With long semesters and college burnout, it can get difficult to have the desire or motivation to push through classes.
While a few excursions and tours are offered through Pierce Extension classes and clubs, each department could try to expand its off-campus activities.
Los Angeles Valley College provides field trips for their Biological and Sciences Department, which includes seeing nature at hiking spots, aquariums and state parks.
If students at Pierce had more opportunities to travel off campus for a class activity, it would improve the motivation and mood of the students who participate and the overall spirit of campus.
According to an online article by National Education Association Member Benefits, the study found that, regardless of gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, youth who take educational trips have better grades (59%), higher graduation rates from high school (95%) and college (63%) and greater income (12% higher annually).
About 89% said educational trips had a positive, lasting impact on their education and career because the trips made them more engaged, intellectually curious and interested in and out of school.
According to President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association Roger Dow, field trips give diverse and financially in-need students equal opportunity to experience things outside the classroom that their families may not be able to afford.
A field trip can also be the first expedition a student takes without their parents, so it builds independence as well.
“There’s a reason people say I need to get away and recharge my batteries—there’s truth to it,” Dow said.
Field trips can give Pierce students a nostalgic feeling and can make their semester classes worth the experience.