Walking With Connections

First starting at DePaul and not knowing much about Discover and Immersion Week, I wasn’t sure what to think other than the general idea of “Discovering Chicago.” I vividly remember the first day walking out the doors of The Arts and Letter Hall and feeling the cool wind hit my body and rush down my spine. In this flash I had a rush of feelings almost as if I became one with nature. During this flash my feet sunk into the ground and I knew there was an instant connection that had a direct correlation to getting a better understanding of everything around me. If I’m being completely honest, I never really walked anywhere because I was privileged enough to have a car. It’s not the fact that I didn’t enjoy walking, it was solely the fact that it was just much more convenient and less effort to drive. But, in this moment of being outside that all seemed to change. Walking down the block soon changed my perspective of walking and how you just get so much more immersed into everything surrounding you as opposed to driving.

Arriving at our first destination, the John Hancock I wasn’t so sure what to expect at first other than an ordinary “beautiful city view” but it was more than that. It’s one thing to just look at something like a nice view and it’s a whole new experience to break it all down and connect your thoughts in your mind to physically writing it on paper. Sitting at the top floor just peacefully looking out reminded me of when I first saw the Chicago skyline driving down Lake Shore Drive. I vividly remember doing this with one of my closest friends because I was in awe as to how beautiful all the skyscrapers lit up the night.

Before I knew it, the next day came around hearing my alarm in the morning “waaa waaa” I can comfortably say that I was actually excited. Today we were going to Hyde Park, a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. Ok so now that I’ve said that, maybe I wasn’t as excited, but this was solely because I grew up in a suburb that for the most part was safe and I had always grown up hearing to not go to the South Side of Chicago because of violence and gangs. Hearing this my whole life I never really understood the fact that this was just a horrible judgement because after exiting the train in Hyde Park I realized that not all parts of the South Side of Chicago are bad. If I’m being completely honest, I am not even so sure as to what gave me the feeling of comfort, maybe it was the way the people in the community treated each other that I connected with the most. In the end, I very pleased with coming to the realization that walking is something so special, and it’s an amazing way to connect to your community.
