Liberty and Justice (For All?)

We viewed the Liberty Bell from the window to avoid the line.

Our Social Justice class went on a field trip today to Independence Park. We saw the Liberty Bell and an exhibit about African American history. The exhibit was really interesting and I liked how it was outdoors in Independence Park. The theme of today was finding contradictions in parts of history. We found a lot of contradictions about famous people of the past, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. I think that everyone in history, even the best role models, had flaws and that it should be accepted instead of ignored. The fact that they also made mistakes makes it easier for us, as young people, to accept our own flaws and embrace the mistakes we might have made so far in life. If we are able to recognize that we can do good in this world even though we aren't perfect or flawless as those in history may seem, it makes changing the world a more realistic idea. 

An exhibit at the National Liberty Museum. My eyes were
really opened today when considering contradictions.

We also looked at differences in the surrounding architecture and thought about why so many changes have been made. It was really cool to see in Old City that the very old buildings were alongside more modern buildings. It made comparing them very easy. Around noon, we split into our five groups again and had lunch. Today, our group leader was Nicole. She took us to get Greek food, which is one my favorites! I had also decided that today I was going to try to be healthy, so I woke up early to go to the gym and ate healthy food all day. Luckily, a lot of Greek food is very good for you. We discussed some of today's themes during our meal.

Me standing by the most famous
 exhibit, using fire to represent liberty.

After lunch, the class reunited and we went to the National Liberty Museum. The museum had exhibits which  showcased "heroes" of world history. A lot of the art was made out of glass, which I think signified that democracy and liberty were fragile and could easily be broken. As we learned about the heroes, our professors encouraged us to challenge all the good things that were said about them and try to find contradictions. I really enjoyed the museum, though, and thought it stood for a lot of great things. I think we all learned a lot from today's adventures!