August 19 - 23, 2013 ten Pittsburgh Area High School Students will be experiencing a five-day adventure learning trip to Yellowstone National Park. The trip is sponsored by Park Journeys, Inc. a Pittsburgh based organization that provides these types of opportunities to Manchester Bidwell Corporation’s network of National Centers of Arts and Technology.

Follow their journey here! Please share with your family and friends and we would love to hear your comments.

Additionally, check out our archives for the Cincinnati Delegate team comments. They visited Yellowstone with Park Journeys July 29 - August 3.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Cincinnati CATC - Ricki - Day 4


Today, we climbed the mountain. It was beautiful at the top, but it wasn’t just the sight. It was the feeling. It felt beautiful to stand there on top of this gigantic rock that formed on the Earth several centuries, probably, ago. It’s the sort of feeling you get only when you’ve accomplished something. When we got to the top, Michelle (one of our mentors on the trip) gave us these cool medals. It had Bunsen etched on it, as well as some facts, as well as other things. The medals are really awesome, and I feel a hundred percent that we earned them. However, I don’t think that was really what the hike was about.

The real prizes we earned were the feeling of being on a mountain, and feeling so accomplished. Knowing that you got here, and not alone, but with the help of an amazing group, who, in time, became your family.
The sense that you’re on this mountain, with people you care about, staring down at your hard work… it’s the best feeling in the world. It’s good for your physical and mental health. It makes me think ‘Hey, even if I didn’t get the best score on that math test, I still climbed a mountain’. Of course, passing that math test comes next. I think I can do anything, really, if I set my mind on it.
It’s going to be horrible to leave my new family and home tomorrow, but hopefully we’ll all keep in contact. I know I’m definitely returning to CATC this coming school year, and I can’t wait.
Before I go though, I’d just like to say a big thank you to everyone that got me to the top of that mountain. Thank you to the trip sponsors. Thank you to the heads of CATC. Thank you to all the mentors. Thank you to Jess, our YA guide. Thank you to my fellow Brave Adventurous Thunderbeasts. Thank you to the people reading this right now. Thank you to everyone, really, who became a part of my personal Yellowstone Experience, whether here or not. Thank you. Because yeah, I climbed a mountain, but I couldn’t do it without you.
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1 comment:

  1. LisaAugust 3, 2013 at 7:56 AM

    I have cried with excitement and joy and thanks almost every day over God providing this life learning journey and for the amazing, beautiful pictures in your mind that will remain with you in your soul. While you all were away, I learned about a man named Bill Strickland who started all this for the children who don't have much. As a parent who wasn't able to provide the best and all I wanted for my child like every single one of us wish to do and plan to do when you first bring your child into this world. I am thankful and now I hope you kids understand that with a dream and effort you can obtain success. Isn't that just the most simple recipe. The things you learn along the way. So take it all in and dream big and give it everything you got and do not waiver or let anyone get in your way of succeeding in this life in front of you.

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