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If you had to choose between a trip to Walt Disney World and get behind the scenes business information etc on a school DECA trip or a trip to Spain with your Spanish Club...which would you choose? If you've done anything like either of these with your school please tell me about the experience!
If the family were a fruit, it would be an orange, a circle of sections, held together but separable - each segment distinct. ~Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Married Bio
Re: Choices re: school trips
SPAIN! No questions there.
I went on a school trip to Washington DC in the 8th grade. It was fantastic. Nothing but good memories. No matter which she chooses you can't go wrong.
Spain! I did Germany in HS and loved it. So much so that in college I spent 5 weeks of one summer back in Germany studying there. I am SO glad I did that. Never again in my life will I be able to do something like that again.
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I went to Germany on a school trip the summer after freshman year of HS. LOVED!
However, I'm a huge Disney freak, and to see the behind the scenes would be amazing!
Tough Choice, but I think I'd have to go with Spain.
Bazinga!
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Shawn and Larissa
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I would love to send her on both but don't think it would be fiesable. SR yr is so expensive with sr. pics, college app fees, dances, cap/gown etc for graduation, and if she does a competitive cheer team again there is no way we can do both trips.
I get the international experience (it does seem like a nobrainer) but the Disney one is a mgmt training thing that would help her in future jobs and she currently wants to study marketing. Her dad went w/ a company and still uses skills he learned there.
Married Bio
Spain.
I went to Disney with the girlscouts and did a lot of the behind the scenes stuff with the business and science (at Epcot). I'd pick Spain over that anyday. I think traveling outside the US and seeing other cultures is way more informative when your a teen.
Are you united with the CCOKCs?
I would absolutely expect her to help pay in some way
My France trip was paid for by a summer job. My Europe trip was paid for by music department fundraisers. My parents didn't spend a dime on either trip.
~Working Mom~Breastfeeding Mom~Cloth Diapering Mom~BLW Mom~
Blog - No Longer on the DL ~ The Man Cave
Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
Honestly, I'd go with Spain. I had the privilege of going to Europe for 3 weeks in HS and it was an amazing trip.
I was also the VP of my DECA chapter. I competed at regional and state and participated in the leadership training program at the national conference that year. It was a great experience but, in the terms of epic life experiences, Europe definitely wins.
I was a marketing major in college. As much fun as DECA was, I don't really think it did all that much to help me with my career. Crap, I came out of college and ending up doing an accounting job.
I think you daughter will have many more opportunities to help her gain experience in marketing but few great adventures like Spain would offer.
SPAIN!!!
<><
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Could she earn the money herself for one or both trips (or could it be a loan from you, that has to be paid back)? She could babysit, dog-walking/pet sitting, lawn mowing, snow shoveling, summer job, etc? I know I learned a ton from the jobs I did in HS.
I just talked with her and she went to the DECA trip meeting and she has made her own decision that she's not interested. Love your input though ladies it's great to hear of experiences you had.
L-I agree she will have to help pay for sure and I'm sure there will be fundraisers.
Married Bio
I too would lean towards international travel.
I think I'd get the full itinerary for the Disney trip and find out how much of it is really education focused and go from there.
If she really wants to study marketing in college and there is going to be a heavy marketing focus on the Disney trip I do think I might lean in that direction due to the practicality of the application of the experience - particularly if it's the kind of thing that goes on a resume. Disney is an interesting study in a very unique business structure and corporate environment but I'm not sure it's going to be a lot about marketing in the pure sense of the word.
Along those lines though - research both trips.
Google the company they're using and other parent's reviews of the trips. We've done 2 European trips and while both had itineraries chock full of educational stuff the realities were quite different. One was very structured and educational while the other was just a chance to go hang with his buddies without any parents around for 10 days on a VERY expensive vacation.
Also check the BBB. While anything Disney lets thru their doors is bound to be legit we were quite disturbed to learn all kinds of nasty stuff about a pre-med conference my junior was "invited" to over the summer.
Do your homework either way.
Bottom line... which does SHE want to do and more importantly what are HER reasons behind the choice. If she's wanting to do the one that all of her pals are doing I'd encourage her to look a bit deeper into her own motivations. Not saying there's anything wrong with a senior trip that's a really fun time but when finances are tight and futures are in the making it helps if she can choose the one that's going to give her the most bang for the buck long term.
We put our foot down on the 2nd Europe trip (mainly because we're just not the random "send my kid to Europe every year willy nilly" kinda parents) but he went anyway because his Mom paid for most of it. His reasoning behind wanting to go was "because Charlie's going" (his BFF). I think we all learned an important lesson when he came home from that trip and literally could not tell us the names of the places he took photos of when he was just there days before. He learned nothing from that 2nd trip but he had a really fun time! Plenty of pictures of him with his buddies in the hotel rooms, at cafes, a friend doing parkour stunts all over Europe, etc.
With his first trip he came home telling us all about every place they went, the history behind everything and he knew a lot about the art of different periods in the places he had been. It was just a much more educational trip for him. Not clear if that's because they had better guides or if it's because he actually slept and kept curfew on that trip such that he could pay attention and absorb what he was learning/seeing better.
Total score: 6 pregnancies, 5 losses, 2 amazing blessings that I'm thankful for every single day.
Spain.
We took trips to DC, NYC, and Toronto, but senior year we went to Scotland and London and it was awesome. Of course we did all sorts of things that we shouldn't have though but that was part of the fun.