Freshman Year- Arkansas
For my first year in AGS, within the first four months of school my class of 120 freshmen were bused to Little Rock, Arkansas.
Trip Highlights: Heifer Ranch International simulation, Little Rock High School visit, Clinton Presidential Library, Pine Coves
Trip Theme: Food production, distribution, and consumption; and how different cultures vary within these areas.
Heifer Ranch was my very first time going out of the state with a school. It was a truly eye-opening experience, because I learned the valuable lesson of being grateful for what you are given. Upon arrival, we were split up into two large groups, where we were immediately thrown into team-building exercises. After settling down, we walked down to our global village. I was placed in global village 2, and assigned the world region of Appalachia. A few of the other possible living simulations were Guatemala, Tanzania, and the slums. Each group received a fixed amount of food that correlated with that country's standard of living and culture. For example, Appalachia is in America, so my group received a generous amount of corn meal, bacon, and collard greens compared to every other group there. Both days there, we were given chores to carry out in order to survive and receive "money" that would later be spent at the market to purchase our meals. Nothing was easy there, and everyone had some working job to complete to assure success in our group. A unique aspect about this trip was that our phones were confiscated to encourage participation and complete immersion. Because of this, I could easily say it was huge relief to take a break from technology and interact with kids I had barely known at this point, allowing me to make many new friends through the duration of the trip. In the end, I realized how fortunate we are to have running water and working bathrooms close by, running electricity, and ample food supplies to meet our gluttonous needs in America. It completely changed my attitude and perspective on waste, food, life, and appreciation.
Trip Highlights: Heifer Ranch International simulation, Little Rock High School visit, Clinton Presidential Library, Pine Coves
Trip Theme: Food production, distribution, and consumption; and how different cultures vary within these areas.
Heifer Ranch was my very first time going out of the state with a school. It was a truly eye-opening experience, because I learned the valuable lesson of being grateful for what you are given. Upon arrival, we were split up into two large groups, where we were immediately thrown into team-building exercises. After settling down, we walked down to our global village. I was placed in global village 2, and assigned the world region of Appalachia. A few of the other possible living simulations were Guatemala, Tanzania, and the slums. Each group received a fixed amount of food that correlated with that country's standard of living and culture. For example, Appalachia is in America, so my group received a generous amount of corn meal, bacon, and collard greens compared to every other group there. Both days there, we were given chores to carry out in order to survive and receive "money" that would later be spent at the market to purchase our meals. Nothing was easy there, and everyone had some working job to complete to assure success in our group. A unique aspect about this trip was that our phones were confiscated to encourage participation and complete immersion. Because of this, I could easily say it was huge relief to take a break from technology and interact with kids I had barely known at this point, allowing me to make many new friends through the duration of the trip. In the end, I realized how fortunate we are to have running water and working bathrooms close by, running electricity, and ample food supplies to meet our gluttonous needs in America. It completely changed my attitude and perspective on waste, food, life, and appreciation.
Little Rock High SchoolWhile on our learning expedition to Arkansas, we visited the historic Little Rock High School (where the Little Rock 9 attended school- first integration of students). The high school gave us a small glimpse into the culture of the campus.
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Heifer Ranch and Pine CovesThe main attraction of the trip was staying at Heifer Ranch International, which offers interactive programs and activities promoting sustainable solutions to global hunger, poverty and environmental degradation. There, we entered a simulation that showed how different countries and regions lived. Such countries where the slums, Tanzania, Guatemala, and Appalachia. The twist was each group was given different foods and fixed amounts of it that matched their location's standard of living. We had to know how to use teamwork, trade commodities, perform chores, and start fires in the cold without the distraction of cellphones. After the trip, we all realized each region of the world faces cultural and economic differences, matching one of our four pillars- recognizing perspectives.
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Clinton Presidential LibraryOur Next stop was the Clinton Presidential Library, where we saw a recreation of the oval office, all of the archives during his presidency, foreign gifts he received as president, his old limousine, and small video clips teaching us about evens that occurred during his terms.
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