Field Trips

As a child I loved the days that we spent out of the classroom. It seems odd thinking about it as I never minded the days we spent inside the classroom, but that is how I remember it. Not many field trips stand out in my memory except the one that I begged and begged my mother to accompany my class on and she did. (This was a big deal as my mother was a teacher at the same school and so could not normally come...a disappointment I got used to early on.) This was the biggest field trip ever...it was our first overnight trip on fourth grade in gold country. All in all this trip was a disaster. In the long car ride up, I had two of my friends, and one girl who had emotional problems and no one got along with. We all worked really hard in finishing up the scavenger hunt along the way only for it to be ripped up by the problem girl. I was devastated. After that, my friends and I did not have a great time. I liked going to the town set up as it was in the olden days, and I liked panning for gold, even though at that age I knew they had planted the gold for us to find. But none of that made me like the trip any better. The car ride ruined it. I had set out expecting to have a wonderful time...after all my mom was coming and it was an overnight. As it turned out I was not good at being with my mom and my friends at the same time and so that caused problems. I also realized why the problem girl was in my car even though I hadn't asked for her...for one she needed a car and no one wanted her, but the real reason was that my mom taught at the sam school and my teacher trusted my mom to be responsible for the girl. Yep...it was all her fault.

Field trips having stopped in high school, except for the occasional AP trip after the tests, I was surprised to find them back in style in college. I have had about two field trips a year...most to museums because of my major. Most of the time, these trips are great. They allow me realize hoe much I have actually learned in the class, being able to go off by myself and understand what it is I am looking at. But I realized this weekend, that not everyone in the class has this feeling of success on a trip, and this time that took away from my enjoyment. I have been to the museum we went to before for another class, so I am familiar with it and its contents. Being the person I am, when I overheard a girl saying she felt lost and had no idea how any of this related to our class I took it upon myself to help her. While I am glad I did, I didn't get as much out of the trip as I usually do, but I had the same feeling. I have never, not even once, thought about being a teacher. It is in reaction to my mother being one, and I can say with almost complete certainty I never will teach. I don't like large groups of children and I just don't really see the worth or enjoyment in the profession. Up until yesterday, I never understood the feeling that was the reason my mother does what does even though the pay is horrible and the reward is often not in proportion to all the work you put in. I think I understand it now, the great feeling you get when you help someone learn about something you love. All I can say is thank god that other people are willing to do this job, we would be no where without them.