Exonians Travel Around the World
While many Exonians headed home to de-stress from the demanding final weeks of fall term, some students departed on various educational adventures across the country, from Maui, Hawaii to Montgomery, Alabama. These Exonians experienced America in various dimensions, whether exploring Hawaiian natural landscapes or visiting the White House of the Confederacy,
A few years ago, biology instructor Townley Chisholm proposed the Maui trip to Director of Global Initiatives Eimer Page after discovering his fascination with native Hawaiian culture and the unique volcanic features of the island. Since then, the Maui trip has been an annual Thanksgiving break trip for students, supervised by Chisholm and Science Instructor Albert Leger.
Eight students traveled to Maui during Thanksgiving Break to explore the geology and biodiversity of the island. This trip introduced the group of Exonians to the volcanic features of Maui: from lava tubes to cinder cones to Maui’s massive extinct volcano, Haleakala.
Additionally, Maui’s terrain was home to unique, endangered plants and animal species. Students came into contact with sea birds, turtles and dolphins. After exploring the landscapes, the students indulged in native Hawaiian culture and learned about their history by engaging in conversation with natives of the state. Exonians found themselves surrounded by Hawaiian natural beauty, spending as much time as possible in the wilderness and visiting important cultural sites.
They hiked down to the crater of the Haleakala volcano, treading on the ash and iron oxide pieces that formed the crater mounds for 3 hours. They followed broken trails down the slopes of the volcano, where they could see a silhouette of The Big Island in the distance. The crater featured jagged rocks, charcoal colored mounds of dusts and silversword plants. Upper Lhamo Dixey, one of the students on the Maui trip, described the hike as simply “breathtaking.”
Students enjoyed snorkeling above coral reefs surrounding the islands. They swam with sea turtles and schools of colorful fish. Dixey recounted her experience and described her amazement when she saw the animals up close, saying, “[They were] real, tangible figures and not ones that were found adorning the pages of a biology textbook.”
In Montgomery, Alabama, Exonians embarked on an Equal Justice Initiative trip. PEA’s 2015 MLK Day celebration originally inspired the trip; it has been an annual program since. During the celebration, Bryan Stevenson, the Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and the author of the book Just Mercy, spoke as a keynote speaker.
As a reaction to his speech, students and faculty members planned the initiative to “step into close proximity with instances of injustice that they might otherwise misunderstand or dismiss as too overwhelming to resolve.” Students on this trip visited historical sites such as the Equal Justice Initiative offices, the Legacy Museum, and MLK’s Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
Lower Sarah Huang had been inspired to apply for the trip when she remembered how much she enjoyed reading Stevenson’s novel Just Mercy in 6th grade. She expressed gratitude towards the book for opening her eyes toward the presence of systemic racism and was thrilled when she learned that the Equal Justice Initiative office was hosting this trip.
Lower Nahla Owens described her initial hesitations about going on the trip: “At first I was like, ‘I think I know about civil rights, why do I need to go to the trip?’” However, “Throughout the trip, I realized just how much I didn’t know and how much information there was that hasn’t been taught at a school.”
Owens said that her experience on the trip increased her admiration for Bryan Stevenson. “Every day, he has to see people taken away and killed in jail, or he has to see people go through so much hate and suffering,” she said. “This is something that we felt as a group as well, looking at this sickness and suffering and having the world to go on. He has changed the lives of many people forever.”