Writing Toward a Thesis

1.      When I started this research project, I didn’t know that my topic was already researched and documented to the extent that it is.  With one of my professor’s help, I found so many experiments and articles about plants and their effects on the human body.  While writing my prospectus, I didn’t really know exactly how I was going to make my topic more specific and appropriate for this assignment.  I started out knowing only that I wanted to prove that plants make people happy.  Over the course of my research, I’ve learned that plants can trigger all of your senses, largely influencing one’s body.  Looking at plants can lower your heart rate, the scent of flowers can increase positivity, and being in a garden for ten minutes enhances the memory of the elderly.  Those are only a few out of the many things I’ve learned from my research.

2.      What are you researching?

I’m researching the question: Do plants affect one’s mood?

Do they?

Yes—in every way. Not only does their presence alone clean the air, but they almost always put a true smile on a woman’s face.  They enhance productivity, lower depression rate, and lower stress levels.

What can I do to utilize plants in my life (no one would ever ask that but I think it’s a relevant question)?

There are so many small, easy things you could do.  You could study outdoors instead of inside.  You could bring some potted plants into your house.  You can make your desktop background a calming nature scene.  You could place candles or air fresheners derived from plant oils around your living space.

3.      With the knowledge I now have of plants’ powerful effects, I see the many ways in which schools and hospitals are lacking.  Outdoor spaces should be enhanced in these places, because they would definitely see a positive change in the health and lives of their inhabitants.

Reflecting on Rodriguez's Ideas

I found Richard Rodriguez’s piece “The Acheivement of Desire” to be very interesting. I never really thought about the distance that education can bring before reading this.  However, as I continue on in my college career, I see this concept in my life. Although my parents aren’t uneducated like Rodriguez’s parents, they grew up in entirely different eras than me.  My dad is already 67 and my mom is 58.  The more time I spend away from them, the more distant I feel.  I know this is natural, but certain things have changed.  It’s weird to me that I have more things to say to my mom when I’m on the phone with her rather than when I spend time with her over break.  And how all of our conversations revolve around my classes, my major, or my “life plan.”  Gone are the days when we could chat about almost anything.  The same goes with my friends from high school.  I was so sure that we’d all keep in touch, but I was wrong.  Besides a few people, it feels like there is nothing to say.  It’s not like these changes were intentional.  The distance that further education made has created a gap between us.  Before, my family and friends watched me grow and change, and I did the same.  Now, we continue to do so without each other’s company.  I’ve began taking steps to shape my life into what I want it to be on my own.  College has been fun, but like Rodriguez, I long to go back to the time when my relationships were strong, comfortable and safe.  I’m looking forward to the few weeks of summer before I start working and taking more classes to catch up with my family and long lost friends.  I haven’t gotten to the place of acceptance that Rodriguez reached at the end of his schooling, but I know that eventually I will.