AVID 11 University Road Trip

On the morning of Wednesday, April 27th, twenty-three AVID 11 students from ACSS and LSS boarded the bus for an exciting road trip to visit two university campuses.  First stop, the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus in beautiful Kelowna.  After taking a wrong turn and some fancy maneuvering by our bus driver Billy, we found our way to the UBCO Welcome Centre.  We were greeted by Erica, our tour guide for the afternoon.  Campus seemed a little like a ghost town, for the last day of exams was just the day before and many of the student residents had already left.  The students earned copius amounts of chocolate for asking good questions. AVID students have no problems accomplishing that!  Students learned that UBCO offers the same quality education as it's Vancouver campus, just in a much smaller campus environment.

Our next stop on the trip was Kamloops, to our hotel. The hotel we have stayed at on past trips was booked up, so this was our first experieince at the DoubleTree in downtown Kamloops.  The students gave it two thumbs up on account of the pool and warrm cookie on arrival! An added bonus for us was the complimentary breakfast the next morning before packing up and doing the short drive to Thompson Rivers University for their Day of Arts & Sciences event. Over 300 students from local high schools attended the event as well.    After an inspiring introduction by a few of the Deans and current TRU students, the Gr.11's were off to get a little taste of what attending university classes would be like.  Students were able to register for three 1-hour sessions conducted by university staff from a wide range of faculites.  Sessions were offered in International Politics, Philosophy, Chemistry, and Respiratory Therapy, just to name a few. The day went quickly and our students had a lot to share about their experiences. It was a much quieter trip home after a busy day and not surprisingly, little sleep the night before ... much like a true university student!