Many students would describe their Ex-Ed as an adventurous expedition that helps everyone on the trip bond with each other. It is meant to challenge students physically and mentally. Not only that but it also provides the chance to meet new people and create friendships, however, sometimes the courses don’t always go exactly as planned. The New Mexico Bike Tour experienced some unfortunate and unexpected issues.

One of the ‘new’ Ex-Ed courses this year at AHS was the “New Mexico Bike Tour.” The tour went from Taos all the way to Santa Fe. In the past, this trip was a bike tour that went to California, but this year they decided to switch it up a little bit and go in a different direction – literally.

The new trip was exciting but, some students came back with injuries after a few mishaps. Trip leader, Josh Anderson explained the nature of some of these injuries.

“We had some injuries that were serious enough to go to the hospital but not scary or life-threatening at all,” Anderson said.

Four of twenty students suffered injuries. Out of these four, one of the students, Alex Martin, happened to break his wrist on the first day of the course but had an uplifting attitude about his injury.

“I mean, I couldn’t let myself get disappointed because then I’d have to spend the week upset that I broke my wrist cause there’s nothing I could have done about it. There was nothing I could have done to prevent myself from falling and breaking my wrist, and there’s nothing I could do to make it heal faster,” Martin explained.

Throughout the course, however, the fact that people suffered injuries didn’t faze the group according to Storey Balko, who was on the trip.

“The group leaders kind of just took care of it, but when everybody got back everybody was all just super supportive,” Balko said.

No matter what happens on Ex-Ed, the bonds that are created help students get through even the hardest parts. Hurting yourself might be a disappointment for many, but as long as you have the support of an excellent Ex-Ed group, then you can still enjoy the course to its fullest extent. Anderson feels like these elements are all part of the experience.

“It’s really rewarding for students to get from point A to point B all on their own. That they did it. So I think it’s just a cool experience for kids” Anderson said.