To reinvent yourself, I think, is overrated. To reinvent yourself implies that you have a new start in everything. The slate is completely clean. What bothers me about this concept is nothing good is retained. Is there nothing about you worth saving? Every person has a unique thing about them that makes them different. This should be preserved. I propose, instead of reinventing oneself, adapt and change. To change in parts would help you change the bad parts and mold them into parts that are more acceptable to yourself. Why throw out the entire fruit when you can cut out the bad spots?

I feel like Chris was foolish and stupid for doing what he did. Wilderness survival is hard, even for the best trained people. Bear Grills does it, but his goal is to survive and be rescued. He was arrogant to believe that he could survive in one of the harshest places on earth with no formal training. I could probably survive for a while but then again, I did wilderness survival for 6 years. When Ralph Waldo Emerson did Walden, he knew what he was getting into, and he was in a more civilized area then Alaska. While Chris's death is tragic, it was easily preventable.

Nature is important to me but not central. Nature should be preserved and protected from unnecessary waste and thoughtless destruction. As an Eagle Scout, I have spent countless nights in the woods, and have walked through virgin growth forests in northern Canada (my analysis of Canada: Lots of Mosquitoes.), and I appreciate nature. I don't know if I will ever "find" myself in the woods, but I feel a connection with the woods.

Being all  materialistic is not good thing. But being simple as possible is also not a good thing. The key to this problem lies somewhere in the middle. This balance of wanting stuff, and being happy with what you have is  key to satisfaction. While a "simpler" way may seem nice, its progression is slower. Without the desire for stuff,    a lot of inventions would have never happened. On the other hand, pure materialism will lead to dissatisfaction, because you will never achieve the amount of stuff you want. To be balanced is to be happy

To be honest, I haven't changed much since I started college. I still think it is cool when a Prof. swears. It maybe a college freshman thing, but when a Prof lets a stream of profanity loose, it just makes me laugh. I am still the same goofy kid that i was when i started. I may have picked up some skills I didn't have in High School,  such as SCUBA diving, but the core of me remains the same. I joined some clubs in the beginning of the year and I remain active in those clubs. This shows my interests haven't changed. Maybe later this semester, I will realize how much I have changed.