For those who don’t know, the band, orchestra, and choir students in the high school went to Fredonia in mid-April. Everyone was excitedly planning and preparing all week, getting assignments for the day we missed. The weekend was exhilarating, and I decided to turn it into a before-and-after travel piece.
I interviewed mostly juniors and seniors, as well as the three ensemble teachers. Some before the trip, and some after, to get their opinions on the experience and how they personally felt.
I know myself personally, it was a great experience, and I took many, many pictures and made a lot of memories. I got to spend some much-needed time with friends and learned a lot from our master class and option classes. I learned a bit about baseball from classmates and ate some good food. And, of course, I really enjoyed the trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Zoo, even though it rained part of the time.
Departure: The Pre-Trip Hype
When interviewing teachers and students beforehand, I picked two seniors and a junior: Giovanni Parent, Madilyn Law, and Max Fuller. And the orchestra teacher, Mrs. Judge, was interviewed as she was on the trip with us.
As two seniors, Madi and Gio have already chosen where they want to go for college, but decided to come on the trip to spend time with friends, and they had gone before. And Max had gone for the zoo, because who wouldn’t want to see animals?
“I love my friends in the music department, and I went on the trip last year. Last time we did it sophomore year, and it was really fun, so I’m hoping it’s just as fun,” Madi stated.
As for what they were looking forward to, both said the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, while Max said the baseball game, being a big Red Sox fan.
Mrs Judge also came on the trip, and she was really excited in the weeks leading up to it—planning, packing, and hyping it up.
“I have basically put the trip together. I’m just trying to figure out how many layers of clothes I need for the ball game.”
Along with the planning, she’s been convincing students of this for months. I wasn’t going to go until she convinced me. And she’s been talking about the university a lot, telling her students how she went there and how excited she was to return after not being back for years.
I’d heard from students about the trip before and after the trip to really get insight into their personal experiences. But what actually happened on the trip?
Stop 1: The Workshops At Fredonia
Each student on the trip chose two classes to take at Fredonia, either from students or professors, before the trip started.
We split the classes into one-hour sessions. While Fiddling and Conducting met for only one hour (1 or 2 pm), the other classes—Composition, African Drumming, the Sound Recording Tour, and the Masterworks Observation—met at both 1 and 2 pm.
I personally took the Fiddling class at 1 pm and the Sound Recording Tour at 2 pm after we toured the college. The college is very pretty, with a perfect mix of old brick and newer concrete buildings.
The classes themselves were interesting. I learned a lot about memorizing shorter songs and about mixing music to make it my own. And I got to learn a bit about the professor from the Sound Recording Tour, and he’s a cool person. He spoke a lot about his past experiences before coming to Fredonia.
I interviewed Griffin Pipes after we got back from the trip, and he attended the Masterworks Observation. “It was weird because it was a bunch of people singing in German, and then we all just kind of sat in the corner.”
And Isabelle Rae attended the African Drumming class, stating that there was a lot of tempo matching and that it was difficult to stay together.
Stop 2: Guardians Game Day
And now for the fun stops. After we left Fredonia, we went to the Guardians game in Cleveland, Ohio. It was zero to zero for most of the game; only during the seventh inning did the Guardians start to win any points against the Baltimore Orioles.
It was two-and-a-half hours of gameplay, and the Guardians lost the game. But it was really fun—lots of eating stadium food and hanging out with friends. I definitely needed that quality time with friends after the last few months.
With it being my friends’ and my junior year, we’re extremely busy getting ready for exams and, of course, college prep. But this trip was desperately needed to catch up and take the pressure off our shoulders for the weekend.
We took tons of photos, and I learned a bit about baseball from a friend because I kept jumping up whenever the other team got a run. And then Mrs. Judge replied, “That wasn’t our team…” So it was an eventful night, especially since we stayed overnight in Cleveland.
We got to the hotel late. And my roommates and I stayed up until 1 am, which caused a nap midday on Saturday.
Overall, the game was alright. Not the losing part, but the experience itself. I’ve never stayed an entire baseball game before. I usually complained about bees or it being too bright. But with the game being later in the afternoon, I actually had a really good time.
Stop 3: Long Live Rock
After a “lovely” night of sleep and a filling breakfast Saturday morning, we headed out of the hotel with our bags to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s basically a giant glass pyramid, and it’s a maze of escalators.
The bottom floor is absolutely huge; a lot bigger than you would expect. Filled with costumes that performers have actually worn and documents, letters, and the original score of music from famous artists ranging from Elvis to Taylor Swift.
The second level is all the rooms for playing instruments. It was filled with rooms to play guitars and drum sets, and there was a small, functional sitting room where you could chill for a break. The rest of the floors are similar, showcasing more outfits, costumes and artefacts from the artists.
We all had a blast looking at music at its finest. Watching videos on big screens, making music, and admiring the intricate, beaded outfits that told their own individual stories.
Stop 4: The Final Roar
Lastly, we arrived at the Cleveland Zoo. It was an interesting enough place, but we didn’t see many animals. My friend and I went to see the monkeys and fish, while some went to feed the giraffes, including Mrs. Judge.
We saw some animals on our hike to the park’s aquatic area, including kangaroos, elephants, and lemurs. Then decided to take the tram back down because the walk up was tiring.
Unfortunately, we ended up being late to the zoo, only having about an hour to an hour and a half. But what we did see was cool. Good food too. Then came the long four-hour drive home, which wasn’t as loud as the previous day, except for the game of Among Us that went around the front of the bus.
The Encore: Reflection
Once we arrived home on Saturday, everyone had the rest of the weekend to unwind before school on Monday. I spent the week getting interviews from friends and Mrs. Judge after they had their day of reflection.
It was a very fun trip for the 36 hours we were gone. And many of us had some memorable experiences. Lily Barstow commented that after the trip, she was now considering Fredonia as a possible college. And although the yearly tuition is a bit expensive, it’s worth looking into.
The classes we took were definitely interesting. Surprisingly, many students took the African Drumming Class and really enjoyed it. I wasn’t interested, but it was interesting that so many students chose it as their favourite moment at the college.
Although the Cleveland Guardians lost the game we attended, it was an amazing memory. I’ve never been a fan of baseball games. I would complain about the heat and the bees, but everyone had such a great time. The food wasn’t horrible, and we all got really into the experience.
As for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we all expected that to be fun, and it was. Seeing all of the costumes and items from artists right in front of our eyes was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Most people don’t even get to see them in person. Watching everyone have the time of their lives was extremely rewarding. And the zoo was just as I said: kind of short and not out of the ordinary. But it was fun nonetheless.
Overall, I’m glad I went. I wasn’t originally going to because I didn’t want to miss one day of school, especially with APs coming up at the beginning of May. But I didn’t think of school once on the trip, and I had a wonderful time.
