While in Birmingham yesterday, Melissa learned a lot. She learned about just how serious and violent the Civil Rights Movement really was. Hearing about the events is one thing, but when she actually went to the locations and was able to visualize the things that happened there, she was astonished. When she saw all of the artifacts in the museum, her heart just broke for all of the people involved in all of these acts of violence. Melissa has always known that this was a dark period for African Americans, but being there where horrible things took place made her even more appreciative of all of the freedom that everyone here has today.
If someone were to come up to Melissa and tell her that this trip is a waste of time, she would definitely say they were wrong. Going to the museum and the church is so much different than just watching a video or hearing a lecture about Civil Rights. Some people aren't visual learners so they would be fine just watching a video, but Melissa is definitely a visual and hands-on learner so being able to know the facts and having a visual of the place and it's surroundings when thinking about it just makes it that much more interesting.
