan for all users.

In the Future, Everyone's a Doctor

Illustration By Catie Flatley

By Mireillee Lamourt

It seems every day a new piece of technology hits the market.

Whether it’s 3-D camera phones, drones you can fly in your backyard or a wristwatch that monitors how many steps you take. I recently donated blood and the following day, the nurse who drew my blood emailed me my hemoglobin, glucose and cholesterol levels. It was fascinating and it got me thinking about how technology impacts the medical field as a whole.

Dr. Michael Stellefson is the associate chair at the Department of Health Education & Behavior at the University of Florida. He believes that the future of technology in medicine will rely heavily on social media and “breaking down the walls of patient-provider communication,” he wrote in an email.

“The use of videos and easy-to-understand infographics on social media can help groups that have difficulty understanding written health materials, figuring out how they are affected by healthcare policies, and comprehending medical jargon,” he said.

According to Stellefson, this method will help to improve access to health care information in a low-cost way and could also help to empower communities of patients with similar symptoms and diseases. He said these communities also encourage patients to self-regulate their health.

Here are some of the most innovative technologies arising in the medical field that will help to make the lives of both patients and doctors a lot easier in the near future.

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Wearable Technology This technology has already reached the general public in forms like the Apple Watch, Fitbit, and Google Glass. But outside of monitoring basic data like the number of steps taken daily or sleep cycles, newer wearable technology can now monitor temperature, blood pressure and even neurological data. Technology such as the eSkin Tattoo, created

by VivaLNK, is a paper-thin wearable that not only monitors your heart rate and stress levels, but can also send real-time updates to your phone and tell you whether to speed up or slow down during physical activity. Some wearables can even tell when a patient is having a heart attack or stroke and will call an ambulance immediately.

Fitbit Alta Classic

An even more fascinating technology is digital contact lenses, which can help to monitor blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. Google recently filed a patent on these lenses and may use this technology in the future for turning the pages of an eBook with the blink of an eye.

3-D Printing This technology was originally created in the 1980s and refers to building an object in layers by the use of a computer. Since then, it has developed to the point where we can now print forms of food, limbs and even human organs. This technology will become revolutionary for those waiting for organ transplants as time goes on. According to the American Transplant Foundation, more than 120,000 people are on the waiting list for an organ transplant. Another name is added to that list every 10 minutes. On average, 22 people die every day waiting for transplant organs. Imagine how many lives could be saved as the 3-D printer becomes a staple in every American hospital.

VivaLNK eSkin Tattoo

Some researchers believe that in the future we will even be able to print certain medications, which may put a financial dent in the pharmaceutical industry. The main issue as this technology develops is regulation.

Medical Tricorders

Viatom Checkme Pro

This technology, simply put, is the power for patients to diagnose themselves. Devices such as the Checkme Pro, created by Viatom, act as a blood-pressure and heart-rate monitor as well as a thermometer, and it monitors patients sleep schedules, blood oxygen levels and daily steps taken all from the same device. This tool is not meant to be used every day but can be. This device and others similar to it connect to computers, tablets and phones via Bluetooth. Rather than waiting hours in a doctor’s office to receive a diagnosis, patients can now diagnose themselves.

Teaching Medical Behaviors According to a 2011 study by the American College of Preventative Medicine, about 20 to 50 percent of patients don’t adhere to taking their prescribed medications. This causes about 125,000 deaths annually. Companies like AdhereTech are tackling this problem with technology such as light-up pill bottles that turn blue to let the patient know when a dose needs to be taken and turn red to indicate when a dose has been missed. This could be revolutionary for patients with degenerative conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

AdhereTech Smart Pill bottle

A larger focus of medicine has been placed on preventative care as well. Implementing technology that not only monitors behaviors, but can also help to teach patients new and healthy behaviors is really where the future of medicine lies.

All of these new forms of technology are making the future seem brighter. Who knows? Maybe by the time I’ve lived a full and long life I won’t need an organ transplant, but rather can have one printed for me in just hours. We’re living in the healthiest and most connected era of mankind, and with advancements like these, it’s clear that we won’t be stopping anytime soon.

