Many people dream of traveling because of the fun of visiting and learning about a new place. According to Reuters, the Transportation Safety Administration screened 904 million air passengers in 2024.
Wilsonville High School offers many opportunities for students to travel and experience the benefits of traveling. Cyndy Moehling, a teacher at Wilsonville High School who leads a trip with students to France, stated, “ [Students] gain a new appreciation for what’s important to them.” She added, “[Students] open their minds to seeing different ways of doing different things, different points of view.”
When students return from trips abroad, they come back with a different mindset than the one they left with. “[They’re] coming back saying, I want to visit another place, I want to go to a college that offers a class so that I can study abroad.” Christian Canales, another teacher at Wilsonville High School, described.
“Getting to know a different culture and [Having] an open mindset to get to know other people from different cultures, it changes perspectives.” Canales explained.
TeachTravel, a travel company specializing in student travel, explains the cultural change between the United States and the rest of the world and allows students to see the diversity that lies within the world in a way that books and media can’t do.
Wilsonville High School offers many different travel opportunities for students. Cindy Moehling and Christian Canales both offer trips. In 2026, they are teaming up to lead a trip to France and Spain. Another opportunity for students is the Oregon Ambassadors of Music trip, where the choir, band, and orchestra travel to Europe and perform.
On these trips, students are exposed to different opportunities that they can pursue. “After this trip, I didn’t have to be limited to staying in Oregon. It made me realize that I can travel the world; I can go out of state, and it’s all okay,” Sophia Pattalochi, a student who traveled with the school, stated.
“This is a great opportunity. I think it’s really good for young people to see the world and [..] experience that with a class,” Pattalochi added.
Student travel can have its negatives, as does anything with benefits. Canales described, “[Students] have never traveled to a big city, or if they don’t have that experience [..] somebody can steal their phone or they can steal their wallets or the passport.” Moehling shared some more negative effects: “There can be travel delays, luggage can get lost.”
Although there are negative aspects, both Canales and Moehling stated that the benefits outweigh the negatives. Student travel is an amazing experience because it has many benefits that will help the students for the rest of their lives.
