Four perspectives captured during the Honors trip to Washington, Rome and Greece

Kelly McKay, senior English teaching major

Kelly McKay, a senior English teaching major, leaned in closer to study a statue that caught her eye in the Pallazo Massimo museum in Rome.

Marilyn Bisch, an ISU honors and classical studies professor, then told McKay not to lean too close to the statue, so she didn't set off the alarm that surrounded the statue.

Bisch then stuck her camera out to take a picture of the statue, but the camera came too close to the invisible alarm and set it off.

After a few moments of shock from the loud, blaring siren, the two left quickly to avoid the problems that the loud beeping entailed.

"We sprinted out and tried to act all nonchalant," McKay said.

Marilyn Bisch, honors and classical studies professor

After stepping off the Metro train system in Washington D.C., Marilyn Bisch, honors and classical studies professor, and the students who went on the honors trip began a sight-seeing trek from one end of the nation's capitol to the other.

The day-long trek covered many miles amid the Washington Monument, the Capitol Building, and other historic landmarks.

When the day was over, the students were exhausted, with feet hurting from the day's activities.

"It was a lot of walking," Bisch said," but it taught [the students] what kind of shoes to wear."

Cody Hedges, sophomore physics science teaching major

On the island of Mykonos in Greece, Cody Hedges, a sophomore physics education major, sat at dusk, watching the incredibly old windmills spin against the colored sky.

"[It] was just one of those times where everything seems to slow down and you could just sit and stare forever," he said.

As he sat there, he began to realized why his favorite Romantic poets (who wrote poetry in the late 1700s and the early 1800s that focused on nature and emotion) were inspired by the landscape around him.

"I never really understood how they could derive inspiration from such things," Hedges said. "I attribute my lack of understanding from the lack of inspiration I obtained from Clinton [,IN], my hometown. Anyways, after I left Mykonos, I had a deeper understanding of what beauty really was, and I could better connect with the feelings that an artist has when he is inspired."

Linda Maule, honors and political science professor

Honors and political science professor, Linda Maule, and a few other students climbed the steep, mountainous entrance to the Greek island Santorini.

Given the choice between the uphill hike, a tram or a donkey ride to reach the top of the isle, Maule and the others chose the laborious climb for bragging rights.

Eventually, after much toil and dodging the stubborn donkeys, they reached the top but sweaty and winded from the hike.

"We were very proud of [the hike]," Maule said, "but I felt like I was going to die."