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Photos Courtesy of Manufacturers

Other companies are even using digestible pill sensors, which let doctors know if their patients are taking their medications regularly. This information may even be sent to insurance companies to measure medication adherence and, in turn, adjust monthly rates.

Doing Things the Cade Way

Photo by Mireillee Lamourt

T

he Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention is a place where imagination and innovation mesh together through labs that immerse participants in the world of science, engineering, technology, art and mathematics. Children can dissect a brain, control a LEGO robot using codes they create or craft their own special flavors and colors of gum, ice cream and soda.

In summer 2017, the new Cade Museum will open and honor the late Dr. J. Robert Cade, an inventor and the lead creator of the team that made Gatorade. The Cade Museum currently only has classes for children, but be patient because soon there will be fun activities for the whole family to try.

At the museum, children can learn the “Cade Way” by participating in the Fab (fabrication) and Creativity labs, which focus on the science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics, or

STEAM, fields of study. In both labs, classes emphasize one field while incorporating elements of the others.

The classes are only for children, with prices and times varying. The schedule is available on the museum’s website.

Jennifer Martin has taken her 10-yearold daughter, Rebekah, to the museum for a few years. She said Rebekah loves everything they do at the museum.

Rebekah has always shown an interest in science. For a second-grade career-day project, she wanted to be an aerospace engineer. But, Jennifer said, there “wasn’t really anything available that offered kids a hands-on learning experience in science and science based areas.”

“Through the Cade, it allowed her to do that hands-on learning and experience things that they are not taught in the classroom,” Jennifer said.

One of Rebekah’s favorite things at the museum is the Neuroscience and Brain

By Lisandranette Rios

Tricks with the UF McKnight Brain Institute.

UF students from the institute teach museum-goers about engineering, art and physics. The UF students also help the kids dissect a brain.

“I thought the first time she did it that she’d freak out, and I’d have to come get her,” Jennifer said. “But, she just loves digging in and seeing all of the different parts of the brain and how it works. She wants to dissect an eyeball now.”

Gretchen Berisford, the administrative assistant at the Cade Museum, loves to hear students say they love the classes and want to come back. The children in the classes are attentive, ask questions and think of new ideas, she said.

“The most encouraging part is seeing kids be interested in STEAM,” she said.

The children are exposed to new and interesting technology, such as 3-D printers. They get to experiment with inventions made by instructors, and they

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Early Entrepreneur Program: Two teams work with students from the University of Florida’s Innovation Academy and mentors from the museum to think like an entrepreneur, act like one and actually be one. The teams come up with a business from scratch. Once they have their ideas of a product finalized to one, they begin creating, designing and marketing their very own product. This year the two teams made sidewalk chalk, lip balm and soap.

Living Inventor Series: Every month, the museum invites cool inventors to inspire the children to explore what the STEAM fields have to offer. They tell the children about their inventions and their work in STEAMrelated fields.

To Come at The New Museum: Ever wonder how fast you could be if you were a football player dashing through The Swamp? I’m sure by now you know that Gatorade was made in Gainesville, but what’s the backstory on the drink that pushed the Gators to win games after its invention? Your entire family can explore these fascinating topics in the interactive exhibits that will be in the new museum.

To sign up for a class visit the website at cademuesum.org.

Photo By Mireillee Lamourt

meet local entrepreneurs. They are encouraged to touch, create, build and code in the labs.

The labs are an opportunity for children to take a break from the daily routine of a classroom lesson that is normally designed using a set curriculum. Although the instructors at the labs do have lesson plans and structure, they have wiggle room to put the children in a setting away from a daily routine. They can go with the flow of how the small class of students is doing. For example, if a child does not quite grasp a concept, the instructors can stay on that topic a bit longer. When the children in the classes lose interest or focus, instructors can easily switch gears. It makes the environment organic and allows the children to explore what interests them, Berisford said.

The STEAM fields the museum focuses on are in demand right now. One of the classes the museum has is a coding class. Now that everything seems to revolve around the internet, knowing how to create a website or build an app can be an essential skill for students to have. On the Florida Department of Education’s website, emphasis is put on the importance of STEM (excluding art). It states that those without skills in math, science and technology are at a disadvantage compared to students who have skills in those areas.

