🎋The Field Trip… by JoAnn🎋

When I was in 4th grade, our class took a field trip up into the mountains of East Tennessee. I don’t remember the exact location, but I remember there mainly were Laurel trees where we stopped. The bus ride felt long, and I could not understand why we were traveling to the mountains. I lived on a mountaintop, surrounded by 9 acres of giant, old trees. I would have much rather gone to the public library, which I had never been to, or to a museum.

However, It was nice to be out of class for the day, doing something outside. When we reached the point of our unknown destination, we all disembarked from the bus. We had been told to each bring a sack lunch and canned soda for a picnic. The teachers handed out our lunches and drinks that had been kept in a cooler, and off we went to eat.

I wish I could write that we all enjoyed this field trip, but unfortunately, the most entertaining part of the trip was when we ate lunch and had a soda, which we were never allowed on a regular day.

This trip had to be the most boring field trip I ever had as a student. I have yet to understand why we were put onto a school bus and rode for miles and miles, just to eat a sack lunch under the trees. It was nothing special, at least for me. Maybe there had been other plans that we did not know about, and they were canceled last minute. Perhaps the teachers didn’t tell us beforehand because they didn’t know if they could follow through. Whatever the situation, I was bored out of my mind.

I remember vaguely the teachers telling us that we should collect different types of leaves to take back to class for a lesson. I knew they were reaching, but being the straight-A student that I was, I complied and did not complain.

I have to say that the disappointment of being a kid on this field trip made all other field trips I would experience in my future not seem so bad. My expectations would always be low to begin with, so if the field trip was a flop, it was no big deal. If the field trip was good, it would be a real treat.

I do miss the whole idea of field trips. Why do we not have them as adults? Just one day, taken off to go explore somewhere we have never been before. We all should continue learning, just as we did when we were kids. How fun it would be for employers to take their employees on field trips. A day off from work, a trip to a museum, or beautiful outdoor sight. How many employees would feel thankful for such attention and then work harder for their boss? Just don’t take them to the woods to sit under trees.