Editor’s note: This is The Bark’s second story on this summer’s Awesome Adam Adventures recipients. The story on Elizabeth Gore can be found here, and stories on those selected from previous years can be found in the archives section.

Spending almost a month of summer studying sounds pretty depressing, but a whole lot less depressing and maybe even a little exciting if that time is spent in another country with a couple of friends.

Jake Grayson had just that experience when the Awesome Adam Adventures scholarship fund graciously helped him travel to the other side of the world to learn from and experience Chinese culture.

“We went to a smaller city called Hongju where we actually had a language and culture study at a university,” Grayson said.

He was with two other Bearden students, Ian Schomer (junior) and Reid Ramsey (senior) that also went through the Chinese Summer Bridge Program.

If asked where they would most like to visit, most teens might respond with some large European city, but China was an easy pick for Grayson.

“The culture has a very rich history and has always fascinated me,” he said.

The same goes for Schomer, who, having never been out of the country before, didn’t really know what to expect but thought it would be a great experience. He wasn’t disappointed.

“I was extremely happy with the trip,” Schomer said. “Probably one of the top 10 best decisions I’ve ever made.”

It wasn’t all studying in a classroom, though. The boys did have chances to learn about the culture firsthand by riding around in rickshaws, eating some scorpions, and seeing part of old Beijing before the whole city gets turned into skyscrapers.

Grayson’s trip extended beyond what the study abroad program offered when his father met him over there, and they explored ruins from the Japanese invasion and hiked Huangshan, one of China’s national parks.

Thanks to the Awesome Adam Scholarship Fund, another BHS student has been provided with an experience of a lifetime.