A lifelong learning program offering classes for adult learners at Bradley University takes its students on local, regional, and international educational trips.
Bernie Drake is the Learning Trips chair for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute [OLLI] at Bradley. He said educational travel is the program's most popular learning experience.
“Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is set up basically for people who are retired, who want to continue having their mind stimulated and believe that learning is a lifelong thing, not just something you do for the four years you're in college,” he said.
Drake said OLLI focuses on local educational experiences.
“We find a business or an organization or something that's going on in the Peoria area that we think people would like to know more about and we go to that business, or we go to that organization and spend a couple hours with them, and then we always have lunch,” Drake said.
In addition to local trips, Drake said OLLI plans international trips that can last up to two weeks called Traveling Braves.
“For instance, our next Traveling Braves trip we're booking for is going to Croatia” he said, “And again, they're educational trips. They're not two-week trips where you go shopping and you go to the shore, to the beach and you lay on the beach. These are learning trips.”
Drake said other locations the Traveling Braves have visited are Iceland and Italy, adding OLLI learning trips often are how their students become more involved in lectures and study groups.
For more information on the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Bradley University, visit the organization's page on the Bradley University website.
