Nothing compares to the feeling you get when you walk out of the school during first period and climb on to the bus to seek adventure and excitement on a field trip that could turn out to be fun or just plain boring. On Oct. 15, we went on one that turned out to be a blast. In was the beginning of first period when we walked out those front school doors to the bus, and I had no idea how this would turn out. It was sure to be a fun day regardless, because I had my best friend Mallory with me.

As the bus pulled away from the school we gained a sense of freedom and slight rebelliousness because we were leaving the school, at the beginning of the day, to have a fun time with no work required. On the way there we decided to keep our talking to a dull roar, but everyone was doing something. Some were talking, some were reading and some were jamming out to there MP3 players and were having a blast before the fun was even suppose to start. Of course, I mean officially start.

Gossip and drama filled the air as we talked about anything and everything, grabbing the seats every now and again as the bus driver drove down the narrow streets of the TJC campus. We finally reached our destination and as we unloaded the bus, we saw our old friend and past editor, Cassie Crawford, who is taking graphic design and photography courses at TJC. We walked to meet up with our tour guide Tamara Haynes – well, trotted really – because Cassie was running 30 minutes late for class.

Mrs. Haynes is a photography instructor at TJC. She walked us into the building and our eyes sparkled with amazement as we looked around us at all the many graphic design projects. One project was poetry made to look like pictures. Others were collages of pictures using different techniques and different ways of developing them.

It was truly amazing; I’ve never enjoyed a field trip as much as I did this one. I love photography so it really sucked me in and sealed the deal. From the lighting, film and photographs, to the smells of the chemicals which were oddly familiar, but could not be placed. It was a fun and wonderful learning experience that will probably help me later in the future if I plan to pursue a career in the photography industry.

It was almost saddening to head home after we stopped off for lunch that this day of fun and joyfulness would come to an end when we pulled into the parking lot of the school. As the bus pulled in, we started to gather our things. When then bus came to a stop, we slowly made our way off the bus and up to Mrs. Melissa Vining’s room, where we would sign a letter of gratitude to the people of TJC for allowing us to take a tour around their wonderful photography facility.