An immersive week in Chicago
When I heard of this Discover Chicago course, It really caught my eye. As I was applied to DePaul University, I always wanted to know about the city of Chicago. I wanted to know about the history of it. The history of how it was founded through politically, socially, industrially, and so much. I wanted to explore the area around it and the towns around it. And how these communities formed. And it can be a good start for me to understand my surroundings and where to go and hat are the directions around downtown Chicago and outside of it.
And Immersion week was that. In the spam of a week I walked many miles throughout downtown and more. I get to know my directions and how to use the metro elevated trains and more by myself. And As I walked I was astonished to see the wonderful skyscrapers and the whole urban city. Basically I’m living the city life. Even observing the whole city in the skyscrapers like in the John Hancock tower blew my mind. Not only it blew my mind, I get to know the whole area, like a computer gaining data of a map.
As we finished walking through the main center or downtown area of Chicago, we started to walk beyond that. When people go to a city like New York City or Chicago, they always focus on the center of the city, which is the downtown area of it. They never go beyond that and not think of the communities outside of downtown Chicago. And that’s why immersive week showed me those areas of Chicago. I’ve learned a lot of about the immigrants that came to Chicago and how throughout the decades, different types of immigrants would come over time and throughout time they would make their little communities. One that I caught my eye was Paseo Boricua, which is a community town of Puerto Rican immigrants that came here. And why this one caught my eye was because I am a Puerto Rican. And I never knew that Puerto Ricans would immigrated to a place like Chicago. And through the walking I see tons of Puerto Rican flags hanged around the buildings. I see local shops and restaurants that represents Puerto Rican culture. And many other culture references of Puerto Rico also. And that is the reason why there is much more than just the center of the city. Because there is much more than shows the main picture as you keep journeying through Chicago.
Many people have said this many times; “It’s not about the destination, its about the journey’’. It is what happened as I walked to places like Uptown and learned about the historical buildings like the Aragon building where it was supposedly the origins of Hollywood. And how old Famous actors like Charlie Chaplin used to live around there. This fact is one of a hundred other facts that lie around the city of Chicago and more. And this shows the capabilities of journeying across the city. Which is gaining the knowledge about it. Facts like these can bring people together more than just the center of Chicago. It can help communities outside gain tons of support and attention and making Chicago much more important than it ever was. Knowledge is key as you progress you journeys through Chicago. And with that knowledge can bring tremendous potential.