If you can’t wait for the new museum to open, you can get your STEAM-filled fun through internship and volunteer programs. They are always excited to have more help for their classes and some office duties.

Photo By Mireillee Lamourt

By Catie Flatley

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I’m a millennial. I live in a society where friendships mean having to be the 100th like on an Instagram photo, and best friends are determined by the people you Snapchat the most. Millennials are so caught up in the idea of sharing our everyday lives with the world that we even coined the phrase “pics or it didn’t happen.”

Our generation can be a bit ridiculous with our lifestyle choices, and I decided I no longer wanted to be associated with the group that lives in a social media bubble.

Separating myself from the forms of social media I rely heavily on to connect with my friends felt like I was locked up in a jail cell, unable to communicate with the outside

PRE-CLEANSE Before starting the cleanse, I kept a diary to track how often I used social media on a daily basis, and the results were embarrassing. Of the amount of time in a day that I was awake, almost half of it was spent on Snapchat and Instagram.

I found myself scrolling through my feeds instead of listening to my class lectures. I was disengaged from conversations with friends and family, and I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings while walking… because I was taking selfies.

WEEK ONE Getting rid of the two apps was a lot like a breakup. There weren’t a lot of tears, but there was a lot of alcohol to get me through the dark phase.

After a split, you immediately have regrets and think about texting or calling your now-ex. I had a similar experience.

Just 48 hours into my cleanse, I re-downloaded Snapchat and Instagram just to take a peek. I had 16 unopened snaps and a handful of direct messages and

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world because social media was my form of talking to the people closest to me.

We don’t call our friends and family on the phone anymore.

Instead, we send 10-second-long selfies back and forth and count that as communication. My biggest concern with separating myself from the bubble was how I would keep in touch with friends.

I eliminated Snapchat and Instagram, the two forms of social media I used the most, for three weeks because I realized my relationship with them was toxic.

I was addicted to my phone, and I needed to break loose.

notifications on Instagram.

There was a pain in my stomach that Pepto-Bismol couldn’t ease. You know that feeling you get when you’re on a roller coaster that drops at a 90 degree angle? That was that feeling I had. I wanted to see what lied behind my notifications.

I was tempted to open each one of them, but the guilt gnawed at me – I was a cheater. I gave my phone to my roommate and demanded she change my passwords.

It was at this point that I realized my relationship with these forms of social media was over, and I needed to move on.

I drank two bottles of wine that first week and found myself shopping the sales of J.Crew and Patagonia to make me feel better, but it wasn’t enough.

I was feeling down because I felt like I was missing out on my other life on social media.

Yes, the first week was a struggle and very depressing, but eventually the absence of Snapchat and Instagram didn’t faze me anymore.

WEEK TWO By the second week, I hit my rebound stage of the breakup. I had replaced all of the time I spent on social media with the gym. I had a new routine going, and I felt great. For the first time since the cleanse began, I didn’t feel sluggish.

Photos By Catie Flatley

WEEK THREE By the third week, I had become a morning person. It was definitely weird. I was waking up early every day and getting work done because there were no distractions in the way. I was not pausing to snap photos or comment on posts that had trickled in through the night. I was refreshed and ready to tackle the day ahead.

instead of filling every moment alone scrolling through social media, I’ve been picking up the phone and calling friends. At first they thought it was random, but they came around and realized, as I did, that it felt more genuine to talk than to just send pictures back and forth.

When it came to “password retrieval day,” I actually had no desire to get my Snapchat and Instagram accounts up and running again.

I was over them, and I kind of wanted it to continue.

Giving up the two forms of social media I turned to the most often was a brutal experience at first. But in the end, it enabled me to discover a new me who is engaged in conversations, productive, motivated to work out and get my schoolwork done and who doesn’t worry about what other people might think about me.

I didn’t recognize the person I had become. I had relied on social media so much in the past, and it wasn’t like me to not want to welcome it back into my life.

I’m an outgoing person. I’ve always needed constant human interaction to get me through the day. But since the cleanse,

I may have lost all of my long-standing streaks on Snapchat and a couple of followers on Instagram, but through these weeks of highs and lows, I was able to kick my obsession to the curb and replace it with healthier habits.

