Lucy Shirrell of Chicago takes the public bus every day from her school to her home. She takes the Metra a few times a week. On the Medill cherub program’s field trips to downtown Chicago, she and the rest of the cherubs took the 134-year-old Chicago L.
“It is a really fun way for people to see the whole city,” Shirrell said, explaining that she was excited “to show everyone the city that I’ve grown up in and that I love. We got to go by Wrigley Field, we got to go by Merchandise Mart, which I think are really fun things that we probably wouldn’t have seen if we were on a bus or in a car.”
Yet the Purple Line, the route the cherubs took, is a particularly twisty track with many stops as the train reaches downtown Chicago.
“You’re all kind of stuck on the same train for an hour,” Charlie Edwards of Evanston said. “It really brings you closer together.”
Edwards used the time to watch the England vs. Argentina FIFA World Cup match with friends. While he would have preferred to watch it in Jones Hall, it still got the job done, Edwards said.
Cherubs who weren’t as invested in the sports match busied themselves by listening to music, talking, reading or admiring the view of the city.
For cherubs not as accustomed to using public transit, the journey downtown via the L gave them a glimpse into what it might be like to go to a college where it is often utilized by students.
“Taking the train, for me, because I came from such a small town, is almost a sign that I’m growing up, a moment where I break from my childhood,” Skylar Sachs of Toledo, Ohio, said.
Yet after exploring the city for five hours under the 90 degree sun, there was a noticeable difference in the vibes going to and from downtown Chicago.
Cherubs collapsed in the train from exhaustion, not quite jazzed about the ride back to Evanston.
“I was ready to be back in my bed in the comfort of my dorm,” Shirrell said.
After reflecting on the long ride downtown, the trek around the city and the snooze train coming back, Alana Zink of Barrington, Illinois, is ready to get back on board.
“I’m very motivated now to get back and then beg my parents to let me go to the city more and ask, ‘Hey, can I take the Metra train?’” Zink said.
