Trip of a Lifetime
by Sue Roush and Steddon Sikes
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wenty-two students and three York College faculty embarked on a trip to the Big Apple and our nation’s capital at the end of the school year. The journey was primarily educational as it was funded by tuition dollars, but it was also one of exploration, sight seeing, and when you come right down to it… a lot of fun. Many in the group had never been to the East Coast, road on a metrorail, visited an art museum, taken a walk in Central Park, or seen a major league baseball game – much less in Yankee Stadium. The entertainment portion of the trip was undeniably adventurous and full of lifelong memories. As junior Elementary Education major Niki Moeder put it, “This trip was more than I bargained for. It was more than just a great trip; I had a great life-experience.” Bobby DeHart, chair of the Department of Physical Education, documented everything with photos, many of which he shared with his students, and the world for that matter, on facebook. Browsing through the uploads or seeing some of them in print, one can’t help but think, “This looks like a perfect vacation. Where do I sign up?” That aspect of the trip certainly lends itself to exciting speculation on the part of future participants. The word balance comes to mind and reminds us of the adage, too much of good thing. In this case, however, the fun aspects of this “road trip” – all the things mentioned before – were healthy distractions for the group as they dealt with a heavy dose of reality. An upperclassman who signs up for Erin DeHart’s EDU 403 Special Studies: Holocaust will have his or her eyes and ears opened to a very rough and corrupt world. The required reading and lectures before ever boarding the plane aided in preparing students for what they would encounter at the Holocaust Museum or as they talked with survivor Frances Irwin. But the validity of the emotional rollercoaster that accompanies a capstone trip such as this is poignant. “The museums were incredible and terrible at the same time,” said Crystal Rush, a Social Science Secondary Education major from Jackson, Nebraska. “You don’t want to see that, but you need to understand so it doesn’t happen again. I have learned to be more respectful and open with people.”
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Nick Caravelli, a Business Administration graduate from Livermore, California, reflected, “When I leave here, I’ll be a different person. I won’t tolerate people being put down or treated badly. I won’t be an innocent bystander.” Stephanie Wilson, a Management major from Plano, Texas, made this astute observation, “I am less naïve than I was about the events of history. I can take so much away – we have to be the voice and the change.” lll
CITY LIGHTS - Students visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, caught a baseball game, walked around in NYC, took a ferry to Ellis Island, and rode the metrorail in DC.