There’s More To Learn Than What Meets The Eye

There's more to learn than what meets the eye

Reflection on the New England Trip

May 16, 2007-May 20, 2007

By: Jon Wimer

Note: The original note went here and all it really said was that I wrote this with the intention of showing Mrs.Woz how great the Boston Trip really was, and to help me remember five of the greatest days ever! =]

We have been working very diligently all year, and we finally took what we believed to be a "break". However, almost every, if not every aspect of this "break" was tied back to something we have done during the course of the year. This "break" also taught us various morals and life lessons. Out of everywhere we visited Rhode Island and the Blue Man Group had the greatest impact. Out of all the morals, responsibility was the greatest, emphasized by almost everything we did.

At the beginning of the year we got our Course & Classroom Expectations. Under general goals, it said, "Students will have an understanding of the various literatures written in America." We have read many different literary works, we have proved that we understand them, and this trip tied them all together. From the Colonial America section we read The Crucible, The Scarlet Letter, and "Of Plymouth Plantation". When we went to Plymouth, Massachusetts we saw the Mayflower II, a replica of the real Mayflower, which the settlers came over on. We also went to Plimouth Plantation, which was two villages filled with costumed interpreters, who played the roles of either Indians or the settlers. I will always remember what happened when we took shelter inside a small cottage. It was very cold that day, and we had forgotten our coats (well, we didn't really forget them, we just neglected to wear them). We decided to find a fire so we could warm ourselves. When we got to the settlers village we found a cottage with fire, and we went inside. Once inside we talked to its inhabitant, a young woman of about 30 who was nothing but hospitable to us. She said we were more than welcome to warm ourselves with her fire, so we got comfortable, then we asked her what she was doing. She told us she was making porridge, then she pointed to a cauldron-like pot sitting on the fire. Inside was what appeared to be lumpy mashed potatoes. She was confused at first (this is because she was staying in role, and they didn't have regular mashed potatoes back then) she then asked if we were talking about "the potatoes of Virginia". We said yes, and she explained that they don't use those because they were believed to be the cause of undesired desire. Then to finish making her porridge she had to inflate a small intestine to fill with the porridge. That is the part that I will remember forever. The way she blew it up as if it were just a balloon, then we all stared, wide-eyed at her as if she were going to twist it into a balloon animal. Shortly after this display we had to leave because we were running short on time. We also went to Lexington/Concord on our trip, which was filled with historic landmarks left and right. Most of the Anti-transcendentalism/Transcendentalism/Gothicism writers came from the area around Lexington/Concord. One of the greatest houses was the one belonging to Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). He was a writer during the Civil War era and we read his Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Another esquisit house was the Breakers. After we saw the Breakers we went and saw the mansion used in the filming of The Great Gatsby. Besides all of the places that linked with literary works that we read previously, we saw places that were linked historically to America's long road to freedom. We saw The Old North Church, the Bunker Hill Monument, the Old State House, the Old South Meeting House, and many, many more places that are too numerous to list.

We got to see the Blue Man Group, which is not related to anything we have done this year, however it was a spectacular experience with a hidden message. This message was basically that you don't need a lot to do a lot. This group played an "instrument" consisting of PVC piping. Their tickets sold for fifty-eight dollars. They could afford almost any instrument, yet they choose to use piping. Why? Why use pipes? They were trying to show everyone that you could still make something out of nothing. And that if you really want to impress somebody, or a group of somebody's, then just keep it simple. No part of their routine was extremely difficult, yet everyone loved it. They also showed us that if we set technology aside a minute, and take a look at what's really out there, we'd be amazed. During their routine, minimal technology was used, but again, everyone loved it. They proved that we don't need our gaming systems, computers, MP3 players, cell phones, or really any technology for that matter. Mark Twain's house showed me that if you want something bad enough, then you could get it. Twain (Actually Samuel Clemens) was a writer, which probably wasn't encouraged during his time because it didn't provide a truly stable income, like doctors and lawyers. However Twain "took the road less traveled by" (Robert Frost) and he painted this road in gold. He had a magnificent house, which proved that if you truly love doing something, you should stick with it, it may pay off in the long run. Even if its something that everyone else is not doing, do it anyway, you'll thank yourself later for it. Howard Cossell once said, "What's right isn't always popular. What's popular isn't always right." Although there were other good authors during Twain's time, authors weren't really given the respect that they deserve. Another group of people who don't get the respect they deserve are the Pilgrims. We toured the Mayflower II, and while we were looking around I realized how desperate and brave the Pilgrims were. Over one hundred Pilgrims were packed onto a fairly small boat, which had to stay at sea for months. Then once they got off the boat, they had no idea what to expect, and they had to inhabit a land unknown to them. They were extremely brave, and even after death from the Indians, disease, and starvation, they still stuck it out and stuck to their land. After we went to the Mayflower II we went to Plymouth Plantation. At Plymouth Plantation I learned the true story of the Indians, how the settlers treated them, and how the settlers took the Native's land. This taught me to look at both sides of the story, because there are always two sides to any story. Another spectacular experience was Rohde Island. On our way into Rohde Island, we saw several Dunkin Doughnuts, and we made fun of Rohde Island the entire way to our first destination. When we left Rohde Island we were in awe. We had a newfound love and respect for Rohde Island. Rohde Island is a small state, so we didn't think anything exciting could possibly reside within Rohde Island. However, we were wrong. This taught me not to judge a book by its cover, and to give things a chance before immediately "discarding" them. Ellis Island made me think about how the immigrants felt. Looking at the entrance I tried to imagine what they were feeling, scared, nervous, hopeful, alone, impatient, frustrated or calm. I imagined it filled with other people from other countries, all-waiting to get checked. I imagined everyone feeling a little irritated, and hopeful, for they were imagining America as the land of opportunity. This got me to "Walk a mile in someone else's shoes". All these are important life lessons, however they aren't the only things we learned. We also had a chance to sharpen up our morals.

Responsibility was a major part of the trip because it was included in almost every aspect of it. We had to be responsible when we were allowed to "wander" on our own, and when we were in the hotels. We had certain times we had to come back when we were allowed to explore and shop by ourselves. And in the hotels we had to be in our rooms at certain times, and we were expected to stay in our rooms. We also had to manage our time and money wisely, because we were on a tight schedule and a tight budget. Although we could of spent more time at any given location, we still had to come back to the bus at the appropriate time so we don't make everyone late. We had to limit our shopping time, our wandering time, our eating time, and our "hanging-out" time. We also had to limit our spending because we had to last five days on the amount of money that we had. We also learned about trustworthiness and how everyone can't be trusted. We learned in New York that although we'd like to, we can't trust everyone. This makes us realize that our world isn't a perfect world with no crime, it exists. Once we realize this we can help prevent it or stop it.

All year we've been learning about people faced with problems, and how they dealt with them. We read stories of a young man's struggle with society (Huck Finn), and anther about a young woman's struggle against society (Scarlet Letter). We've read stories of romance, fear, struggle, and about any other thing you could imagine. By reading these literary works, I have learned many life lessons, and the New England Trip tied them together as well as added to them. All year we've been learning about the truly great authors and people of different eras. The Boston trip allowed us to walk in the footsteps of those people. To stand where they stood, and imagine how they felt, what they saw, smelled, and tasted. The trip allowed us to walk in the footsteps of the great, to follow in their path, and one day we may step off that path, hopefully on to another one, filled with greatness. One we can call our own.