Coming into high school this year as a freshman, one of the things I was most excited about was Experiential Education. I’d heard  many stories from upperclassmen and I was so excited that I could now be a part of it. Like most A.H.S students, I was anxious about my choices and which course I would be placed on.

After being informed that I was in the second lottery, I had to choose again from a different pool of courses. I was happy when I found out I was on Museums and Multimedia Arts, even though the trip was not on my top eight choices. Museums and Multimedia Arts is a trip that entails traveling to  Los Angeles and venture to many art museums and galleries. I have been interested in art my whole life so I was very intrigued by this trip. I had an enjoyable time on my trip. I went to many art museums including Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Hammer, and The Broad. These museums were incredible and they held artwork from some of the most famous artists to ever live. Aside from  studying the art in museums, we also studied street art that was all around us as we traveled from place to place in the city. Street art, or graffiti, was another main focus of ours because most of the time this type of artwork can be more impressive than artwork in a museum. Besides just studying art, we did many other fun activities as well such go to the beach, the Santa Monica Pier, Venice Skatepark, and much more. This was very different than all of my other Outdoor Education experiences.

Ex Ed is such an amazing program because it has diversity. Unlike the middle school’s O.D.E program where as you only go on outdoor trips, ex ed includes many urban courses, such as Museums and Multimedia Arts, Behind The Scenes, City Of Brotherly Love, and Chicago. In the past I had only gone on outdoor trips, like skiing, rafting, and hiking. But this trip I was traveling to the city and exploring different types of art. Going on an urban course definitely has its perks, such as experiencing life in the city. It is beneficial for kids from Aspen to go and experience something different than our little town because some people don’t understand that there is a world outside of Aspen. As beautiful and amazing  as it is here, we need to leave this town every once in awhile and not be captivated all the time. Aspen is not like the rest of the world.

However, after going on an urban course, I have found that I prefer going on outdoor trips. On my course, we were all allowed to have our phones the whole time. I get the reason for this because we were in the city and if anything were to happen they would want to contact us. But, this definitely takes away from the bonding part of ex ed. Although I love the city, when I think of a bonding experience I don’t think of the city. A campfire sounds much more inviting. I feel like the outdoor trips are much more adventurous and that is always more fun for me.

Even though this was a great trip, I’m looking forward to different Ex Ed trips to come throughout my high school years.