Almost every year my family and I take summer camping trips to new and interesting places that we have never been to before. It is a chance for me to explore new places and experience new adventures. For example, when we went to Yellowstone National Park, I learned about what geysers and hot springs are and how the park itself is actually a super volcano and has the possibility to erupt in our lifetimes. Furthermore, when we went on a rafting tour on the Snake River, I learned a lot about the general ecosystem of the park and about different plants and animals I didn't know about before. For instance, I learned about a bird of prey called an osprey and that there are pelicans that live on fresh bodies of water, called White Pelicans. Additionally, during the Spring Break of my eight grade year, my family and I went to Charleston, South Carolina. I learned so much while there because the city is steeped in history and culture. I was able to literally walk on sites where historical events happened, like when my family and I went to Fort Sumter, which was the place were the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Being there was like stepping back in time and experiencing history. Since I am a history buff I loved that trip; with the colonial style homes that had been restored and the cobblestone streets, it was magical. I had never been to the South before that trip and during that trip I found that people in the South lived differently than people in the North, everything seemed to be moving more slowly and at a relaxed pace, and of course they had that Southern drawl.

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