A Glimpse Into Springfield's History

A view of the buildings behind the Firehouse.

Today started off bright and early at Scholars as we all began getting to know each other over breakfast. We quickly journeyed down to historical Commercial Street in Springfield where we met a wonderful lady from Historical Firehouse No. 2 who passionately told us the history of the surrounding area. It was so eye-opening to find out the amount history in this city and what the firehouse and surrounding businesses were trying to do to keep it in tact. As someone not from Springfield, I had always been told to stay away from C-Street. Yet after spending the day in the area, I quickly learned how many great things it has to offer from Big Momma's Coffee Bar to multiple event spaces and even art galleries! I had never realized just how much this beautiful street had to offer.

The site leader teaching us
how to plant a tree!

After learning about C-Street we walked on over to God's Garden, which is associated with The Kitchen. Our group got the chance to get our hands dirty and planted strawberry plants, berry bushes, and apple trees. I did not even know community gardens existed in Springfield before today. I find it such a great way to help the surrounding community, especially since fresh produce can get very expensive. It definitely was not easy stepping outside my comfort zone (which includes indoors and no bugs), but it was definitely worth it. The site leader even mentioned one day, after we have all become alumni, we will probably be able to come back and see the trees we helped plant! It's so crazy to think how a couple hours of time can have such long impact on the surrounding community's lives.

When we finished planting, we traipsed on over to Askinosie Chocolate Factory! Not only was I unaware of having local chocolate, I also had no idea of the amazing things that this company does.
They gave us a full tour of the facilities and explained how the chocolate was made from "bean to bar" right there in the factory! I had never heard of such a thing, yet it was going on right here in Springfield. As the tour went on we learned about their amazing business practices and the ways they give back to both the communities here in Springfield and on each of their cocoa bean farms. As someone who cares about things like fair trade and the social aspect of a business, I was pretty amazed at how incredible Askinosie is at giving back. And the chocolate tasted amazing as well! Nothing like a fantastic dark chocolate!

The beautiful Askinosie chocolate bars!

We finished up our time on C-Street in Big Momma's enjoying conversation and drinks. It was great getting the time to get to know some of the group members in a casual setting before we raced in the rain back to dinner, campus, and reflection.

One of our wonderful trip leaders, Sara!
I just had to post this gem ;)

During reflection we talked about ethical leadership. Having been in a class last semester that drilled the Public Affairs Mission into my head, I had a great experience getting to see this pillar in action today. I got the chance to meet and hear about such incredible leaders. I'm glad I got to identify ethical leadership outside of the classroom and have              an example to strive to be like. I can't wait to see what the rest of the trip will bring! -Ali Jemes



*All pictures taken and edited by me! Except for the group photo, in which I only edited it!