By Harrison Small

As I awoke and rushed to the door at 7:45 AM to acknowledge that my roommates and I were actually up and getting ready (a harmless lie), feelings of optimism about the day ahead started to overcome me. After a hearty continental breakfast, we boarded the bus and headed to the beautiful town of Evanston, Illinois, home of the Northwestern University Wildcats.

We began our day by meeting with John Lavine, the Dean of the Medill School of Journalism. Throughout Dean Lavine’s intriguing presentation, we were given the opportunity to glance into the future of media technology while learning about the new and improved ways we will get our news and information. It was truly eye opening to see how accessible information has become.

After an hour and a half, we, unfortunately, had to leave our meeting with Dean Lavine but our smiles were restored when we learned of our next stop: deep dish Chicago-style pizza at Giordano’s. It was delicious and a new experience for many of us. It would be safe to assume that we all left a few pounds heavier.

Following lunch, we drove back into Chicago to spend time at the Chicago Art Institute. We all enjoyed reenacting the scene from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”  in front of George Seurat’s painting “Sunday In The Park.” (If you haven’t seen the movie, you should get on that.) Overall, the Art Institute gave us a new appreciation for the creative works of others.

We then strolled over to Grant Park, home of the protests during the heated 1968 Democratic Convention. We learned about the power struggle and division within the Democratic Party at that time. We discussed the roles of Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and the remaining members of the “Chicago 8”. We also discussed the symbolism of Grant Park being the site where President Barack Obama gave his victory speech in November. Once again, we were standing where history happened.

Billy discussing the 1968 Democratic Convention in Grant Park

Following our discussion, we boarded the bus and started our trek towards Cleveland. We stopped for a delicious meal at Cracker Barrel along the way. As I sit on the bus writing this, I cant help but think that the feelings of positivity I had at the start of the day were justified.