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Ariel Bryan

Mrs. Stanford

ENG 231

10 October 2017

Going Beyond the Idea of Verbal Communication

As people grow older, they learn to not take as much for granted. Their food, shelter,

education, needs, and wants were not just handed to them on a silver platter. Parents knew that

they would need to take on the duty of caring for this child and giving them the best life that they

could if they were to make the decision to have a child. As teens grow into mature young adults,

they start to think about all of the things that they want to do before they can’t anymore, such as

going to different countries and continents, trying new foods, help others achieve their dreams

and so on. However, some teens truly never really look back to see how much they were given

and never said a simple ‘thank you’. One of the things that are looked at time and time again is

the freedom that United States citizens have today. So many people, especially teens, have taken

for the granted the idea of being able to have three meals a day, or the freedom to go to church

on Sundays. America is full of opportunity that cannot even be thought of in other countries.

During an observation at the MAPS Air Museum, I was given the chance to learn how much

someone is willing to truly give up to work for the armed forces, and observe how others reacted

to their surroundings when walking around the area of the museum. The planes and historical

pieces really stood out to me, along with several others that were at the museum. Despite the

historical information given by workers in the MAPS Air Museum, the pieces really speak more

than the people and show the historical context of our great nation (Bryan, 2017).
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My time spent at the MAPS Air Museum was split in two. The first hour and a half were

spent visually taking in the area and watching others’ reactions as they explored the museum for

themselves, and the next hour and a half was actually touring the place myself, but with another

group of people so I can also experience what they’re going through as well. As I entered the hall

of the MAPS Air Museum, I first noticed the very high, stomach dropping gray ceilings. This

museum took up a large area of space, mostly because of how many planes were there. The

second thing I noticed was how many airplanes there actually were. Airplanes of different

shapes, sizes, colors, fighter jets, bomber jets, and many, many more. They were all bulky and

made with what seemed to be very thin sheet metal, but still somehow worked to make a fighter

jet more aerodynamic as well as being a barrier to help from bullets hitting the pilots. Each plane

had their own story and their own background, with some being able to go on water, some only

holding one person instead of two, and some with cockpits that would even be hard for a

six-year-old to squeeze their body through. Although the area seemed very bland at first, what

really caught my eye was how everything had different nicks and scratches. It really showed that

these planes each came with a different historical background, and each had their own real story

to tell. Everything was so different than I imagined, but at the same time, it was the same. This

place was filled with an abundance of historical context; so much that even a ‘stereotypical teen’

like myself would put my electronic device down just to see the intricate detail and patterns on

the fighter jet (Bryan, 2017).

Not too many people were there at this point, even though I picked the busiest time of the

day. Since there weren’t too many people at the museum, I focused in on a mother and her son.

The boy was no older than four and seemed very engaged in the airplanes. When he saw the
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planes as he stepped foot into the museum, his face lit up and a grin from ear to ear. He was very

ecstatic, while the mother was very happy for him. At one point, I hear the mother tell her son

that she was very glad that he was interested in all of the history, and that the time spent at the

museum was worth it. There wasn’t anyone on their phones or any other sort of technology other

than to take photos (Bryan, 2017).

The MAPS Air Museum allows for human beings with no experience or knowledge at all

to learn about how our nation was really formed into the country that we live in today. To some

looking from the outside in, it can seem like a place that is very bland and you would only get

straight facts, but this museum is truly full of character; it will definitely impact others that visit.

It is an area of much historical context. I have found that when someone is going to spend their

time at this museum, they are going to be focused and stay focused. To each their own of course,

but some teens might feel that some think of the idea of being on their phone in this museum to

be wrong, just because they are standing in front of America’s greatest heroes.

Of course, if it weren’t for the great heroes running the museum, there wouldn’t be

anyone to show the story at all. There would be no one to bring the story to life through their

experiences. Without these heroes, there would be nothing to use as examples from. In the article

titled “8 Seconds of Courage: A Soldier’s Story from Immigrant to the Medal of Honor.” by

Barbara Hoffert, citizens are really able to see how examples from certain people can really bring

things to life:

In December 1917, the French freighter Mont-Blanc left New York for war-exhausted Europe
with fresh troops and an unprecedented 3,000 tons of explosives, then was struck by the relief
ship Imo in Halifax Harbor, Nova Scotia. The resulting explosion, which leveled 2.5 square
miles of Halifax, killed 2,000 people, and wounded 9,000 more, was the largest explosion
humankind managed before the atomic bomb. From the author of three New York Times
bestsellers, interestingly in the area of sports. (Hoffert, 2017)
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Obviously relating to the public is a major thing, especially when working in a museum full of

things that might be new to small children and teens, but it wasn’t for these beautifully designed

pieces of aircraft, there wouldn’t be an interactive portion of the museum, which I feel to be one

of the best ways to sink the history into your memory. Trying certain things out, such as sitting in

an airplane or putting 50 pounds of medical gear on your back, allows you to put yourself into

the shoes of our veterans the most that you really can, helping you learn more about the topic

(Bryan, 2017).

Overall, I didn’t know what to expect when coming into the museum that day, but what I

came out with was an extraordinary history lesson and the experience of a lifetime. Going to this

museum was an amazing experience, and it impacted so many people that chose to spend their

day at this place, no matter if they were as young as three or four or much older. Without these

people that gave up their life willingly, the United States wouldn’t be the country that it is today.

America has so much freedom and people take that for granted every single day. If it weren’t for

these visuals and interactive experiences, people wouldn’t be able to really put themselves into

the stories that the veterans explain, which takes out the factor of really seeing how good the

United States really has it, especially in 2017.

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Works Cited

Bryan, Ariel N. “MAPS Air Museum Observation.” 29 Sept. 2017.

Hoffert, Barbara. "8 Seconds of Courage: A Soldier’s Story from Immigrant to the Medal

of Honor." ​Library Journal​, vol. 142, no. 11, 15 June 2017, p. 59. EBSCO​host​,

starkstate.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&

AN=123997285&site=ehost-live​.
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Closing Letter

Being able to observe at the MAPS Air Museum was a thoroughly enjoyable experience

for me. Spending time at such a calm and relaxing place was absolutely amazing. As someone

that wants to go into Aerospace Engineering, looking at the structure of planes could keep me

occupied for hours upon hours. Curiosity was a huge factor of why I chose to spend my day that

this certain museum I wanted to see how others interacted at what I thought to be such an

important place of history. During the essay, I made sure to try to keep close to my topic while

still using many points of creativity by adding visuals such as color, texture, height, and other

things. One of the things I am very happy about in my essay is how visual it truly is. During my

observation, I chose to not write as much down and look back at the many pictures I had taken. It

was a truly wonderful experience and I would love to do it again.