May Term travel all the rage

May Term travel all the rage

by Suzanne Barrett

Expanding horizons, and traveling out of the country for MayTerm has become a popular trend among Simpson students this year.Currently, there are already 159 students registered for May Termtrips in the spring.

“The reason for the higher number is because of the MadrigalTrip, which happens every odd year of May Terms. That trip alwaystakes at least 40 extra students,” said John Bolen, associateacademic dean and registrar.

This year’s numbers show a dramatic increase from May 2002, whenonly 126 students traveled on May Term trips.

“I think there are more students traveling this year primarilybecause we are farther from 9/11 and also because our May Termtrips have been successful and safe,” said Bolen.

Simpson is not the only college that has had more students favortravel. Luther College’s January Term is also experiencing anincreased interest in participation.

“Our students have also had a greater interest in our J Termtrips. In 2001 we had 230 students that went on trips and this yearit’s a whopping 273,” said Mark Lund, director of internationaleducation at Luther.

Simpson is providing a variety of May Term trips for students tochoose from in the spring, each one sponsored by a Simpson facultymember.

David Richmond is sponsoring a photo tour of China. This tripwill cost around $2,900. During this trip students will betraveling to the Forbidden City of Beijing, and will be viewingsights such as Tienenman Square, and portions of the Great Wall ofChina. Students will also tour the Yellow Mountains and visit thegardens of Su Zhou.

“I knew I wanted to go somewhere and China struck my interestbecause it was a cool place to go and it was one of the cheapest,”said freshman Kelly Mills.

Jeff Parmelee and Mike Hadden are sponsoring a trip toAustralia. The trip’s cost is approximately $3,900. The group willbe traveling to Sydney and making their way to the eastern coast ofCairns.

“I decided to go on the Australia trip because I love to Scubadive. The pictures of the places where we are going look absolutelybeautiful and the entire package seems amazing,” said seniorChristine Walsh.

Steve Emerman is sponsoring a trip to Mongolia. This trip willinclude 12 days of horseback riding and two days of mountainclimbing. The students will camp out each night and the cost of thetrip is approximately $3,500.

Students are also being given the opportunity to explore CentralAmerica with a trip sponsored by Mark Bates. This trip will includetravel to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, San Juan del Sur and the volcanicisland of Ometepe. The cost of the trip is estimated around$1,950.

Brian Steffen is taking students on a 17-day tour of England,France, Switzerland and Germany. The approximate cost of the tripis $3,395.

Steven McLean is in charge of the trip to Great Britain. Theapproximate price of this journey is $3,500. They will exploreLondon, Stratford, Edinburgh and Scotland. They will be site seeingdifferent types of museums, castles and theatres.

Students should know financial aid may be used to assist withthe high cost of these trips.

“Financial aid has been a great help enabling students to bebetter able to afford the cost of May Term,” John Bolen said.