This past weekend, the delta and epsilon honors classes went on a camping trip. We camped out Friday night, hiked on Saturday, then spent the night, and left on Sunday. It was an amazing experience, and we really bonded as a group.
This camping trip embodied everything we've studied in honors up to this point. This semesters connection is pretty obvious (we've been talking about the environment, and we were in nature), but it also strongly connected with the five ways of knowing talked about last semester. Firstly, we used science on our trip by starting camp fires and cooking. Next, we used reason to select the right paths while hiking. Thirdly, we experienced revelation both by viewing creation and by praying as a group. We also used aesthetics when we had group jam sessions. Finally, we all connected emotionally, and the splitting of our group into those who were staying two nights and those who were staying only one was proceeded by a group hug.
Saturday night of our trip, we experienced an interesting twist. Soon after we went into our tents, it started storming pretty badly. I fell asleep, then awoke later to find that I was floating. There was enough water under our tent that it felt like a water bed. We all ended up sleeping in the car. When we woke the next morning, we learned two interesting pieces of information: 1. Depending on the spot, there was three to six inches of water under our tent. 2. Despite the fact that we were the only people at the camp ground, we were on one of only two sites that had standing water.
I really enjoyed this trip and it was definitely worth it to stay both nights. I would not give up the experiences I gained from this for anything. I have gotten to know my fellow honors students better and have had an opportunity to once again appreciate nature. I hope that the honors camping trips will continue many years into the future.
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