It seems hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, I had the best and most remarkable experience of my life. Earlier this month, my 8th grade class and I went on a week-long field trip to Yosemite National Park. It was a very new and exciting experience for me, because this was my first time ever going to a famous national park with my friends. I had heard a lot about the fun adventures in Yosemite from my sisters, who previously attended this field trip. Needless to say, I was really looking forward to my experience.

We began our trip with a tiring six-hour long bus ride to Yosemite National Park on Sunday morning. However, our chaperones played movies and games with us on the way to keep us occupied. Once we arrived at our destination, we had to unload our luggage from the bus and move into our cabins. This was an embarrassing moment for me because my bags were the largest and the heaviest of all; I had definitely over packed for the trip. My classmates friends Aaron and Daniel and I stayed in a cabin in Curry Village. After unpacking, we all had to assemble with our hiking groups and our chaperones; these groups were going to be our counterparts for the entire week. I hoped that during the trip, I would be able to make new friends with my group and form a special bond with them.

For the rest of the week, our groups began exploring different but truly amazing aspects of Yosemite, and recorded our discoveries and our daily summaries in our Yosemite journals. Our NatureBridge instructor, Dave, was a very polite and funny man, and he helped us move around to these areas. In particular, one site we visited on Monday was “Oh My Gosh!” rock. It took us the entire day to hike up five miles to this peak; this was a huge challenge for us, especially on our first day, but with some perseverance we finally made it. On the way to the peak, we chose different group leaders to help us on the way and discovered certain aspects of nature such as oak and pine trees. As we ate our lunch while looking at a beautiful view of the valley, I felt amazed by how the park looked from where I was standing. The mountains and trees had different colors on them and the atmosphere felt very fresh and calm. Once we got to “OMG “ rock, I could easily understand the title because it actually made me exclaim it. The view was beautiful with large slopes and waterfalls and this reminded me of how nature has a great effect on all of us. Without a doubt, this was one of my favorite sites at Yosemite.

Not only did we spend the majority of our days at Curry Village, but we also stayed at another area called Crane Flat, which—unlike Curry Village—was filled with snow. The cabin that I stayed in was so large that it could fit 10 to 15 people inside. I loved Crane Flat because not only did we get to see stunning views of nature, we also got to play in the snow with the other hiking groups. Everyone threw snowballs at each other and built snowmen—it was a lot of fun. Most of sites we visited were mainly slopes, but we had fun on the slopes by partnering up with one of our group mates to make a new kind of species out of snow; my partner and I created a bunny-rabbit with fake wings.

On our last day at Crane Flat, I experienced one of the most life-changing events with my group: the Spider Caves. The Spider Caves were a large group of giant boulder caves that were brought together from rocks falling from a mountain. Our challenge was to get through the caves, however, the cave was very dark and none of us knew the way. Luckily, Dave told us not to panic and drew out a map for us. He assigned us to be responsible of somebody in the group and telling them what we felt in the cave so we could make sure that everyone was safe. I was responsible for our chaperone, Mr. Rogers. After a few minutes, all of us got into the cave. Before going inside, I did not think that it was going to be bad. But as soon as I got in, I was very scared, as I could not see anything and was worried that I would not come out of the cave. Luckily, my group-mates noticed how scared I was and decided to help me along the way by giving me warnings of what to look out for. After I got out of the cave, I sensed a new change in myself. I felt more responsible and brave since my greatest fear was being in the dark. I was so happy about this that I could not wait to tell my family when I got back.

A few days later, all of us left from Yosemite National Park. I was very sad to leave because I enjoyed such a great time with my friends and my group. I learned a lot about nature, how important it is to preserve nature, and even a little about myself. In addition, I learned how a good leader is responsible and caring for others and we should all have courage when we are facing our challenges. I really had a lot of fun at Yosemite and I hope to visit this beautiful park again soon.