Joe Mueller is an active, adventurous senior at Memorial High School who has always enjoyed being outdoors. Taking Advanced Ropes at Memorial High School was a no-brainer for him.

“I was really excited about this class because of all the cool stuff we get to do outdoors and to be able to have access to climbing is something I was really interested in learning more about,” Joe shared. “One thing I really appreciated about our field trip to Horizons was the group of people that we went with, and the venue was just super unique. Our trip to Horizons was very different from what my day-to-day life is like. I really enjoyed it when we spent time meditating and reflecting on the cliffs. It was great to get out of the normal things I typically do. It’s something I am going to continue to prioritize in my life as it was very relaxing and enjoyable.”

“When you do a field trip like this, you are forced to work with other people, and you need other people. This is a skill that comes naturally on the ropes course. You learn to rely on and trust each other,” shared Joe. “For any school looking to do a field trip to Bethel Horizons, it really will help your students build better relationships with each other.”

I was thankful to spend some time with Joe and his class during their visit to Horizons. I was extremely impressed with how they articulated their experiences, shared stories of the friendships that have developed, and how being a part of an Adventure Challenge class has helped them grow as individuals by taking risks and overcoming challenges that made them uncomfortable.

Thank you to all those who support the Adventure and Environmental Education programming at Horizons through donations and/or participation in the upcoming Bike-A-Thon on June 1st, so that we can continue to provide affordable transformational experiences for students.