This May, we’re excited to share a new post from our May Student of the Month! Anneke T. from Ontario shares the lessons she learned in our online course (Travel and Tourism: A Geographic Perspective – CGG3O) available to Ontario high school students, and how a global pandemic has given her new insights into travel.
Written by Anneke T. from Ontario
May 6, 2020
As I walked into school one morning of seventh grade (two years ago) I thought it would just be a regular school day. Classes of endless notes and socializing with my friends at lunch. But as I was walking up the stairs, something pinned to the bulletin board caught my eye. It was a trip to Spain, Italy and France!
I went home that night and told my parents about the trip and soon I was signed up, but my parents insisted I would have to pay half of the cost. That was when I stopped spending my babysitting money and started putting it aside for the trip to Europe!
Unfortunately, none of my friends had signed up and I felt like I was going to be the only one my age on the trip. It wasn’t until the beginning of ninth grade, and when my friend group had expanded, that I found out otherwise. One day at lunch, a new friend asked: “Is anyone going on the trip to Europe?” She too, had thought she was going to be the only one in grade nine on the trip, but now we were excited that we would be together.
It was also at the beginning of grade nine that I learned about the chance to take the grade eleven travel and tourism course. I decided to enrol. I could get an extra credit and I had nothing to lose. The online course was all about travelling and types of tourism. It was a little stressful taking a grade eleven course and only being in grade nine, plus it was my first time taking an online course! I was nervous that the course instructors would have very high expectations and that I would need to work my hardest, but as I started the course, I realized that I would be able to work at my own pace and that the instructors were very kind and helpful.
Even though I was nervous at the beginning, I decided to take it because it was a great opportunity with a great outcome. The course taught me about different types of tourism. I enjoyed the course because it allowed me to expand my knowledge on travel and tourism. It also allowed me to develop new strategies for time management and other skills. The course really helped me to understand more about culture and different types of tourism. I was able to learn about tourism’s effects on the [environment, the economy, and on culture], and [what tourism may look like] in the future. For example, I [learned] about negative and positive effects of tourism on culture. I was also able to learn about environmental tourism and what it is to travel green. The course expanded my knowledge on travel and I learned more about my destination countries.
Sadly, two weeks before our presumed date of departure, Coronavirus spread to Italy and had been found in several Italian cities. About six days before the trip, Italy was marked as a level two on the Canadian Travel Advisory website. There was talk about cancelling the trip, and if it didn’t get cancelled, my parents were thinking of pulling me out. They would rather I be safe in Canada, than get quarantined in Italy. People at school were always asking: is the trip going to be cancelled? Are you guys still going on the trip to Europe? It was getting me worried. I didn’t want my first trip to Europe to be stressful. I wanted it to be fun. I went through denial, I was disappointed, I was mad and then I finally started to accept it.
Three days before our departure date everyone who was participating in the trip was called to the office. They told us that the trip was a no go. Strangely, I was relieved. I didn’t need to be stressed out anymore and I didn’t need to worry about being quarantined.
Even though I didn’t get to go on the trip this time, I was still able to prepare myself and learn new skills [and perspectives] that I can use if I travel any other time. I was disappointed for a while, but I knew that everything happened for a reason [… ] I have already travelled to other places with my family before and I know there will be other chances to travel in the future. Until then, I can continue expand my knowledge and live every day to the fullest.