Hefur A?A? einhver t ma veri A? A?slandi?

Have you ever been to Iceland?

This summer, a group of FHC students took a trip there that would stay with them for their entire lives.

“When I first saw Iceland, I was in absolute awe,” sophomore Kaylyn Whitten said. “The landscape was absolutely breathtaking, and it just seemed like such a magical place. The countryside was beautiful, and even the city was full of bright colors. The countryside is littered with these purple flowers, and almost everywhere you look you can see some large hill or a mountain of some sort.”

The trip, which was lead by biology teachers Kristi Butler and Patti Richardson, took FHC students to Iceland to broaden their horizons and study the many amazing geological features Iceland has to offer.

“Mrs. Richardson and I both really believe that travel opens your world a little,” Butler said. “It’s really easy to stay within your comfort zone, but global travel helps you learn so much more about yourself and about other cultures. I really think that kind of changes your perspective on a lot of things. I think it really opens up a global perspective.”

They believe the trips are an important part of growing up and learning to follow your own path in the world. Although school is mainly math, English, history, and science, a big part of school, which isn’t stressed in the classroom, is the social and psychological aspect. Many important life lessons aren’t learned in the classroom, but outside of school and on trips such as this.

“I think it’s important to allow yourself to be outside of your comfort zone a little bit and to take some risks,” Butler said. “So we had students that tried a lot of different foods that they may have never tried before, do some different things that they might not have done before, and allow themselves to be with other groups of people that they may not be super comfortable with.”

Iceland has a plethora of amazing views, and the FHC students got to see many of them. One that all of them will remember forever is the glacier walk they went on. In 2010, the active volcano in Iceland erupted leaving behind mountains of ash which mixed into the glaciers, creating quite the interesting landscape.

“The ash got everywhere, so the glacier looked like chocolate-chip ice cream because the ash is mixed in,” sophomore Rachel Douma said. “And at the bottom, instead of snow, there’s a giant, almost beach of ash.”

From glaciers to black sand beaches, these students had a very full week of adventuring. One of the other things they got to experience was Iceland’s capital city, Reykjavik.

“It’s just a cute little European town,” Rachel said, “with ice cream and little shops everywhere”

While getting to see Iceland’s amazing views and experience its intriguing culture was a great part of the trip, coming closer to other FHC students was also a unique part of this experience.

“My favorite part of the trip was how much the kids got out of it,” Butler said. “We always take a before picture at the airport and then an after [picture] when we get home. The kids really got to know each other. They got to become closer friends or new friends even.”

From walking glaciers, to eating Puffin, to studying Iceland’s amazing geology, theses students got to experience it all. The memories and friends that they made on this trip will stay with them forever.

“The trip was the trip of a lifetime,” Kaylyn said. “It was amazing to see such a distant place and to experience the culture of the country. The people were super friendly, and everything the tour company had us do was amazing. The sites we got to see were gorgeous, such as the waterfalls and the black sand beaches. Overall, it was an amazing experience that I know I will remember for the rest of my life.”

SjA?umst A? A?slandi!