Maritime Studies is one of the best programs that UWF has to offer. If you don’t believe me, ask Dr. Bratten. Our major offers incredible flexibility while focusing exclusively on the most important aspect of our planet – the ocean. We can therefore study maritime archaeology / history / law / economics / maritime-anything. It’s so flexible because the ocean is of paramount importance to everything that humans do and have done.
The ocean holds the key to our survival; past, present and future. Our world’s history lies within it, buried in the sediment, waiting patiently, quietly, to be discovered again. It is home to organisms that could save us from diseases like cancer, ecological networks that could save us from our self-destruction, and most essential of all… sea cucumbers. Gee whiz, who doesn’t love a nice sea cucumber!
If you have dedicated your college experience and your life to the study of the ocean, then you’re pretty passionate about it. You probably show your loyalty to your major in many ways but you know you’re a maritime studies major when…
1.You contantly have to explain your major to everyone.
2. You’ve skipped class to go do something ocean-related (fishing/swimming/surfing, etc.)
3. At least one of your professors has skipped class to go do something ocean-related (scuba diving/research/snorkeling, etc.)
4. Pensacola’s history gets your blood pumping. So. Many. Shipwrecks.
5. You do a little happy dance when you see the water.
6. If you aren’t scuba certified, people judge you.
7. You spend way too much time at the aquariums on campus.
8. You can’t help but identify ships in movies… is it a barque? A schooner? A topsail schooner? A cutter? A frigate?
9. The fact that we have a Galley and a Nautilus Market makes your heart pitter-patter.
10. You have an unusual amount of oceanic clothing…
11. If you aren’t capable of singlehandedly sailing a brigantine using celestial navigation while fighting as a lawyer in a court case regarding maritime law and also running a spear fishing business, people think you really aren’t about that “Salt Life.” You have to do it all.
12. You find yourself wondering how much cooler school can get.
If you think you’re studying something better – we get to scuba dive for degree credit: case closed.
You’re an incredible human, maritime studies major. You’ve surpassed the superficial love of the beach (#mermaid #PCB #bikinis) and you’re free diving into a whole new world. Enjoy it while it lasts – unfortunately, college doesn’t last forever.