Assignment 3 - The Long One - Bethany Welch

As a child, I traveled probably way too much, if that's possible. My dad was a pilot and my mom is a flight attendant, so traveling has always been a family thing. I traveled to Hawaii a lot when I was younger, and I always loved the beaches and the koi pond at a hotel we stayed at. Hawaii was always a trip where my whole family would go, so it's always a very happy memory. Since the summer in between 7th and 8th grade, I've attended a camp called Duke TiP, held on multiple different college campuses. My first two years I stayed at Appalachian State University, in Boone, NC. I met lots of friends from across the United States there, and I've always regarded this camp as one of the happiest moments in my life. I stayed in a college dorm for 3 weeks, which definitely a new experience, but it has definitely shown me what staying in a dorm would be like for college. My last 2 years, I stayed at University of Georgia. I loved this campus, however the campus is spread out and I walked a lot. The food there was absolutely amazing though, 10/10 would recommend. Summer of 2017, I stayed at Yale for a camp through the Renzulli program. We worked with current world issues, and used two weeks to make a presentation on our ways to work towards solving it. It was a really educational experience, and I met kids from all across the globe. My three best friends at that camp were from China, St. Thomas, and Dubai, U.A.E.

 My spring break of freshman year, I did a community service trip in Peru through the program Rustic Pathways. For the trip, we stayed in a rural village and built a water line down into the village, since the people living there had to walk miles for their water. In turn, the people there cooked for us and told us about the surrounding mountains. One night, they also shared with us legends and creepy stories about the land, and showed us a cleansing ritual they often performed. It was an amazing experience to learn about and experience another culture, and I had an opportunity to learn more Spanish and teach some English to the kids in the village. In return, the kids made us friendship bracelets and sang to us. It was possibly one of the most heartwarming experiences of my life. 

The summer before sophomore year, my mom and I traveled to Rome, Italy; Naples, Italy; and Ischia, an island off of the coast of Italy. I got to see many amazing landmarks, like the Colosseum and the Trevi fountain. It was a beautiful trip and my mom and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Also, this past spring break, I traveled to Aruba with my mom and grandmother. This ended up being a rather sad trip, but before that we all had a great time and had several great experiences. I've traveled a lot over my 16 years of living, but these were some of my favorite experiences.