Frog Camp goes international...all the way to London, England

Fort Worth, TX

7/21/2008

A group of incoming TCU freshmen have recently returned from a student orientation session that was different from all those that have come before in the University’s history.  For the first time, Frog Camp went international … all the way to London, England.  And this particular batch of new Horned Frogs was tapped to go because they are signed on for the challenging academics of the TCU Honors Program.
Thirty students made the July 1-8 trip, along with Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr., administrators and faculty from the Honors Program and experienced Frog Camp facilitators from Student Development Services.

Frog Camp has always been designed to introduce freshmen to what college is all about in general, and what makes TCU special in particular.  It’s fast-paced and focused, serious team-building activities mixed with some crazy, friend-making fun.  By the time it’s over, new students have bonded with each other and with TCU faculty and staff whom they’ll encounter during their next four years on campus.

Although TCU offers a selection of domestic three-day Frog Camp experiences each summer (from “roughing it” outdoors in Colorado to building an inner-city Habitat for Humanity house), camping across the pond provided activities with a distinctly British flair.   Planners were careful to construct a lineup of experiences appropriate for 18-year-olds just out of high school, carved out of busy days and nights that left minimal free time.

“Some days were heavy on tourism, some focused on relaxation,” says Dr. Ron Pitcock, assistant director of the Honors Program, who oversaw the itinerary.  With accommodations in Bloomsbury off Russell Square, the group ventured out each day to the major attractions and landmarks in and around the city.  Special outings included tickets to see “Wicked” in the London theater district and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and dinner at Dans le Noir, where guests eat in total darkness and all the waiters are vision-impaired.

There were rides on the London Underground, a boat trip down the Thames River to Greenwich, museum tours and plenty of walking.  Pop culture wasn’t left out as Frog Campers visited the “James Bond Exhibit” at the Imperial War Museum and chose excursions from a list that included a Harry Potter Tour, high tea, Beatles’ Abbey Road, Notting Hill, shopping and Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

Organizers made sure students kept their academic skills honed by assigned brief presentations to three-person groups who researched their topics and offered some background information before certain tour stops (the British Museum, Trafalgar Square, Harrod’s Department Store, St. Paul’s Cathedral, etc.).

Dr. Pitcock recalls his favorite moment of the week was a late-night trek down to the Embankment on the Thames.  “The students were at full sprint and suddenly came to a full stop as we turned a corner and there was London laid out before us … St. Paul’s, the bridges, Big Ben tolling,” he says. “It made a huge impression, having the city all to themselves.”

Besides the memorable experiences at an international Frog Camp, the TCU Honors Program figures to reap benefits it’s never had before. “We now have 30 honors students who are starting college with connections to each other and to TCU Honors professors,” according to Dr. Pitcock. “And that is something that has never happened before.”