Students take part in Wartburg West for many reasons. One
reason I came out to Denver was to get the experience of living in an urban
environment. I want this experience because I do not know where I want to live
when I graduate from Wartburg. I have lived in the Midwest my whole life in a
rural environment, so living in a city for a period of time should give me
insight on potential places I want to live post-Wartburg. Here are a few
differences I have noticed in my short time here.
Compared to a Midwest winter, Denver is much milder. In the
Midwest everyone cringes when they hear the words, “wind chill.” This is much
less common here. From the short time I have been here, there has only been one
time when I heard those words. From what I understand by talking to people that
live here is that this is a rare occurrence. The snow in the Midwest does not
come and go as it does in Denver. One day there could be 5 inches of snow on
the ground, and the next day it could be 50 plus degrees out. When it snows in
the Midwest, it stays for much longer than here in Denver, making the winter
much tougher. However, this is completely different from the mountains, which
people who are from here seem to obsess. Recently, it has been snowing so much
in the mountains that they have had to close resorts!
Driving in the city is completely different from driving in
rural areas of the Midwest. Compared to Denver there is no such thing as rush
hour in Waverly or any small town in the Midwest. My internship is outside the
city, so I am lucky enough to be driving out of the city when everyone is
trying to get in, and driving back in the city when everyone is trying to
leave. This is nice because I do not have to worry about traffic as much as
others do. One nice adjustment to living in the city is you do not have to drive
everywhere. The majority of things here are in walking distance. If you do not
want to drive a car because of parking issues, you do not have to do so.
Parking in an urban environment can be a nightmare, especially
if you fear that your car may get towed. It takes some luck and a little
creativity to get yourself one of the tiny spots to parallel park your car
into. I will be a pro at parallel parking by the end of this term. This was
never really a problem in the Midwest. There seems to always be a good option,
and I did not have to fear that my car might get towed. However, in Denver all
day parking is hard to come by for free. Otherwise, you can park in places that
allow overnight parking but limited day parking. I try to avoid those so I do
not have to wake up and move my car. That is why, like stated earlier, I try to
walk to places as much as possible. One thing that makes that easier is RTD,
which is the bus system in Denver that is fairly easy to use and allows people
to get places without having to drive and losing there all day parking spot.
These are just a few of the things that have taken some
adjusting to moving here from the Midwest this semester. They all have their
pros and cons. I can see why people would want to live in the Midwest rural
areas and why people would want to live out West in an urban environment like
Denver. I am excited to see what else I may encounter having to live in Denver,
which will help me decide where I want to live post-Wartburg.
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