Awty’s Senior Fall Trips

Martin Motta doing a headstand on his paddle-board at Camp Allen. 

This year I went on my seventh and final Fall Trip. Fall Trips are an Awty tradition where each grade in Middle School and Upper School goes on a two-day field trip to a different camp in Texas at the beginning of the year.

The purpose of these outings is to make new friendships in beautiful nature without Wi-Fi. Even though these outdoor experiences are filled with humidity, bugs and public showers, we do love them and they do help us bond. This year the seniors went to Camp Allen, a retreat center in Navasota, Texas. 

Fall Trips began, like always, with a long bus ride in the morning that included rap battles, games of Truth or Dare, and sleeping. Once we arrived at the camp, we were divided into groups. In case you are not familiar with Awty, it is split in two sections: the French section and International section. Students in the international section are taught their core classes in English, while students in the French section are taught in French. It is not often that the French and International students get to mingle at school, but at the camp the two sections were mixed.

(From left) Nicolas Motta, Dylan Rodriguez and Rustin Russoli taking selfies in the pool at Camp Allen. (Photo: Rustin Russoli)

This is what adds to the charm of Fall Trips, the fact that you have a full day of activities with people you do not usually spend time with. Our activities included paddle boarding, archery, swimming, team building games, ropes courses and late night karaoke!

“My favorite part of this trip was jousting with my buddies while we balanced on paddleboards in the lake,” said senior Sam Harmon. “I always make a lot of great memories at Fall Trips.”

In between our activities and meals, there was always a lot of down time for hanging out around the camp. I would say this is the real bonding time. In the center of the camp there was a little pit where we all would talk and get attacked by bugs. “This year I felt a really strong impulse to talk to everyone and create connections,” stated senior Caitlin Matthews. “I knew that since we are now seniors it’s one of my last chances.”  

It’s true that this final Fall Trip was particularly sentimental. Even though this year’s trip was just as humid and involved just as many mosquitos as previous Fall Trips, I can tell we all tried to savor the experience and each other more. More people were going out of their way to make conversation with unfamiliar people and many new friendships were made. For the last time, we experienced the good and bad together.