Bring me back to the glory days, when playing outside was cool

Seeing middle school students walking around with cell phones, 2^nd graders listening to iPods and having to be taught how to use my laptop by my 13 year old sister make me nostalgic for the time when media didn’t control children’s lives. I grew up in a neighborhood where kids played outside together, getting fresh air and exercise. We played games such as capture the flag, tag, soccer and wiffleball, and not the version that kids today play in their video games. Nonetheless, media definitely played a role in my childhood, but not as dominant a role as it has in children’s lives today. Media can definitely be an incredibly educational tool for children, but it is so important to maintain proper balance in terms of media.

This is a video of Putt-Putt Joins the Parade, which used to be my favorite computer game

One particular memory I have regarding media is the first computer that my family ever had. Prior to getting the computer, I had never used one before; I think I was about 5 or 6 years old at the time. We received the computer in different packages in the mail, each arriving on different days. Each time a package arrived on our doorstep, it was an exciting family time to figure out what the part was for, and eventually we had pieced together a whole computer. My mom mostly used the computer for work, but it was always exciting if I got the chance to play a game on it. I remember playing games like “Putt-Putt Joins the Parade” and "Jump-Start 1^st grade." I did not play on the computer very often, but it was a special treat that I enjoyed when granted permission. Looking back it is funny to think about how big and clunky our computer was, and how it is rare to see a monitor that is not a flat screen these days, and even desktops are rare in comparison to the convenience of laptops. The games I did play were educational, and they were always balanced with time outside. Today parents have to get their kids off the computer to go outside and play, but it was always a struggle to get me to come inside for the night. I can still hear the dial tone of logging onto AOL, and checking my first email account, that received messages solely from my parents and aunt. Everything seemed so much simpler then

My mom took this picture of me reading the 7th Harry Potter book on our neighbor's boat

Another memory regarding media I have is the time I would spend with my parents reading books. Every night before bed, they would read me a book or two, and this was always one of my favorite times of the day because I got to spend time with my mom and dad and I loved immersing myself in the stories. I have always loved books and reading, a lot of which stems from my early exposure to reading as a child. There were favorites that I would want to read every night, but we did rotate a lot. Some of my favorite books included Stan the Hotdog Man, Tacky the Penguin, and all of the Madeleine books. Sometimes we would take the plots from the books and use them to make up pretend stories and put us as the characters. Reading allowed me to foster my creativity at a young age. I loved how my dad would always use different voices for different characters; he would do that so more than my mom would. To this day, I find it relaxing to be read to, and I love reading aloud when I babysit children.

This is a picture of me reading on the steps of the National Archives in Washington DC, taken by my friend Nancy

As I grew older, there was a shift in the reading, I would read aloud to my parents or we would have reading time where everyone in my family sat together and read our separate books. My mom and I read through the first three Harry Potter books together as well as reading Little House on the Prairie, where I can still remember an entire chapter dedicated to building the door of their home, and we still laugh about how the author spent so much time being so descriptive about a door. I used to get in trouble for sneaking my light back on and reading into the night after my parents thought I went to sleep. My sister is similar to me in that way; she loves to read, though she flies through books faster than anyone else in my family. One of our favorite things to do on vacations is to relax and read on the beach. My mom takes forever to read a book because she always falls asleep while reading, and my dad is only recently getting back into reading novels. I think that growing up in a family where reading for fun was a norm has also helped me academically, my reading scores have always been above average, and I owe a lot of that to my parents for raising me around books.

I had my fair share of cartoons and Gameboy Color games that I played and watched, but in general, I don’t think my life was consumed by television and movies and video games like so many children today. It is so crazy to think of how much technology has changed since I was a child, smart phones compared to my mom’s first cell phone, which didn’t even have the ability to store phone numbers and was nicknamed “the brick.” There have been so many advancements in technology since my childhood, and some of them have had incredible advancements and advantages, but many have had negative impacts, especially in regard to children’s health, I am glad I grew up in a time when playing outside was still cool.

