Day 323 -- Albion College Field Trip

Every year since I began teaching at Western, I have taken my advanced chemistry class of seniors to Albion College.  There, they are provided with a tour of campus (and lunch!) and are invited to ask questions of the admissions staff.  But the most valuable part, I believe, comes when one of the professors of chemistry treats my room full of seniors as though they are college freshmen taking a chemistry class.  They get a taste of the difference in pacing, depth, and breadth of a college-level class at a nationally-recognized school.  The same professor has been gracious enough to do this for us every year for the past four years, and he is absolutely phenomenal.  I am so grateful that he was willing to do this for us yet again today.  I am also beyond grateful for the amazing admissions staff at Albion, who works with me year and after year getting things set  up and organized.  They are the best!  Today, EVERY student went home with an Albion College t-shirt.  This could not have been planned better, seeing as most of them got absolutely drenched by the storm that hit precisely as they were on their walking tour of campus.  So, not only did most of them go home with a new t-shirt, but most of them went home wearing their new t-shirt.

I was a little worried about how this group of students would do on the trip, but they surpassed my highest hopes by asking good, insightful questions, being polite and kind, and at least acting like they were excited and engaged while they were there.  So, I am extra grateful that the trip went smoothly and that the kids really seemed to enjoy it and get something out of it too.

Thank God for the Albion College Field Trip!

God, thank you for a great experience today.  Thank you for all of the helpful, friendly, and supportive people at Albion who made it possible.  Thank you for my students, who surprised me pleasantly on the trip with their attitudes and behaviors.  Please help the information that they saw and heard today to sink into their brains in a meaningful and relevant way.  In your name I pray, Amen.

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