• 1.     Why you chose the place;

I chose the gazebo and bench area next to horticulture as my place for this project. I decided to choose this as my place because I think horticulture is one of the most beautiful and underrated parts of the TRU campus. I’ve seen many people walk and drive past it but few people actually decide to hang out and appreciate the area. This space is very quiet most of the time and provides a sheltered place to sit which is nice for when I had to take notes on it for this assignment. It was also a convenient place to pick for me because this area is located near where I park so on days the weather was poor I didn’t have to walk too far to get to my car. 

  • 2.     What you have enjoyed about connecting with it;

I have very much enjoyed connecting to my place and I am very satisfied with my choice. Something that I have enjoyed when connecting with it is that it has given me a chance to reflect and think about the world around me. It helps me to feel grounded and more connected to my surroundings but also to TRU. Since the place was almost empty every time I went it made it feel like it was my own space which made me feel like I am more of a part of the school and like I belong. It had a very calming and relaxing environment to it and I will definitely be making it my new go to study spot once it gets warmer. 

  • 3.     Which course theme/term idea you found easiest to connect to it and what that connection was;

Out of all of the course themes I found it the easiest to connect to chapter 6. This chapter was about interpreting places and landscapes. In chapter 6 we learned about different landscapes as human systems such as symbolic, iconic, and vernacular. My place is vernacular because it is an everyday landscape that is shaped by people and the community. My place especially fits this description because someone had been gardening in this space which means it is being shaped and changed by the community. In chapter 6 we also learned about semiotics which are symbols in the landscape that tell you something about values, beliefs or a message. In my space there are many flags showing that we are in British Columbia, Canada and that we are on the TRU campus. These symbols are conveying a message for us to understand the geographical location that we are currently at.  

  • 4.     One thing you are grateful to your place about;

One thing that makes me grateful about the horticulture gardens is that it has given me a chance to appreciate its existence and help connect me to TRU. It has helped me to show a little more appreciation to spaces that might otherwise be ignored. Before this assignment I had always wanted to hang out in these gardens but chose not to because of how out of the way it is and I also felt like the space was out of bounds for some reasons. This assignment gave me the opportunity to go visit a place that I have always wanted to but may have never gotten the chance to. 

  • 5.     One reason that your place might feel grateful for you.

A reason that my place might feel grateful for me is that horticulture is often left empty and unappreciated and is rarely a place that is visited. For that reason I think my place might have appreciated my time spent there and that someone was actually sitting on the benches for once. The place might have appreciated that someone was recognizing its presence since it is often forgotten about.  It might have also appreciated the times I spent picking up litter and tidying up the space.