Jessica ’26, Arafat ’27, and Kwasi ’26, share a reflection of the groups final day in Chicago.
Unfortunately, our radical adventure in Chicago had to come to an end. All the memories, knowledge, and fun we have captured in the small span of five days. Our last day in Chicago was filled with us taking in all the moments we have encountered.
Early in the morning, on Monday, the crew met downstairs in the lobby of the Lincoln Hotel, where we gathered the rest of our belongings, and headed out the doors to get a hold of breakfast. We were welcomed by the cold Chicago breeze, gray skies, and dormant trees. The walk to breakfast was brief, just around the corner from the hotel, where we made our way to the Kanela Breakfast Club. At Kanela, a kind alumni, Caroline ‘08, hosted our crew, and we were able to view the perspective of a former Deerfield student, as well as more about Caroline’s adventurous life. It was great getting to meet her. We were all assisted by a polite waiter, and given delicious fresh meals made from scratch. After our stomachs were stuffed, we said farewell to Caroline and then headed back to the Lincoln Hotel, to collect our belongings and step into the bus.
The ride to Chicago Midway Airport was momentary, passing through the many individual spots we may have encountered, and taking in the last bits of the beautiful city. We all departed the bus and went to check in at the airport. With the spare time we had left in Chicago, we embraced the ending of our journey by exploring the airport, playing cards, and sharing memorable discussions with one another.
We embarked onto the plane, and flew a good two hours to Bradley Airport in Hartford Connecticut, where we were met with the Deerfield Bus or (The Green Machine), as well as with a few more Deerfield academy students. And we made our way back onto Deerfield Academy’s campus, prepared for another academic school day.
We have all come to the conclusion that our trip partially in New York, and mainly in Chicago, was not only a learning experience for us all, where we were able to learn more about each other, the importance of immigration, and how leaving one place to enter another changed the lives of many individuals. But the trip was also a moment of grasping great memories and experiences, and getting to know many of the different students embedded into Deerfield Academy’s campus, who we may have never encountered. And overall, the experience was absolutely delightful, and shall be remembered.
