A highlight of senior year at Bethany is definitely senior trip. In the second semester of your senior year, you get to utilize the money earned from Fish Frys and go on a five day trip while the rest of the school is on Interterm. It is a time to experience new foods, have fun, and get close to your classmates before you part ways after graduation.
This year, the class of 2018 went to Chicago. We stayed in the city, and got to learn how to navigate public transportation. Unfortunately, I don’t have any stories of transportation blunders. That just means that we all managed to get around just fine (at least to my knowledge.) We did so much while we were in Chicago, and I was absolutely exhausted afterward. Some highlights included going to Dave and Busters and playing a terrifying 4D zombie game, going to Medieval Times and getting way too involved in a jousting tournament, and seeing the musical Pretty Woman a week after its world premier. A personal highlight for me was getting to see one of my favorite broadway actresses, Samantha Barks, live on stage, as well as get interviewed after the show with Gavin and geek out over the set design.
We had a lot of fun last week, but we also learned a lot too. I know that I personally learned how to solve conflicts. Lots of conflict can arise when you’re with the same people for an extended time. You often learn things about them that clashes with your own personality. However, it is so important that we all learn how to resolve conflict in a mature way. I also got to learn how to navigate in a big city, which is helpful, especially for those of us who might find ourselves living in big cities after graduation.
On top of having fun, we also got the chance to serve. On our last day in Chicago, we spent a few hours helping out at a homeless shelter run by an intentional community called Jesus People. Jesus People had two shelters that housed hundreds of homeless families, as well as a food pantry and a “free store” that was open to the community for people to come in and get the food and clothing that they may need. We cleaned the playground, sorted their free store, helped prepare food, and cleaned their dining room. It was really awesome to finish out the week doing service for such an amazing organization.
At the end of the week, I was tired, but I was also grateful for my time. I got to hang out with my friends, experience areas of Chicago that I had never seen before, and eat tons of really awesome food. Senior trip was definitely one of the better parts of my school year, and worth the hours spent working at Fish Frys.