Every year at Bethany, the senior class takes a trip to a city of their choice. This year’s seniors decided to go to Chicago. They ate at a variety of restaurants and participated in a variety of fun activities.
The food was definitely a big highlight for many seniors. In their first evening in Chicago, they ate at the Chicago French Market, where there is a plethora of unique kiosks offering great food. However, the variety of food did not stop there. They ate Thai at The Star of Siam, soul at Ruby’s, and Peruvian at Machu Picchu.
Something new about the trip this year was that the seniors participated in a “pizza tour.” They visited 3 different pizza restaurants, each one specializing in either deep dish, flat bread, or dessert pizza. However, all the pizza the seniors ate affected their appetite for the rest of the day. This is why the senior sponsors John Mast and Krysten Parson decided that in the future, the pizza tour should be on the same day as the day when seniors are on their own for dinner. This way, if seniors eat too much pizza, they will not feel pressured into eating a lot of food for dinner.
But the seniors did not only eat. Their week started off strong with a Bulls game. Unfortunately for the Bulls fans in our class, the Orlando Magic won. The next evening featured Whirlyball. This game is essentially a mix of lacrosse, basketball, and bumper cars. The next evening, they went to see Million Dollar Quartet, a production about a recording session that united Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. During the last night, the seniors went to Comedysportz. This is an improvised performance between two teams competing for the most laughs.
Every aspect of this year’s senior trip was a blast, but also a good learning experience. Along with experiencing new foods, the seniors got to learn how to use and become comfortable with public transportation. According to Krysten Parson, it is a “valuable experience to be able to go to a city and learn life lessons.”
~Jacob Rudy-Froese