week 6–10.11 — walking + mapping

essay (composition #1)

• In these past 6 weeks I have learned a lot more than I would ever have thought I would. I also walked a lot more than I thought I would. I have made a lot of memorable moments in this class, and overall my main theme that I am taking away is that I should be open to getting out of my comfort zone in the city. From the first day of this class up until now, we have been pushed out of the level of comfort we are used to. Most of us have never lived in the city of Chicago, and this raises feelings of curiosity, but also anxiety. One of my biggest worries about DePaul was public transportation, I admit I was slightly embarrassed that I did not know how it all worked, I hate asking for help. But as I got out of my comfort zone, made friends, I started to learn and ask those around me questions. As time went on I learned my way around the city and felt comfortable enough to start going to places by myself. I loved seeing what the city offers and appreciating my surroundings. For my essay I will write about how discover Chicago made me get out of my comfort zone and all the positives that came with it.

This picture is from immersion week. I loved biking around back in my hometown, but I have never biked in the city, nonetheless rent a city bike either. This is a great example of getting out of your comfort zone by trying something new yet scary. I had such a good time with my friends and learned how to bike around the city.

field guide to Chicago (composition #2)

One of the more funny moments of getting out of my comfort zone was trying to ride the bus without my discover class or a professor for the first time. It was around 5pm, after a day of immersion week ended, and my friend and I made plans to go do errands together. Her and I decided to take the bus, (which I honestly still hate taking) but we ended up getting on the wrong bus. Which was going the completely different direction that we needed to go. We giggled and felt embarrassed. We ended up walking and searched up the correct bus, making a mental note of what to do and what not to do. But honestly I look back and realize it was such a core moment for the both of us and we learned from it, a funny little moment I will always remember.