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FOOD

UNLEASHING YOUR INNER

DRAGON

By Mireillee Lamourt

If you’re like me, stepping outside of your comfort zone is hard — especially when it comes to trying new foods. And if you’re really like me, you may have heard of dragon fruit, but you’ve never actually eaten it.

Also called Pitaya or strawberry pear, dragon fruit is native to Mexico, but it is cultivated all over the world and is part of the cactus family. It has a kiwi-like consistency and flavor, but it is lighter on the palette. There are seeds, but you won't taste them.

And this strange-looking cactus fruit is jam-packed with health

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The black seeds are rich in omega-3 and omega-6, two fatty acids your body can’t produce by itself, which may help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disorders. Dragon fruit is also rich in skinboosting antioxidants, fiber and calcium, and have been proven to lower blood sugar and cholesterol, according to the National Institute of Health.

Although it looks intimidating, I was surprised to find that it is one of the easiest foods I’ve ever prepared. Dragon fruit is most commonly used in smoothies, breakfast bowls, puddings and the occasional cocktail. But here are a couple of alternative recipes for you to impress your family, friends and maybe even yourself.

Illustration By Catie Flatley

The fruit looks intimidating with its bright pink skin and a shape like something that might actually have come out of a dragon. But it tastes so much better.

benefits. For starters, one cup of dragon fruit gives you 192 percent of your daily vitamin C.

Dragon Fruit Salad:

Recipe provided by Thas Neen at Thasneen.com/cooking

If you are not too keen on trying fruits outside of your comfort zone, this is the perfect recipe to help you hop on the dragon fruit train. Pairing this exotic fruit with oranges, strawberries and mint lets the dragon fruit flavor take a back seat. You can really prepare this salad with any fruits you like, which makes it excellent for helping you get all the vitamin C you need — or for helping you get over a cold a little faster, which is exactly how it helped me.

You will need:

1 large, ripe dragon fruit A few orange slices or 1 clementine 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds or 4 medium-sized strawberries 5 chopped mint leaves and a few more to garnish

Instructions: 1. Start by cutting the dragon fruit vertically in half.

2. Run a knife along the edge of the skin and scoop out the center.

Make sure you save the skin.

3. Dice up your dragon fruit, mint leaves and other fruit you’d like to include in your salad.

4. Use a bowl to mix all of your diced fruit and mint leaves.

5. Scoop those ingredients back into the skin.

6. Garnish your finished product with a few mint leaves.

7. Eat immediately or chill and serve later.

Dragon Fruit Fiesta Dip: Recipe by Mireillee Lamourt

I know what you must be thinking: “Fruit salsa? No way.” But luckily, dragon fruit will take on the taste of whatever you pair it with. And if you are looking for something a little less fatty than avocado, have no fear; your new favorite appetizer is here.

You will need:

2 cup of dragon fruit (about 1 large fruit) 1/4 cup of a red onion 1/4 cup of cilantro 2 tablespoons of lime juice 1/8 teaspoon of cumin 1/8 teaspoon of salt 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper 1 fresh jalapeño chile (optional)

Photos By Mireillee Lamourt

Instructions: 1. Cut your dragon fruit vertically in half.

2. Run a knife along the edge of the skin and scoop out the center with a spoon. No need to save the skin.

3. Dice dragon fruit, cilantro and green onion.

4. Slice or mince about ¼ of the jalapeño. Including the seeds is optional.

5. Cut lime vertically in half.

6. Combine the dragon fruit, cilantro, green onion and jalapeño in a serving bowl.

7. Add cumin, salt and pepper.

8. Squeeze half of the lime over finished product.

9. Mix until desired consistency is reached.

10. Serve with chips and enjoy.

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AROUND THE WORLD IN 5 RESTAURANTS

Gainesville is the perfect place to explore cuisine from other cultures. You can travel to all ends of the world through your taste buds. Discover the eclectic variety of dishes from Vietnam, Egypt, Korea, India and South Korea.

