A Short Time Ago, In An Environment Not So Far Away…
My socially awkward self dreaded the idea of being trapped in a classroom with people that were strangers at the time for eight hours. There were butterflies in my stomach without a clear reason. I’ve lived in the Chicago area my entire life; why am I so nervous? The very first day of college was finally here and I had no clue what this new experience would consist of. To my surprise, we found ourselves split off into three groups, walking around the Lincoln Park area. This is going to be a chaotic day, I kept thinking to myself.
We’re tasked with choosing where we would like to go. Is this part of what adult responsibilities we now have? I didn’t have a preference, so we just went along with the first suggestion. “Let’s go to the park and then the zoo!” This girl is wild, I thought. What’s her name? I’m so bad with names sometimes, it’s embarrassing. Taylor. I’ll do my best to remember.
When I was younger, I always preferred the Lincoln Park Zoo over other zoos in the area, because the architecture (maze-like structure) appealed to me more.
I clicked my heels together and, as swift as a tornado, we moved through Oz Park and into Lincoln Park Zoo — the belly of the beast.
When looking through my photo album from walking around, I chose these two pictures because they remind me of the things that I know all too well. Lincoln Park Zoo, Starbucks Coffee (or any coffee in general), construction (and all the problems that it cause here). Being in Chicago my entire life makes me feel as if it’s the only place I know. My Chicagoan heritage is forever going to be a part of me and I will always be a part of Chicago.
After what I expected to be an excruciating Immersion Week, I found that I was welcomed and accepted into this new reality. An unfamiliar environment became well-known; dread became excitement; strangers became really good friends. People that I find to be easily trustworthy. It’s difficult to point out what specifically brought change within this interesting group. In my opinion, it was either dividing our sheets of paper into quadrants to recall what we paid little attention to, or working diligently as we plowed through volunteer work for the Chicago Marathon (this may have involved a great Spotify playlist and singing). I starting to enjoy this new environment. I was welcome. Welcome to unlimited opportunities. Welcome to DePaul University. And most of all, welcome to Chicago, the land of never-ending construction.
