“So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 8:15
When you’re a student at Great Lakes Adventist Academy, you learn a new love for traveling. This semester alone, I’ve gone to Camp Au Sable, Southern Adventist University, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C, and just last week, I traveled to various states throughout the midwest with the Music Department. Great travels make for great stories and this week, I’ll be sharing my experiences from the senior class Washington DC trip.
After a long ride on the bus followed by a good night sleep in a hotel, we spent our first full day at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. There my friends and I saw gowns that belonged to all of the first ladies. It was interesting to see how fashion has evolved over time, especially considering the face mask that one of the more recent first ladies had to match her inauguration gown. As we walked through the American exhibits, we learned how small things like a Reis telephone from 1861 has turned into a touchscreen phone that we can now hold in the palm of our hands and the device that you’re currently reading this on.
One of my favorite stops was the Holocaust Museum. There we saw exhibits displaying what happened leading up to walking through a gas chamber, and baby shoes that made their way from the concentration camps. We also visited the Arlington Cemetery where John F. Kennedy and his family are buried. When we went to Mount Vernon, I learned that after George Washington died, his estate was abandoned and fell to shambles until a group of women who called themselves the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association gathered enough money to purchase the home. The association restored the home and continues to preserve it for visitors to walk through this important part of history. With so many men headlining our history books, I was happy to hear that the fate of Mount Vernon was carried on by a group of ambitious women.
On Wednesday, we watched a play in Ford’s Theater titled One Destiny which reenacted the events of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. It was interesting to learn so many tiny details that our history books don’t cover. My friend Sofia and I had the best seats as we were sitting across from the seat where Lincoln was shot. This was an amazing setting to watch our first ever play. My friends and I are very directionally challenged so you can imagine how long it took us to get around places. Once we figured out that the GPS meant to go left and not right, we got to the National Gallery of Art where we saw a Leonardo Da Vinci painting. After admiring its beauty, we then went to find an ice cream shop to make ourselves feel better about taking 20 minutes to get there.
Once we got to the U.S Senate on Thursday, there was a policeman who was telling us all about the Senate and the members he has gotten to know over the years. He even chats with politicians about their families and vacations. It was nice to see them as real people.
We then traveled to the General Conference in Silver Springs Maryland and gained a closer perspective into Ellen G. White’s life in the museum housed there. Did you know she had a twin sister? Well if you didn’t, now you do. One of our seniors held an 18 pound Bible for one whole minute. It doesn’t sound hard, but I would’ve trembled at 10 seconds. It’s amazing that a woman as small as Ellen White was able to hold a Bible like that out for half an hour while preaching. The actual Bible she held was there in a display case for us to see as well.
With a group of 47 students in our senior class, this trip was a blast and we definitely made memories to tell our grandchildren (and our robot babies that we had to take care of for 24 hours). We’re starting to have some of our “lasts” as graduation is creeping closer and closer. Before we know it, our gowns will be delivered and we’ll start practicing which hand goes over the diploma when we walk up that stage. Most of my friends are excited to start their new lives, but I can’t imagine not being here at GLAA. With that, enjoy your weekend and look us up on Facebook and Instagram! Our Aeros and Music home shows are coming up and you definitely won’t want to miss them 🙂
Great Lakes Adventist Academy 