By Lisandranette Rios

FAITH VIETNAMESE CUISINE At a small, cozy restaurant right next to Flashbacks and near Ayers Medical Plaza on West University Avenue, the clear plastic beads glimmer in the front windows, leading you to our pick for the best authentic Vietnamese cuisine in Gainesville for less than $10. It’s the perfect spot to have a quiet lunch alone or an intimate dinner with loved ones. Small lanterns shine with soft lighting, and white table cloths make you feel like you’ve entered a friend’s home for a dinner party. The décor in the restaurant is simple, but it reflects the owners’ beliefs in having faith, supporting family and loving their culture. You walk into the dining area when you enter the restaurant, but a small door behind the counter leads to where the magic happens: the kitchen. The most popular item on the menu is a soup combo because it comes with different types of meat in it like pork and beef. If you’re really hungry, try the rice combo with pork. If you’re not a fan of meat, order the noodle lemongrass tofu.

When you order from the restaurant, you can expect a chef who is from Vietnam to make your dish. The owners of the restaurant, Minh Tran and Ky Nguyen, moved to the U.S. from Vietnam after they got married. They moved around after having kids and finally came to Gainesville to be close to one of their sons, who goes to Santa Fe. Minh Tran said she wants people to love Vietnamese food. And eating at Faith, that’s not hard to do.

GOVINDA’S BAKERY AND CAFÉ

“I want [the community] to know that they have a second home,” said Fernando Rico, the general manager and head chef at Govinda’s Bakery and Café. “We are open-hearted, and we want them to feel like they are in their own living room eating good food.”

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Our top picks: Pho: $8.95 -$9.95 Rice with Grilled Meat: $8.95 - $9.95 Noodles with Sautéed Lemongrass Tofu: $8.95

Price Range: $6 - $12 Special Drinks: Fresh basil lemonade, herbal teas from Otter and Trout Company, hibiscus lemongrass tea Alcohol: none Our Top Choices: Design your main course for $5.95 (includes bases, entreé and sauce) Main course with soup or one veggie: $8.95 Main course, soup, veggie and dessert: $10.95

Photos By Mireillee Lamourt

You might know that the Hare Krishna community serves super cheap and yummy food at the University of Florida all week. But if you don’t enjoy crowds or are struggling to get to campus with time to spare before class (let’s be real people), then you will want to try Govinda’s, a new café that features Hare Krishna cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere with lounge seating where you can kick back and stay awhile. It is not far from campus so it’s a good place to relax between classes and have a delicious meal. The food is mild with a subtle mix of both spicy and pungent flavors that have you coming back for more. Keeping with the Hare Krishna tradition, food is cooked without using or incorporating meat, fish or eggs into their dishes. Everything but the broccoli cheddar soup is free from animal products. If you want fresh food, this will be your new favorite spot. Try the traditional Indian Dal, a protein-packed rich lentil soup that will fill you up and leave you satisfied all day.

Price Range: $6.95-$9.95 Special Drinks: Vietnamese iced coffee, hot tea, ice tea and bubble tea (Thai and taro are popular flavors) Alcohol: none

CAIRO GRILLE Ready to explore a cuisine you won’t find in every city in Florida?

Whether you go for the shimmying belly dancers or the tahini sauce, you won’t be disappointed by the selection of food. Cairo Grille serves delicious Egyptian food made from recipes passed down from the owner’s mother. Safwat Hassan, the owner, was born in Alexander but lived in Cairo. He grew up eating the food he serves, and he loves to cook. We love the fresh ingredients used in the dishes. You can’t get bechamel sauce at any other restaurant, he said. When you go, order the bechamel and don’t forget to try the best hummus ever.

If you’re wondering what else to try, we recommend the restaurant’s best seller: the kabob combination plate and the vegetarian combination plate. The kabob combo has rice, lettuce, and tomato with shish kabob, kefta kabob and chicken kabob. If you don’t eat meat or want something lighter, order the vegetarian combo that comes with falafel, stuffed grape leaves, hummus and Egyptian salad. You’ll get rice and tahini sauce with your order, too.

