The value of out-of-class experiences is hardly debatable. Seeing the information that I had read about in a textbook come to life on a field trip helped to reiterate the lesson and cement it in my memory.
Reading about the Amish in a textbook and eating lunch with an Amish family left two very different impressions on me. While I hardly remember the 200 pages of Amish history that I read for class, I won’t forget the conversations I had with the people. I was able to discuss common interests and explain concepts foreign to them. I listened to stories about Plain life and was introduced to families with 10 or more children, most of whose names I remember.
The trips were built into the course, but required our class to spend one Saturday and one Sunday traveling through Lancaster County to meet families and visit sites. Unlike class time, which doesn’t conflict with the other responsibilities and requirements that we all carry as students, weekend trips require some schedule reorganizing. Unfortunately for those of us who work on or off campus, this often means missing shifts or being forced to skip a class requirement.
Like most students, I chose to find substitutes for work shifts and go on the trips that were built into my class. In doing so, I gave up over eight hours of work, which on a weekend equates to nearly $80. In many cases, I would simply switch shifts with someone else and make up the hours, but with weeks as busy as they are, finding open shifts that fit into my schedule isn’t an easy task.
What’s the big deal, you might ask? The trips that I was required to go on cost $20 each, and I didn’t know until one week prior to them. Had the extra expenses been listed in the syllabus, as in some of my other classes, getting the money would have proved much easier.
I understand that the meal we were served needed to be paid for and that travel expenses needed to be accounted for, so the cost wasn’t excessive, all things considered. However, the problem still arose that I needed the money to pay for this trip, but in order to go on this trip, I was forfeiting hours of work.
Given the high tuition and expectations of the students at Elizabethtown College, I had hoped that the College would cover such costs. I feel that this is especially fair in the case of honors students, who are burdened by extra classes and higher GPA requirements.
Yet, many classes, honors or otherwise, expect students to pay for their out-of-class experiences, and the costs add up quickly. When one factors in the expenses we already have as students, it hardly seems fair to expect us to pay more. A perfect solution may not be clear, but two things are for sure: these experiences are crucial to our learning process, but, for the most part, we don’t have the money to pay for them out-of-pocket.
I am not suggesting that the College absorb all of these costs — I realize that our tuition would be forced even higher, if that were the case — but accommodations should be made to better prepare the students for extra expenses. Whether that means including extra costs in the syllabus, making these trips optional or trying to be the most cost effective, something must be done. In giving up work hours or skipping other obligations, students are missing out on parts of the College experience that are as vital as their class materials.
