Of all the places Lillie Derouen (12) visited on the trip to Europe, Lucerne had to be her favorite. The white, snow-capped peaks of Mount Pilatus took her breath away as she stared out the train window. The group enjoyed a whimsical train ride through the mountains before exploring the gorgeous lake and city waiting for them at the base of Mount Pilatus. “It was snowing.” said Derouen,” And at the bottom, there was this really pretty lake and city, and we got to explore, so it was super cool.”
It was a view that will forever be engraved in Derouen’s mind. The moment was made even more magical by the presence of one of Derouen’s best friends, Abby Thompson (12).
Thompson, too, enjoyed Mount Pilatus, but her favorite place was by far Vienna, Austria. The architecture in Vienna was like nothing Thompson had ever seen before. The gothic styles seen in structures like St. Stephen’s Cathedral were magnificent to Thompson.” “It was just so beautiful.” said Thompson, “It was just really cool to experience that place because it was just so different from the architecture in America.”
Another student on the trip, Kaymin Hardnett (12), shared Thompson’s shock upon witnessing Vienna. St. Stephen’s Cathedral especially was astounding to Hardnett because of its size and grandeur, something not as represented in churches here in America (at least not to the same extent).” The thing that was most memorable for me was seeing all the big churches and seeing how they were so giant compared to our churches,” said Hardnett.
But these experiences are just the start of what Ms. Ducote exposed the group to. They took a walking or guided tour of every city they went to and explored everything the cities had to offer. Additionally, they stayed in a variety of fun hotels, where the students got to connect with one another.
One place they stayed was an old Olympic hotel from the70’ss in Austria, where they discovered a dance floor and danced the night away together. Under an old but still sparkly disco ball, the students stepped, spun, and swayed to the music. It was another memorable moment for Derouen, who laughed as she recalled the story.” “We went to eat, and in the next room over, it looked like maybe a club or something… but no one was in it, so we just kind of went in, and some people started dancing, and we were just kind of exploring this weird room,” said Derouen.
Traveling around the world with Ms. Ducote exposes students to unfamiliar environments and cultures. These new experiences expand a student’s worldview beyond their hometown, which Ducote and the students who attended this past Europe tour emphasized as necessary for their development. “I think it’s really important… to expand your worldview and to have an idea there more to the world and the people and the culture than what you see around you in Zachary,” said Ducote,” “You don’t realize how differently a huge part of the world lives until you get out and actually see it.”
Many of the students Ducote took on the trip agreed that experiencing Europe for the first time completely changed their understanding of the world around them. For example, Hardnett said, “It was really… I would even say life-changing. It was very new seeing those different countries and how they are so different from here, in America, in the way they live.”
Adding to Hartnett’s thoughts, Derouen explained how important it is to travel at a young age and educate yourself early.” You don’t want to put yourself in a bubble physically and mentally. There’s a lot to learn and a lot to fully realize that you can’t always do just like in your local town,” said Derouen.
