Janet Sanchez
Professor Patel
Biology 109 L
November 18, 2014

The most vivid images I can remember from that day was when I was sailing on a ship along with all my classmates and professor from Biology to attend the annual Dominica's Hike Fest in the Caribbean when suddenly, we all heard a loud bang. Everyone aboard started screaming and running as soon as the ship started to capsize and sank with startling speed due to the heavy seas and wind that night. Some started swimming away and there was no sight of them, others drowned before my eyes and others clung to floating pieces from the ship. It was a very traumatic scene and that was the moment when I lost sight of everyone and everything. The sun was shining bright when I regained consciousness. I was choking and aspirating sea water and clinging to a piece of wood. I saw no one around me and I felt restless. All that was at sight was an island, so I made my way towards it. To my surprise, I encountered 8 other of my fellow classmates who were gathered together. I felt a sense of relief to know that somehow we had managed to get washed up an island. I felt relieved to know I was not alone. Nonetheless, we were all very scared and confused, some were also sobbing. However, Bryanna was able to comfort everyone to calm down. None of us knew what had happened to everyone else or even if there were any habitants to tell us what island we were at and to aid us to call out for help. In that instance, Bryanna and I made a plan for all some of us to go explore to know the island better. This would allow all of us to have a better knowledge of the ecosystem there. On our tour we encountered no other persons, which led us to the conclusion that we were the only humans in the island and we all had to work together in order to survive. A few classmates were mildly injured so as we explored, Brenda with her knowledge of medications, she collected herbs to be able to treat the injured. After touring for long hours we became exhausted, hungry, and thirsty. To fulfill our thirst, we settled near a stream to have easy access in obtaining water. As organizers, Bryanna and I were responsible in delegating and organizing very efficiently a survival plan that included essentials such as shelter, food and water. We separated the group by assigning every person to a different task according to their own specialties to increase our chances of survival. Edgar was sent out to provide the group by gathering wood, sticks, rocks, branches. Kun created a shelter for all of us as he was the one most experienced in building tents since he would often go camping with his family. He built a tent from the branches, vines and leaves of palm trees that had already been collected. I also became a forager, I collected fruits, nuts and other edible plants that did not require cooking. However after a few days, we all realized we could not live on a vegetarian diet for so long. Therefore, Virginia was in charge of catching fish. She took a thin branch from a tree and filed one end with a small, sharp edge rock. It was not easy but she managed. Also, K.C. created weapons by starting with sticks and improvising it to a spear by tying up a sharp stone at the end to hunt animals such as birds and rodents and also caught insects. We also needed to start a fire, in order to be able to cook the food and to also keep us warm during the cold nights. Minh was able to start a fire by using Edgar’s eyeglass and the gathered wood. He used the eye glass to converge sunlight to a focal point on the wood. He had learned this back in high school in his physics class. We also needed a cook, Leslie was the one who cooked in the fire all the animals that were captured so that we could all feast upon. Soon after, a few of us became sick since we were not used to the meals and water from the island and also bug bites. Nonetheless, thankfully Brenda was able to continue to mend us. It took a while, but we all learned to adapt to this new lifestyle. Of course, differences arose, so for the most part the girls and guys segregated because the guys sometimes underestimated us and we girls thought the guys were sometimes too arrogant. I spent most of my time with Brenda and Bryanna since I had known them longer. Overall, we were all able to create wonderful bonds. In fact, some create such powerful bonds that decided to spend their lives together to have children. We, 9 individuals were important assets to building a strong foundation that allowed the population to respond to the high quality and quantity of the forage on the island by increasing rapidly due to a high birth rate and low mortality.