Education is the greatest weapon we can use to attain success. For this reason, the Cagayan State University College of Engineering provides high standard of education to the students with the incorporation of field trip/ seminars in the curriculum. By conducting the educational tour, it can help them to be more knowledgeable and familiar with the things that are related to their course. Objectives of the Tour: * To expose to adventures, discoveries and experience of tourist destinations.
* To gain firsthand knowledge on their major. * To learn a type of social behavior. To observe a particular environment that will give them firsthand experience with what they’re learning. * To bond with each other and also learn how to behave in a different type of social situation, which can be very beneficial for some students. Significance of the Tour Educational tour gives us ideas likewise opportunity to visit power generating plants to be able to experience what it’s like to be there. Moreover, it is important to every student since it is a part of our learning process and to acquire more knowledge through the actual exposure o the different machines and equipments and system operations of the plant.
The Educational Tour: A Narrative Last January 18, 2013, we, the fifth year students together with our professor went to Ilocos Norte to visit the mini-hydro power plant in Pagudpud and the wind turbine generating plant in Bangui. We departed from our rendezvous point which is our school gate at 5 in the morning through a hired bus. We traveled up north passing different towns. We had a lot of short “stop overs” because many of us wanted to urinate because of the cold weather.
We reached Magapit Bridge and bought some snacks because some of us haven’t had breakfast. Then we continue our travel and reached Sta. Praxedes, or is it Abulug. There we had our breakfast. We stayed there for almost half an hour before we continue to Ilocos. Ascending and descending the long and winding road, we were excited to get a sight of the sea from above. We arrived at our first destination – the mini-hydro power plant. We were welcomed by their resident engineers and explained to us the operation of the plant. They even asked if we have some questions so they can explain better.
Then we began our tour around the plant. The engineer on-duty explained the different machines and equipments and their operations. We took a lot of photos of the equipments. We were amazed at the different control boards there was. After staying there for almost an hour, we proceeded to our next destination – the Windmills. After some time of traveling, we arrived and saw the gigantic, white-coated windmills. There are 20 of it. They are so big you can’t imagine how they built those windmills. Again, we have some picture taking of the windmills and the beach.
Some of us bought miniature windmills for souvenirs and even shirts. We roamed the area and enjoyed the sight. The waves are tall and the wind was strong. Some of the windmills have blades turning but some were not. It was already noon so decided to leave and went to Pagudpud Beach to have our lunch. It was raining but not that strong. We finished our lunch and some of us went to have a swim and enjoy the scenery. It was awesome! We stayed for maybe a couple of hours but the weather didn’t improve. Our professor decided that we have to go.
We dropped him somewhere in Abulug and only we students continued our journey home. Inside the bus, we had a lot of fun. Hours passed and we arrived at our school and we went our separate ways. I can say that we enjoyed this field trip so much that we want to go to one again. We had acquired knowledge at the same time having fun. Kudos to our professor! Conclusion Educational tour is extremely important to the student for the reason that we can gain knowledge, ideas and develop our personality by observing and to see the actual way of it. This tour showed us our possible future field of work.
This tour provided us with the break we needed from school but still learning. Given the opportunity, we would like to go back there again. Because this educational tour is a part of the College of Engineering goals of innovation and responsiveness in finding new ways of learning to help the Electrical Engineering students to be equipped with the knowledge and skills required to meet the increasing demand of electrical engineers and also seeks to prepare the students for a possible career. Thank you to our professor, Engr. Salvador Peralta, for this memorable experience.
