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| Chris (left) and Joe (right) - supposed leaders for next semester's UbiDubbi immersion trip |
Now that all of the Freshmen Rockers and their older (or younger in a few cases) classmates are back from the Spring Outdoor Week trips, reports and opinions are emerging about just how disappointed most were in the Spring 2019 offerings.
"It was a total scam," reports an anonymous participant in the Desert Backpacking expedition. "I don't know what was going on, but it was not a desert trip and they made us go far longer distances than we were originally promised."
Participants on what was advertised as a Latin Immersion trip are similarly disappointed. "Latin," one says, "they advertised it as that but we actually spoke bad English all week." Many other complaints are widespread such as a ban on walking barefoot or running in the back-country or the assignal of a Mercedes-Benz party bus to one of the smallest groups and of cramped and crowded vans to the more popular trips.
This is not to say that the spring trips were entirely bad, as some do report positive experiences, but attention and hope is growing for change next semester in the midst of promised reforms to the Outdoor Program at WCC.
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| COR Expeditions - the Spring/Fall Outdoor Weeks at WCC |
For starts, many have already signed up in advance for the UbiDubbi language immersion trip to be led by Chribistobopheber and Joboebe. Rinju is gathering interest for an "explore the prison system" trip, and great interest is also found in reports that there will be a "Dinner Trip" with rock climbing opportunities in McDonald's PlayPlaces around the country.
In addition structural reforms will be made to the program as a whole loosening trip regulations, schedules, and expectations from what is currently described by Washington Sophomore Adam Mcclure as "stifling and unrealistic." while increasing peanut butter and bacon rations on every trip. The OLP plans to release details of the new program regulations and outline possibly as soon as next week and the full list of improvements is eagerly anticipated.
"I'm thankful that the OLP is learning from the mistakes they made this semester," reports Freshman Tyler Collins of New Jersey. "I don't know why they let things get so bad this semester, but as they're finally saying that they'll make things right, I hope they have the will to actually follow through and do it. As for me I'm excited for the trips next semester, but there's always that the nagging fear that nothing will happen in the OLP bureaucracy."
Tyler plans to do the "Lander Backpacking Experience" trip next fall, a trip planned to be led by Everett Polinski, President here at IIT, assuming the changes go through as planned but Tyler's nagging fear is frightenly corrobated by the fact that while an OLP press release was published saying changes would be made to correct this semester's mistakes, a personal contact Sarah at the OLP said that nothing internally has been said about the changes within the OLP and questions whether this is all "just a stunt" by management to "calm the angry student body".
So, will it happen, terror or excitement?
We're hoping here at IIT that the OLP decides to get serious about fixing what's wrong, and we're sure you think the same to.
Comment below with your concerns about this semester's trip offerings.
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