Written by Isadora Wood, Liberal Arts Student

As a Student Rep, some of my course mates and I were set with the task to organise a course trip. The reason for this trip was to celebrate the end of the year and to appreciate how far we all had come in our academic careers. Many ideas were raised as to what we would do on the day, but we decided to go on a walk in the peaks. To me, and many others, the idea of a walk was not inviting, however, it seemed by the end of the day, that the trip was a great success.

Though the trip itself was so simple, it had many positives that I later came to appreciate. Firstly, I had never been to the Peak District before, and it was so beautiful. To anyone reading this, I would recommend driving up there to explore the hills. It really took me out of my every day and was such a harsh difference from the city of Manchester. I would visit the peaks again, and I recognized how important it was to be around nature, especially before exam season. When walking through the peaks, it was impossible not to relax and this meant that you had the ability to talk to those around you. As we were away from the normal routine of university, the social constructs of ‘different years’ disappeared and soon I found myself chatting with people that I never thought I would have a conversation with. This allowed me to see a totally different side of how others have experienced the course, as well as feeling more comfortable within the community of Liberal Arts. However, I also felt closer to those that I already knew as we were able to be open to one and other in ways that we were inhibited to before due to the rigid time limits that everyday life holds. Thus, through this trip, I was able to truly understand the impact of my course. I was inspired by others around me, allowing me to gain new ideas about many modules that I will do next year, and modules that I have done in the past.

Though trips get a bad rep when it comes to cost and effort, I believe that trips enable the perfect situation to allow the growth of a course. University can be a very intimidating place and courses usually do not promote a positive community, which can quickly destroy many people’s feelings of content. However, through trips like this one, students can find more enjoyment within education and connect with their course mates on a deeper level. Thus, instead of ice breakers, courses across the university should be utilizing the easy tool of trip to create the perfect learning environment.

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