Educational Trip to USA
The midterm examination season had barely culminated when anxiety for the results was mitigated into epitome of excitement for 82 students as they made preparations to visit the United States of America for an educational and recreational excursion. The main purpose of the trip was to attend a five day robotics course at Kennedy Space Centre, Orlando, Florida.
After a long enervating flight of 16 hours from Mumbai we finally reached America where the next morning after a sumptuous breakfast we made our way to one of the momentous places of NASA- Kennedy Space Complex. Having enjoyed the magnificent infrastructure and touring the place, we began our training program.
The first three days focused on building two different types of robotic rovers- the rembot and the lunarbot and programming it with LEGONXT software. The fourth day was the most interesting as we got a chance to explore the various attractions and buildings in the Space centre such as I-Max movie theatres, astronaut encounter, early space, nature and technology, angry birds, rocket garden, robot scouts etc.
EDU Trip to USAWe also had a once in a lifetime opportunity to have lunch and interact with a shuttle astronaut- Mark Lee. His words enthralled us acquainting us with a lot of information about outer space and taking up astronautics as a career option. On the last day each team tested the robot they built on the mock lunar surface. The five day program concluded with an excellent graduation ceremony where each student received certificates and the winning team was awarded. The following three days were filled with ecstasy of fun and zest as we visited the well admired theme parks of Disney Hollywood Studios, Universal Islands of Adventure and Sea World. The students thoroughly cherished and enjoyed the thrilling moments spent in these sanctified amusement parks.
Our next flight was to the most popular palace in the States- New York. We had a ferry tour of the Statue of Liberty in the island of Manhattan. It was fascinating and a wonderful sight. The people of France gave the Statue to the people of the United States over one hundred years ago in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution. It has now become a symbol of USA and a popular tourist spot. We also did a lot of shopping in Times Square and had a marvellous and splendid view of New York from the top of the famous Empire State Building.
We had an amazing time on the second day at New York which was our final day in America. Our interest in history was manifested with the visit to the Museum of Natural History. We also went to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum which enhanced the joy of our trip as we took photos with world renowned and eminent people we fantasize to meet. We returned to India with emancipated happiness of our Dasara vacation filled with experiences and a sense of gratitude, love and respect towards our esteemed and precious teachers who sacrificed their time for making our trip a remarkable one and took care of us like their own children. It left delightful memories that we can recall as anecdotes of our school life down the timeline.
