By ANDREW AVERY

The Mirror reporter

Most students think that a field trip is just an excuse to miss school for a couple of days but not at the Gustavus Adolphus college campus in St. Peter, MN, the site of the Nobel Conference which 21 SPASH students had the opportunity to attend on Sept. 27-28 this year.

The Nobel Conference lasted two busy days as students attended seven lectures, multiple question and answer sessions and several panel discussions. Every year a different topic is discussed at the Nobel Conference.  This year’s topic was “Researching Economic Balance” and some world class speakers came and gave speeches about “cutting edge” issues.

That emphasis interested senior Hannah Sims. “I’m going into business after high school, I thought it would be informational.”  She added, “I took away a lot of information about economics, politics, business, and some studies on the human brain.”

The debates that take place during the conference are a favorite for students. “Their points of view all collided, but they all made sense,” junior Leif Akemann said.

The other students that attended the conference feel the same way. “You’re listening to probably some of the smartest people in their fields talk about it and its very unique,” said junior Andrea Cherney.

Attendee Quinn Casey said, “It definitely educated me about different ways of looking at the economy. There were lot of different ideas about solving issues like income inequality in America.

“I would highly recommend the trip, if you’re willing to be a little sleep deprived. I’ve always had a great time both learning from the lectures and spending time with my friends.”

The students that went to the conference were Akemann, Trevor Bond, Madeleine Burch, Casey, Cherney, Claire Girod, Alyssa Grawey, Kathryn Hicks, Olivia Jascor, Jenna Menadue, Tori Nieman, Caitlin Plaisance, Naomi Ptak, Erik Peotter, Kaleb Ridgeway, Emily Seppelt, Rachel Simonis, Sims, Samantha Strook, Erin Tschida and Sam Williams.

This trip was put together and led by science teacher Vic Akemann.

“I’m very happy to take students to the conference every year. So many important topics are discussed and I only wish more students could come and hear these speeches.” Akemann said.