In the very early hours of Friday 21 October, with the echoes of House Music and Drama still in the air, twenty-one students from Upper VI made their way to Heathrow airport to embark on a 4-day psychology trip to Vienna.
After some mid-flight snoozing and a token minor airport drama, we arrived safely at the hotel ready for a guided tour of one of Europe’s most liveable cities which helped us get our bearings for the trip before dinner and an early night.
On Saturday we visited the Sigmund Freud Museum where our tour guide took the fascinating area of psychodynamic psychology far beyond the scope of the IB and A-level specifications. This gave the students deeper insight into this influential area of psychology as well as an awareness of the historical factors that influenced it through examination of a treasure trove of Freudian artefacts.
Next, we headed to the Narrenturm (or Fool’s Tower) which was the first building in Europe built to accommodate the insane. Now a museum, this visit helped students to appreciate the conditions that early mental health patients had to endure and added more context to some of the topics studied in Upper VI. It also provided further enrichment for those that study biology – the wax faces in particular!
Saturday concluded with a trip to the famous Prater – A large amusement park and a landmark giant wheel dating from 1897.
Sunday began with a relaxing boat cruise on the Danube Canal, followed by a visit to Vienna Zoo which is not only the world’s oldest, but also winner of Europe’s best zoo in 2008, 2010 and 2012.
The venue for dinner on our final night was Vienna’s Hard Rock Café, where we celebrated the end of a successful trip.
On Monday morning we visited the famous museum quarter and the students had time to
themselves to explore the city one last time, buying souvenirs, enjoying Sachertorte and coffee and getting their step counts to well over 10,000 for the fourth day running before an evening flight back to Heathrow.
Psychology research shows that the ability to reach one’s potential is enhanced by the willingness to step away from the intensity of work in order to engage, with equal intensity, in something else entirely. In doing so, one can return to their chosen field with renewed focus and vigour. We feel that this is one of life’s great lessons and we hope that after engaging so brilliantly on this trip, our psychology students (who were superb ambassadors for The Abbey School) will find this holds true for them too as they re-engage with their important work in their final year.