It was ‘c’est la vie’ for students of Ponoka Composite High School on March 19 to 28 as they took off for an experience in Europe.
The 24 students flew into London, England then took the chunnel and went on to enjoy Paris, France. From there they traveled to Bern and Lucern, Switzerland and made their way to Munich, Germany.
Jenica Kostiuk one of the 24 student travelers was excited about the school Europe trip ever since teacher Ron Labrie gave the students the information.
“It looked so amazing,”said Kostiuk. “Even at the beginning when Labrie gave us a brief overview of the trip we were so excited.”
Kostiuk believes the trip around Europe was fun as well as a positive learning experience.
“There’s a lot of us that would love to go back again. I felt that we gained a sense of independence,” she said. “We were basically allowed to explore the cities and had the opportunity to work the tube and metro by ourselves. Our eyes were opened a lot in Europe, we’ve been kind of sheltered in Ponoka and once you get out there and see more of the world you definitely catch the travel bug.”
Justine Louis student traveler enjoyed the trip and also caught the travel bug.
“A lot of people didn’t really like Paris because the weather wasn’t nice when we were there,” said Louis. “Paris was really different and I really liked it, there were so many monuments, interesting people and things to see.”
Traveling through Europe also brought the students closer together and they made good memories and stronger relationships.
Louis was pleased with the closeness of the group and found it challenging when everyone had to go their separate ways.
“We all were so bonded during the trip,”said Louis. “It was sad when we all left the airport.”
Kostiuk found the return home was a change from constantly being around a large group of people for a long period of time.
“It was a difficult transition coming back home,” she said. “You’re surrounded by these people for 10 days and then you come home and you’re by yourself.”
PCHS is looking to do a Europe trip more consistently throughout the years and is considering the idea of changing the destinations to various places in the world.