Around noon next Tuesday, Sept. 11, the 42 members of the senior class of the Riley Hickingbotham School of Business, along with five sponsors, will load onto a bus and head to Chicago, Ill. for their annual senior trip.
The Hickingbotham School stands alone among the other schools on campus as being the only one to host its own senior trip. Unlike the senior trip many students enjoy at the end of high school to a vacation spot, this trip is educational in purpose.
“We started the senior trip as a way for our students to participate in something outside the normal classroom experience involving both cultural experiences and work-related experiences,” said Jim Rothwell, the assistant dean of the school of business. “This is the second year for the trip and … [is] coordinated and conducted by Francis Custom Tours here in Arkadelphia. On all of these trips we travel with two of their representatives, on their tour bus, with their professsional driver.”
Nicole Jones is a senior attendee on the trip.
“During the trip we will be going to many different businesses and touring their company and getting a better understanding of what they do within their company,” said Jones. “We will be going to many different places and most of them will be large companies that many of us have already heard of and know a little about … This [trip] should be able to relate to many of our classes or things that we have learned. By being business majors, some of us might be doing some of the same things that they are doing later on in life.”
There is no cost to the student; the only money they need bring is for personal souvenirs and snacks along the way. According to the itinerary, the students will travel from our campus to Effingham, Ill. on Tuesday. After finishing the trip to Chicago the next morning, they will enjoy a baseball game, and eat at Shaw’s Crab House.
On Thursday, the students’ only full day in Chicago, will be spent at the Chicago Board of Trade, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Morse Automotive Tour and the observation deck of the Hancock Building. Friday will start off with a tour of the Field Museum and Shed Aquarium and end with another overnight stay in Effingham, Ill. The group will return to Arkadelphia on Saturday, Sept. 15.
Jones hopes to take something important away from the trip.
“I hope to gain a better understanding of things that I could do with the community,” Jones said. “I could see this experience helping you decide or figure out what you might want to do with your life.”
In closing, Jones encouraged undergraduate business majors to participate in the senior trip.
“This could maybe benefit you later on in your career, ” Jones said.
