After an amazing day in Parsons Landing, it was almost time to go back to the mainland. Many of us woke up early on Day 5 to enjoy the last couple of hours at the beach. I have craved the smell of the sea breeze and the sound of the crashing waves that I grew up with in my hometown, so I … Read More
Day 4: USC Spring Break in Catalina Island
We started our morning off packing the WMSC vans for the camping trip to Parsons Landing, a beach camping site located on the north side of Catalina Island and seven miles west of Two Harbors, a rustic village sitting on a narrow strip of land that separates the leeward Isthmus Cove from Catalina Harbor on the windward side of the … Read More
Day 3 – part II: USC Spring Break in Catalina Island
Before and during each activity we participated in Catalina Island, we were reminded that every reasonable precaution should be taken to insure safety, and how the safety of human life should be put first. On our third day, some of us spent a couple of hours in the afternoon at the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, located on the campus of … Read More
Day 3 – part I: USC Spring Break in Catalina Island
Catalina island is fairly small in size measuring only 22 miles long and 8 miles at its greatest width. It is estimated that less than 5,000 people live on the island, 90 percent of whom live in the main town of Avalon. Beginning in the 1920s, the island has been developed into a tourist destination by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley … Read More
Day 2: USC Spring Break in Catalina Island
We woke up to a foggy morning on our second day in Catalina Island, the temperature had dropped a little but the island was still looking beautiful. We all had breakfast and then head to the Lecture Hall to meet with a Nature Works Specialist from Catalina Conservancy – formed in 1972 – for a Naturalist Training. He talked about … Read More
Day 1: USC Spring Break in Catalina Island
I couldn’t have asked for a better Spring Break! As a newly admitted graduate student at USC, I was not aware of the USC Wrigley Institute Spring Break Program until a few weeks before the application deadline. It was a last-minute decision and I am so glad I was one of the participants in a small group of 21 students … Read More