Price Range: $5.95-$10.95 Special Drinks: Limoonada (Egyptian lemonade), tea, mint tea, karkade (hibiscus tea) Alcohol: none Our Top Choices: Vegetarian Combo Plate: $9.95 Kabob Combo Plate: $10.95 Bechamel: $8.95 Moroccan Lemon Cake: $2.50 Baklava: $2.50

Their Egyptian food can accommodate everyone as the menu has vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

GARLIC AND GINGER Eating at Garlic and Ginger is like walking into the kitchen of a home in South Korea. Their chef has cooked for over 30 years in locations such as South Korea, England, South Africa and now Gainesville. The authentic dishes incorporate the cuisines of Seoul, the country’s capital, and other areas of South Korea.

Top Photo By Mireillee Lamourt / Bottom Photo Courtesy of Garlic and Ginger

The menu keeps to the traditional style of Korean food rather than mixing up the dishes in a fusion style. You don’t have to be brave to eat the food, but you do have to be open to trying new things. Chang Ko, the owner of the restaurant, said he always asks customers who do not know what to order about what they like. He can help you pick your order based on your preferences of taste, meat and dietary restrictions.

Price Range: $6.90-$49.90 Special Drinks: Korean liquor and Korean wine Alcohol: beer, wine, liquor Our Top Choices: Gyoza: $6.90 Seafood Pancake: $12.90 Beef Bulgogi: $14.90 Chicken Bulgogi: $13.90

You can never go wrong with Gyoza as an appetizer. Wait, don’t stop reading. They’re just dumplings! If you’re really hungry, get the seafood pancakes, too. We also love the pork and chicken bulgogi.

Not feeling adventurous? Get the Kalbi, which is a marinated short rib dish. It’s my personal favorite, but I’m also from the South and just can’t say no to ribs. On a cold, rainy day, get the spicy tofu soup to warm you up. Finish your meal with the popular mochi bowls.

BOCA FIESTA Rattlesnake, rabbit, elk, eel, turtle, camel, antelope, wild boar, fried worms and frog legs have all graced the menu at Boca Fiesta. Why stick to #TacoTuesday when you can devour weird but surprisingly tasty meat?

Boca Fiesta first served the Ostrich taco when the restaurant opened back in June 2009.

Since then, they have featured a weird meat of the month on their menu. For the fall, you can try Kangaroo Kabobs. You can order one for $6 or two for $10.

Besides the unusual meat, the restaurant has amazing Mexican cuisine you will soon be craving after your first try at their menu. It is the perfect weekend hangout spot. You can have a flavorful dinner, a few margaritas or agave-sweetened lemonade and head out to the Backyard, the outside area behind the restaurant that often hosts dance parties and karaoke nights.

Price Range: $5-$13 Special Drinks: Agave-sweetened lemonade or limeade, Arnold palmer, Abita springs root beer, Gosling’s ginger beer, hot tea Alcohol: Fresh-squeezed margaritas with agave Our Top Choices: Kangaroo Kebabs: $6 for one or $10 for two Fried Mac and Cheese: $10 Street Style Corn: $6 (for two cobs)

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FA R M -T O -TA B L E The We ath er ed H a n d s That Give Us Cl e an Foo d Text and Photos

By Catie Flatley

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W

e live in a time when fast food and TV dinners hot out of the microwave often take the place of home-cooked meals.

Families are forming unhealthy habits and need a wake-up call. We should consider growing our own food and supporting local farms instead of turning to grease-filled, dollar-menu meals.

When we buy our produce from local farmers, we have the ability to shake the hands of the men and women who have put in all of the work to provide us with this food. We can definitely learn a thing or two from these farmers.

Alachua County is fortunate to have local farms dedicated to sustainable farming practices and informing the community about their food.

Walking around the Union Street Farmers Market on Bo Diddley Community Plaza on Wednesdays, you will see local farmers greeting their regular customers with smiles on their faces as they show them the produce they put care into growing.

“Come here, we have greens for a dollar, green onions, garlic chives. Come over,” Farmer John Steyer of Little Bitt Nursery shouts to those walking by.

“These are fresh from the garden that I gathered this morning.”

Farmer John is a familiar face in the local food system of Alachua County.

He was only 5 years old when he picked up a shovel to start his life in the farming business — and he hasn’t set it down yet. He recently celebrated his 80th birthday and gets his hands dirty every day to bring fresh produce from his farm to our tables and backyards.

