Thirtieth semester trip for Honors students

student group picture taken on trip

By: Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director

A tradition initiated in 2008, continued for students of Honors Northeast as they visited a major city, in this case, Fort Worth, Friday, 16 September.  

Those attending, read like a book above, included: Danielle Ison, Victoria Matiz, Sam Pollan, Odalys Adame, Evan Sears, Raul Leija, Michelle Calderon, Adril Gutierrez, Skylar Hodson, Alyssa Ochoa, Skylar Fondren, Monse Rivero, and Keren Valencia. Not shown were the NTCC staff personnel who drove two Enterprise minivans--Phi Theta Kappa/Honors Mentor and Coordinator, Brittany Jones, and Honors Director, Dr. Andrew Yox. 

dining at the Reata
Dining at the Reata

The group rendezvoused first at the Greenville Starbucks, before heading on to Fort Worth Stockyard district, and the stockyard maze.  After an exclusive luncheon in the Reata restaurant of Sundance Square, the group went on to the Kimbell and Amon Carter art galleries.  After returning for some free time in downtown Fort Worth which for some included a look at Fort Worth’s singular water gardens, and another restaurant of choice, the group came together to experience the Four Day Weekend, an improvisational comedy troupe. 

Students and the Comedy Troupe, Four-Day Weekend
Students with the Comedy Troupe, Four-Day Weekend

The patrons of Honors Northeast have made these semester trips possible, most particularly Drs. Jim and Paula Archer.  The Archers have supported liberally every trip, and in the fall of 2020 when a trip was inadvisable because of COVID, they still supported a fun get-together at Daingerfield Park.  In fact, the honors trips are a carryover of an older NTCC tradition, Dr. Archer’s semester reward/culture trips with the chemistry club.
It was an “amazing experience” noted Danielle Ison, a first-year honors student from Harmony. Other comments noted during the day were: “I wish my brother could have experienced this,” “they really have some good art here,” and “Dr. Yox, I ‘ve never watched a comedy troupe before, but this was really funny!”

“These trips have had an amazing, team-building, galvanizing function for honors here through the years,” noted Honors Director, Dr. Andrew Yox. “As I like to say, if we have had an extraordinary program, it is because we have had extraordinary benefactors.”

Stockyard Maze Winners: Alyssa Ochoa and Adri Gutierrez
Stockyard maze winners.