Multiple students in the Manitou Springs High School class of 2026 are endeavoring to take senior trips for a variety of reasons. Some feel that money can always be earned back, but lost memories and missed opportunities can’t be made up.
Liam Owens (12) plans to take a senior trip with a friend to Florida with the goal of hunting down an apartment and available jobs in the area to set himself up to officially move there later on. “We’ve got a big list of apartments going on right now, addresses and everything,” he said. “And then after starting that trip we will be touring a bunch and seeing jobs around that area, so that by the time we plan on moving we can apply for them.”
Owens decided on Florida after he took a previous trip and fell in love with the area. “I’m hopeful,” he said. “I feel like it’s going to be good for both of us.”
Additionally, Owens hopes to get some real world experience for his future intended career through this trip because he does not currently plan to attend college after the trip. “I want to open up my own restaurant,” he said. “Maybe some day I’ll go back to school for business management or something.”
Ezra Gervais (12) is taking a senior trip with the intention of moving where he visits as well. He will be traveling through an organization called WWOOF, who pay for food and housing for people who travel to work on farms all around the world. “I was looking at France originally. I’d like to just move to Europe, but France is having so many political issues right now, so I ended up wanting to go to Switzerland,” he said. “It’s almost like the Colorado of Europe because of all the mountains.”
Towards the beginning of the summer, Gervais plans to visit Durango to work before traveling to Switzerland. “I’ll be able to make a good amount of money down there,” he said. “Then, really the only expense of going to Switzerland will be the flight cost. I won’t be paying much working on the farm, since they cover your cost of living. So I’m trying to make it somewhat of a cheap trip, even though Switzerland is like the most expensive country in Europe, but I should be able to balance the cost pretty far.”
Although both of Gervais’s parents attended college, he has no interest in following that path and would much prefer to do something outdoors. “I’m gonna be flying into Bern and then I’ll be going to work on a farm, most likely working with livestock, and doing that for a little while,” he said, “And then I’m going to look for something more permanent.”
Despite the fact that he appreciates the farming lifestyle, he doesn’t intend to continue farming long term. “I’ll probably do something in hospitality,” Gervais said. “I have some connections with some Austrians there, so I’ll probably sort something out with them.”
Gervais is excited for the opportunity to climb the Matterhorn, one of the highest peaks in Europe, and Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps and in all of western Europe.
He is most excited for the cultural environment in Europe. “There’s a much more relaxed lifestyle there,” he said. “They have way better healthcare, way better care for their people and just overall way better quality of life. Even though I’ll be doing some hard labor on the farm, I’ll be able to take time off to enjoy it.”
Sam Duff, a history teacher at MSHS, took a gap year after graduating high school in 2016. “During my gap year, I worked in a hotel, traveled for a little bit, and continued to play soccer for my club,” he said. “Personally, I didn’t feel incredibly ready to venture into that next step of life.”
Duff was always confident that he wanted to be a teacher, and was aware that he would need some kind of secondary education eventually. However, he wanted to feel financially independent before attending college. “College was never something that I wasn’t going to do,” Duff said. “I just wanted to make sure I was ready and prepared for when I started my college experience.”
He feels that his gap year was incredibly beneficial to his development as an adult, and he believes a senior trip can benefit students similarly. “I think that it’s a really good idea anytime you are immersing yourself into a new culture, there’s so much development that happens,” Duff said. “Just speaking off of my experience from when I traveled to Costa Rica, being able to practice Spanish in a different setting was great for me. All students should go out and see the world in a new way.”
