Last April, I was awarded a spot in Northwestern’s three-week CIERA REACH program, dedicated to teaching children about astronomy. Although the class seemed like it was far in my future, within the blink of an eye, I found myself packing up my belongings, stuffing my car and preparing to move to the Midwest. Before the trip, I had never traveled to the Midwest, so I had little idea of what to expect.
My family decided to drive to Chicago rather than fly, allowing us to see new parts of the country. I have long been a fan of the National Park System, so I charted a route that would allow us to hit as many NPS sites as possible along the way. In Ohio, we visited the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and learned about the state’s geography and its relationship to the steel industry. In Indiana, we visited the Indiana Dunes National Park, where we hiked across majestic sand dunes and discovered how Alice Mabel Gray fought to prevent the fine silt from being carted away to make glass. Both of these informative pit stops helped me appreciate the rich history of a region that I knew so little about.
Before arriving in Chicago, my family visited two more sites in its southern suburbs. First, we paid our respects at the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, Illinois Branch, where Till’s funeral was held. Next, we visited Pullman National Historical Park, the site of the 1894 Pullman Strikes. Both sites hold an important place in our country’s fight for civil rights and social justice.
When our car finally pulled into Chicago, I was greeted by beautiful architecture and soaring skyscrapers. I spent the next three weekends, as well as weekday nights, exploring the city after my program ended. One standout experience was an architecture cruise that my family took, where I learned about the unique buildings of Chicago and the creative choices of their designers. I also enjoyed simply walking into random buildings to see the architectural majesty they had hidden behind their stone outer walls.
During my trip, I paid a visit to the Sears Tower for dinner with a view like no other. We ate on the 67th floor, with an aerial outlook on the city. We then traveled even higher up, to the observation deck on the 102nd floor, above the small clouds that drifted over the city. I loved looking down at the city and seeing all of the sites I had wandered to stretched out so far beneath me. The vista showed just how much of the city I had visited, and how much more there was left.
My trip to Chicago was a wonderful introduction to the Midwest. Through my travels, I gained insight into the culture, history and natural beauty unique to the area, which helped broaden my understanding of the United States as a whole.
