Blog #7

I did not realize McLean County had so much history!  It was really interesting to learn about the different types of people that settled here, and how much of an impact the universities have on the county.  It is important to appreciate the history of where you live, because it really gives you a sense of what the present would be like if an event did not take place in the past.  I have never visited a place like this because honestly, I did not make the time. Knowing the history of McLean County would be more detrimental if I planned on living here in the future, but I don't plan on living in Normal for forever.  Also, (at least for during the school year) if I have free time it would probably be spent on sleep, rather than the McLean County museum.  The connection between politics and the history of McLean County was really put into prospective for me for the gallery about the Vietnam War where it had the thoughts and actions of students from Wesleyan and ISU.  I couldn't relate to much of the museum but that exhibit really made me see that students can and should make a difference politically.  Something that stuck out to me was the KKK outfit.  It really #1 creeped me out and #2 was more real than a picture.  Overall, I am really glad we got to go to the museum because I would never have known that it existed or have been exposed to the history of McLean County.