Sean Bradley, Staff Writer

The time has come. As with all good things, they must come to an end. For two years, “Nature at La Salle” has delighted both student and faculty readers alike, helping them gain a better understanding and appreciation of the natural world around them. 

While best remembered as a Collegian Features series, the idea of “Nature at La Salle” goes further back. Since my freshman year, I’ve had a deep passion for exploring nature and sharing my findings with others. At that time, I was interested in sharing my nature findings to new audiences while also teaching them about the things I found. For a brief period, I ran an Instagram page titled “Nature at La Salle,” which showcased pictures of the plants and animals found on La Salle’s campus and provided brief fun facts about them. I admit that it was fun for a while but after some time I lost interest and eventually deleted the page. Though the page was gone, the idea of a series highlighting the nature found on the university’s campus was never lost. 

Fast forward to March 2023. One day, I overheard a student, who was a Collegian writer at the time, talking with another student about a recent article he wrote. Interested, I asked him how I could join and told him of my article idea. Luckily, I happened to know this student well and he helped get me connected with the Collegian, and have my first article published, “Nature at La Salle: Spring Flowers,” and the rest is history. I realized my true passion was writing about nature and sharing knowledge with others about nature’s wonders and importance. In the following months, 11 more articles followed, each with something cool and unique to offer readers. 

Though I never got to some story ideas and would love to continue the series, I’m overall happy with the 12 published articles and I’m sure the La Salle community feels the same way and has learned a lot from them. Looking back, I think the series overall had a good run. I hope it has helped readers connect with nature and has inspired them to be caretakers of nature, especially now as life on our planet faces several existential threats. Our one and only home, Earth, needs us more than ever to be good stewards of nature just as much as we need nature to sustain ourselves. The time to help is now. 

If there is any advice I have for future graduates, all I would say is be kind, follow your dreams and use your given talents to make the world a better place for everyone. Thank you.