If you’ve ever made a grocery run to Ward’s Supermarket, the vegetable and fruit plants edging the entrance travel only a short distance from Farmer John’s 22-acre farm.

The starters in their plastic pots give average people without green thumbs the opportunity to grow food easily and conveniently at their homes.

It’s important for us to get our own hands in the dirt and be a part of our food.

“Our food supply is run by criminals, and they don’t care about your health or your nutrition,” Farmer John said.

And Farmer John isn’t the only one in our community urging us to follow the homegrown practice.

Forage Farm is a nonprofit organization founded by Melissa DeSa and Anna Prizzia that educates the public, including the youth, about the importance of local food systems and seed saving.

Prizzia became interested in a

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movement called Slow Food, which started in Italy in response to fast-food empire McDonald’s growth in number of locations.

The Slow Food movement quickly spread across the globe and made its way to Gainesville. Two UF alumnae, Prizzia and DeSa, started Slow Food Gainesville before they created what they call their baby, Forage Farm, in 2012.

“We don’t sell a service,” DeSa said.

“What we offer are valuable skills.”

Each year, Forage Farm puts together an assortment of workshops and classes for the community having to do with gardening or self-sufficiency topics. These range from spring gardening to simple things like growing herb gardens.

“We teach a fermentation workshop, and we coincide that with what all the local produce is in season. So we are showing people, by example, how to take advantage of the region’s bounty and put it up to eat for months down the road,” she said.

DeSa said a lot of people are either just getting into growing food for the first time, they’re interested in it or they have a little experience in it but need more.

“You can read stuff online, you can go on YouTube, you can read books and you learn a lot, but I think there’s something to be said for still having that human connection and seeing somebody do it and explain it to you,” she said.

Forage Farm works a lot with children, and DeSa said seeing the progress of kids’ abilities, and the pride in their food is one of the most rewarding parts of her job.

The nonprofit works closely with Alachua

County Public School's Farm to School to Work as well as the school board’s Extended Day Enrichment Program. In these programs, they teach students the skills to grow their own gardens.

“If they didn’t have that early exposure, they wouldn’t be as conscious as to where their food comes from,” she said.

Beyond educating the public, Forage plays an important role in saving different varieties of fruit and vegetables from becoming extinct. They grow the produce on their farm in order to save their seeds.

“It’s like losing a piece of history, and once it’s gone, it’s gone,” DeSa said.

Yes, we can buy seeds from major seed distributors, but we won’t always have that guarantee that a particular seed may still be there. They can be wiped off the face of the earth in an instant.

While most local farmers offer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes filled with produce that’s ready to eat, Forage offers farms CSAs in seed form.

One reason some seeds are decreasing is the push for big agriculture and the use of genetically modified organisms.

Farmer John said a large portion of our land is devoid of minerals with poor agricultural practices, so it blows away in dust storms.

“The big farmers don’t give anything back to the land, they just take it,” he said.

“I’ve been putting leaves and organic matter into the soil for 50 years now.”

Plants need these minerals. We need these minerals. How can we be so sure that the food we buy from these subsidized

farms are putting in the same amount of care as Farmer John, DeSa and Prizzia?

When we buy our produce from our local farms, we are given the satisfaction of knowing the growers treated it with care while ensuring the protection of the seeds’ heritages. As consumers, we are able to play an important role in supporting the environment while supporting farms like Forage and Little Bitt Nursery.

The food industry is constantly changing.

Farms are getting bigger and bigger as government subsidizes more and more, leaving smaller farms that use sustainable methods in the dust.

“If you’re not one of those big guys that are subsidized by the government, it’s a very risky job,” DeSa said.

For smaller farms, it’s unpredictable how successful the year will be. Anything can happen that could devastate their crops.

They can set up at a farmer’s market and make nearly nothing.

Farmers like the CSA boxes because they’re a guaranteed market with people paying ahead of time, which allows local farmers to get everything going and prepared with their soil and seeds.

A decade ago, not too many people really knew what CSAs were or what organic actually meant. Now there is a greater demand for farm-fresh products, which is a hopeful sign for farmers that people are starting to care about quality.

“The consciousness is getting better, it’s improving – more people are talking about it than they did 10 years ago for sure,” DeSa said.

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