Oregon
Going to Oregon was my first ever field study to another country, the trip was packed with fun, unique, and adventurous activities and learning opportunities. This trip was the longest I was ever away from my family alone which was a different feeling and towards the end of the trip, I really started to miss my family and home. Although, I did expect a bit of homesickness but the amazing adventures we had made up for that and helped me enjoy my time there.
What Did I Learn?
Over the span of one week in Oregon with 24 hour school, I sure did learn a lot of skills, and built on a lot of skills. Probably the biggest skill I built on was independence. Leaving home for a week without my family was a great way to build independence because you are exposed to a whole new world of people and experiences that is unfamiliar. Being without my family and doing crazy things like zip lining over lakes, climbing towers, and going to crazy places felt different. Despite how much I wanted them to enjoy the same moment I was, I knew it was important to learn how to spend extended amounts of time with other groups of people. It being just me, my friends, classmates, and 3 teachers for a whole week, was definitely different them seeing them in two of my classes in school. Another thing I learned was adaptation, which connects to independence since it is part of the process to learn independence. Being in restaurants with different food, being in new unseen places, and seeing my classmates a lot more then usual was a great bonding experience. Learning these skills is the best way to prepare yourself for the future, and to be ready for when it comes. Lastly, I learned about the different places we went to. I learnt about crossing the bar, and how dangerous it is, and how many shipwrecks are there. I Learned about Fort Stevens battery’s and purpose. I learned about the Astoria Column. I learned about the Columbia river and its purpose. I learned about supporting small businesses like highlife adventures, I learned about Yaquina head, I learned about the sea life with marine discovery tours, I learned about tide-pool animals, I learned about tsunamis, I learned to not share your water with baz, I learned how cheese is made in the Tillamook cheese factory, I learnt about shrimps, crabs, and robots at the Hatfield marine science centre, and lastly, I learnt about the wolfs at wolf haven.
How Did Our Group Impact Where we Went?
Our group supported and terrorized a lot of places in my opinion. For every Fred Myers’s we went to, I think we made the employees have second thoughts, but we also had really good impressions on other places. At the different museums we went to, we supported the gift shops, and showed empathy and interest for their displays. When we went to high life adventures, we supported their small local business which is great and can inspire other small businesses to start. For every local restaurant we went to, we supported them and made them feel good about their restaurant. In my opinion, our group was well behaved and we would be gladly welcomed back next year.
My Favourite Parts of Oregon
When I think back to oregon two things pop into my head, zip lining, and cannon beach. Ill start with zip lining. Prior to the trip I hadn’t been zip lining in a while and I was kind of nervous because I had a fear of heights but when I got there, I felt a lot better being surrounded by my friends and i decided to just send it. Flying through the air, over the beautiful forest, cliffs, ponds, and lake made me feel amazing. The last zip line, off the big tower was a bit difficult to wrap my head around since it was a thousand feet long and we were about 200 feet in the air. What made me feel like I could do it was being strapped to baz, and racing friends on the other line. Once I was in the air, I was having the time of my life.
Cannon beach was also one of my favourite parts of the trip because once you stepped onto that beach, I felt like the sky was a green screen, it didn’t feel real at all which was a crazy feeling. I almost felt like I was in a MacOS wallpaper. For the hour we were there, was probably the best hour of my trip. Walking up and down the beach with a few friends, just talking, was one of the best bonding experiences ever and I would do anything to relive that memory.
In conclusion, this trip was such a amazing, beautiful, and unique leaning experience. The memory’s I made with my friends are priceless and I will always look back on them thinking how much of an amazing trip it was.