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(Left to right)Pete Berquist, Joey King, Wayne Riddle, Bella Woodfin, Erika Ward, Lynsey LeMay, and Kyle Crock took a recent geology field trip to San Francisco. (VPCC)<\/p>\n(Left to right)Pete Berquist, Joey King, Wayne Riddle, Bella Woodfin, Erika Ward, Lynsey LeMay, and Kyle Crock took a recent geology field trip to San Francisco. (VPCC)<\/p>\n
HAMPTON\u2014 On a recent weeklong field trip to Northern California, Joey King had the opportunity to learn more about geology, his chosen field of study at Virginia Peninsula Community College. He also had the opportunity to learn more about himself, which he thought was just as important.<\/p>\n
In his VPCC classes, King isn\u2019t afraid to share his thoughts. However, the most challenging part of the trip for King was the willingness to be wrong in front of people he didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really care if I\u2019m wrong in class, but when you\u2019re out in the field \u2026,\u201d he said before pausing. \u201cYou get over it at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n
That attitude led to the best thing about the trip he took with a group of 20 students and instructors from VPCC and Piedmont Virginia Community College<\/a>: examining rock formations with other students and creating a backstory to explain the formations. Once King and his classmates felt confident with their story, they would share their ideas with the instructors and other students, leading to more discussions and more learning.<\/p>\n King grew up in Tennessee and is in his second year at VPCC<\/a>. He\u2019s hoping to transfer to William & Mary<\/a> and continue studying geology. This was his first trip to California. He was nervous at the beginning because he was traveling with a group of people he didn\u2019t know, a situation that forced him to learn even more about himself.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThe first day, I would say I was pretty apprehensive just to see what was going on and what it was going to be like,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce it got going, it was such a cool experience.\u201d<\/p>\n The VPCC contingent consisted of five students \u2013\u00a0 King, Wayne Riddle, Bella Woodfin, Erika Ward and Kyle Cork \u2013 and geology instructors Pete Berquist<\/a> and Lynsey LeMay<\/a>. Arranging the trip was Callan Bentley, an associate professor of geology from Piedmont. The trip was part of a four-credit course through PVCC. Students have met synchronously via Zoom on Tuesdays throughout the semester.<\/p>\n Pairing classroom and hands-on experiences did more than provide King with knowledge.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m exceedingly more confident in being able to tell you the conditions where (a) rock was formed, what that rock was probably made of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Whenever he\u2019s out walking around, he\u2019s always noticing the rocks, trying to identify them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be able to have the experience \u2026 and know that you have practiced these skills and can put these skills to applicable uses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The group flew into San Francisco and stayed in the Marina District the first few days, visiting area beaches, Angel Island<\/a> and Mount Diablo<\/a> state parks. They studied the tectonic history of Northern California. Later in the trip, the group stayed at the Point Reyes National Seashore<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n LeMay took a similar trip as a student but not as an instructor. For her, the best part was watching the students as they saw firsthand the things they had talked about in the classroom.<\/p>\n \u201cHere in Coastal Virginia, we talk a lot about igneous and metamorphic rocks and deformation processes,\u201d she said. \u201cBut if we go outside our door, we don\u2019t see those.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, they study pictures, graphs and diagrams.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be able to lay your eyes on these outcrops and to start making sense of these global-scale processes, just to see all the wheels turning and all these ideas ignite, that was the best part,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n LeMay, who noted it\u2019s also valuable for faculty, said the experience will help students in more than just academic ways.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the type of stuff they could write on applications, of getting real-world field experiences and networking with other scientists,\u201d she said, adding a couple of scientists joined them on part of the trip to help them understand aspects of the topography.<\/p>\n Creating those opportunities for students can have a lasting and meaningful impact on immediate futures and potentially trajectories, LeMay said.<\/p>\n King agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s only so much we can see here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was really cool to go see those rock formations with people who are so knowledgeable.\u201d<\/p>\n LeMay pointed out one other benefit: the camaraderie that develops on these trips, whether long or short.<\/p>\n \u201cI recognize my bias in this, but getting students outside to see things, and with each other, the wheels start turning, you become fast friends with those around you, and it changes the whole educational atmosphere,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n As King learned, that education extends beyond the classroom topics to personal growth.<\/p>\n