Compared to many schools around the United States, AHS is truly incredible. We have a beautiful campus in a remarkable mountainous location, superb academic opportunities, and most of all, once a year, we have the chance to escape our realities and experience something truly unique: Experiential Education. It is this that differentiates us from other schools. This opportunity to be in a new environment with new people is something that my friends and relatives who attend other schools around the country are in awe of, and often tell me that it is something they wish they had for themselves, so it is astounding to me that this year, nearly 200 students chose to not participate in the Ex Ed program.

Aside from the students who opted out of Ex Ed to college tour or train for sports, a significant amount chose to drop their Ex Ed courses after they found out what their trip was, because it either wasn’t one of their top choices or they weren’t satisfied with their group. This defies one of the main points of Ex Ed, which is to get to know people who may not already be close friends. Aside from being fun, there is a much deeper meaning to the courses. They are meant to push us out of our comfort zones and into doing things we thought we would never do. It is meant to be a time to construct new skills and inaugurate relationships with people outside of our immediate friend groups. It is not something that is inherently easy.

Although there was confusion and ambiguity around the lottery system and points this year, to my knowledge almost every student who participated in the lottery was eventually placed on a course, just as they have been in past years. However, some of the incentive that motivated students to stay on their assigned course was lost because it was no longer required that we make a $150 deposit to even be placed in the lottery. Without a substantial threat of money loss, it was much easier this year to abandon a course and not think twice about it.

If people are not taking part in the Ex Ed program, our school loses the ability to justify that Ex Ed is a worthwhile part of our curriculum. If almost one third of the students do not choose to participate, how can AHS say that it is a program that is benefitting most students in the school? In all of my three years going on courses I have been nervous at the onset of the trips – there have been times when I went onto a trip without really knowing a single person – but every year I have taken away something valuable.

In my opinion, Ex Ed gives us skills just as important as the ones we acquire in Math or English. We learn to push ourselves beyond what we thought we were capable of and test our abilities. We build friendships that can last lifetimes. With many people opting out of this, it endangers the program and jeopardizes the existence of the program in future years. As one of the defining features of our school, Ex Ed is something we should appreciate, and take advantage of. It truly is an incredible opportunity.