Life's a Beach

This is a picture taken my by neighbor, Christine Mackenzie

Welcome to my very first blog, Staring at the Sun! My name is Colleen Whitcomb and I am a sophomore majoring in environmental studies at the University of Vermont. I come from Cape Elizabeth, Maine which is a small town outside of Portland, right on the coast. It's a small town with one stoplight, which I love about it. It's nice to know the people you pass driving or at the grocery store or the library. I also live in what I consider the best neighborhood in America...that might be a little biased though. Our neighborhood is really close and we have a lot of block parties, there is a neighborhood play each summer, as well as other gatherings and beach days. There are always people outside walking their dogs or children playing games, and everyone driving through waves to say hello. Some people don't like living in a neighborhood and think its weird that we're so close, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! Each summer we have a 12 hour wiffleball game, as a fundraiser for the local library. To the left is a picture of all the participants who were there when the game ended at 8pm. I didn't play all 12 hours this year because I had to work, but I have in the past. This year my team lost because my younger sister hit the game winning home run for the other team, but it was fun because it was so close at the end.

My friend Emily took this picture of my neighbors Katie, John and me posing for pictures in front of our road sign because we had a neighborhood graduation party

 I love Maine, especially going to the beach in the summer! I love to swim and boogie board and read by the water. I want to learn how to surf, but that has yet to happen. The ocean in Maine is really cold though, I went swimming on a few New Years Days for a charity fundraiser in my town, it was painfully cold! One of my favorite beaches to go to is Higgins Beach, and though I love Vermont, sometimes I really miss the ocean, and when that happens I like to look at the Higgins Beach Webcam (best viewed during the daytime), which isn't the same as being by the ocean, but it still makes me happy!

This is a picture taken from Peaks Island that a family friend, John Roma, took

Speaking of the ocean, Peaks Island is another place that is very special to me. I've been going there over the summer since I was 6 weeks old, and even though its only about 20 minutes away from home, it is still a great place to vacation. It's cool because my parents used to go there when they were younger too, so my sister and I love hearing the stories about what they used to do for fun and how the island has changed. There are certain landmarks on the island that we can't miss such as whaleback (which is a rock that looks like the back of a whale, Battery Steele (an old spooky war fort that you can walk through) and of course the ice cream store! We love to bike around the island, look for sea glass and my family always does puzzles together. I especially love the time there spent with my family. My cousins are always there on the 4th of July and we have all sorts of fun traditions such as the clamshell race, the parade and watching the fireworks together. It is one of my favorite holidays because of the time I'm able to spend with my cousins. This past summer, my uncle got married on a ferry cruising around Peaks Island. It was a beautiful day and really fun, my sister and I were both bridesmaids, which was really fun! Unfortunately the shoes I got for the wedding came with two left feet and we were stuck on an island, so that was a little disappointing, but it was funny so it worked out. I had to borrow my grandmother's sandals which were surprisingly stylish!

This is a picture that my friend took this summer while enjoying a day by a local beach.

This summer I spent a lot of time working a few different jobs, I worked selling concessions at a local baseball park, scooped ice cream at Friendly's, coached soccer at a soccer camp and did some chicken sitting. I also tried to learn the ukulele, but that's still a work in process! Chicken sitting was awesome, but it was sometimes difficult to get the chickens in the pen at night!

I love to spend time outside and be active, in high school I played soccer, ice hockey and ran track and cross-country. I also love to sing, read, canoe and cross country ski!

I love UVM and I have had many awesome experiences here, one awesome experience I have had in my time at UVM was attending Powershift, which was a convention to learn about organizing to make a difference, rallying for clean energy and hearing from a lot of really inspirational speakers such as Bill McKibben. It was so awesome to be surrounded by so many young adults who were so passionate about the environment and making a difference, it was such a powerful experience.
"BOO! IT'S HOT OUT HERE--THERE'S TOO MUCH CARBON IN THE ATMOSPHERE!"



This is a video that shows a little bit of what we did at Powershift




This is a video of a group of participants who rallied by throwing a "beach party" at a BP gas station to get back at them for wrecking beaches with their oil spill. This was my first time rallying in DC--so it was awesome and so much fun!