Students take a trip of a lifetime

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Students sitting in a circle talking. Catie Albanesi said, “It is so much fun to travel with friends.” Photo Credit: Westwind Yearbook

Marlee Mikesell, Ranger Review Reporter

This summer, 24 students went on a school trip with the Foreign Language Department. The group traveled to Europe on May 30th and returned on June 12th, visiting all the countries that Lewis-Palmer offer Language classes in, Germany, France and Spain.

Trips that are taken through the school allow students to further their knowledge on a subject that they are interested in. Most students do not get the opportunity to travel to foreign countries everyday and school trips offer that to students. While the trips may appear to be expensive, students get a lot of value for their money. Along with that, the trip lets the students learn more about the subject.

Catie Albanesi 10 said, “I learned a little bit of French, a little bit of German, some Spanish although I already knew most of it. We talked to some people, on a bullet train in Spain, which talking to people who were actually from Spain who were are age about what life is like there, is really interesting.”

Students maybe under the misconception that the trips taken through the school will only be only informative and it will be similar to be sitting in a class, but that is far from the truth. While students may be learning about history, there are certain things such as social cues and everyday life that cannot be taught, but must be experienced to learn.

Chaelie Polk 10, said, “I loved Germany because we went on to the countryside. We went to Neuschwanstein and it was pretty cool to see all the land. I learned France is the busiest place we went to; With traffic, when you walk on the street and someone is walking towards you, they don’t move out of your way- you have to move out of theirs.”

Students that partake in a school trip for any subject have a surplus of memories. These memories will last a lifetime and they can share them with everyone they meet.

“I would say the most memorable thing that happened was either going to Versailles or the Louvre. All the cultural things and experiences that I have from going on this trip are all so memorable and also talking to the people on the train.” Albanesi said.

Traveling abroad, communicating with people and being away from family are all issues that one may believe is reason enough not to go a trip with the school. However, the students explained that none of those issues were apparent enough to not go.

“Traveling abroad was not an issue, but talking to the people if you were trying to order something was a little hard. If you didn’t understand what they were asking you, it was a little hard if you didn’t have anyone in your group to tell you what they were saying.” Polk said.

“Most people knew enough of a language to say, ‘I don’t speak English’ and then I could adjust who was talking cause I traveled in a group with one person who spoke German, I spoke Spanish and one person who spoke French. So we could make it through.” Albanesi said.

There are many departments other than just the Language department that go on trips. For example, the science department went to Belize this year and has a trip to Iceland planned for next year. Schools offer trips to students all the time and Catie Albanesi and Chaelie Polk both encourage students to take trips through the school.

“I would recommend the trips because you will get different exposure to different cultures and different languages and it is a lot of fun. You meet new people and make friends. We were on the bullet train and me and my group of friends met some people from Spain and we became their friends. They are lot of fun.” Polk said.

“100% go! It is so much more fun to just travel with your friends than to travel with your family. Traveling with your family is great, but being with your friends and exploring places with them is so much better.” Albanesi said.

If students decide to go on a trip, Chaelie Polk says,“ I recommend taking either a camera or journal to write down the experiences and take pictures of the places that you go, so that you will always have that memory.”