The Things I Love about Kansas - Essay Sample

Introduction

Kansas has a History Museum in Topeka in which there are exhibits that will make you fall in love with the state. The state has a variety of unique people, places, and culture. There is a mixture of ordinary items and extraordinary photos that have a purpose to inspire the visitors to think about Kansa as a place to celebrate (Everhart, 2017). After going through the "150 things I love about Kansas", I came up with 15 most unique and amazing things about Kansas. These are the things that captured my attention and which I can easily relate to.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The first thing that stood out for me are the photos of the famous abolitionist John Brown. This was a man who was in the forefront to advocate for the abolishment of slavery. Even after the murder of his fellow abolitionists, he continued to support an antislavery movement (Whetstone & Whybrow,1983).In the photos, John appears to be determined and willing to fight his cause. This makes me think of the other fighters who made our history by ensuring that we obtain freedom and liberation from our oppressors. Apart from John Brown's photos, the mug from White Castle Restaurant stood is interesting. The cup resembles the cups that my grandmother owned. Something funny about the mugs is, they were meant for visitors only. She could not allow us to touch the mugs as she always locked the cupboard.

Another factor that makes me love Kansas is its civil war flag. Kansas has a collection of flags that were used by American-African regiments during the civil war. The flags act as a symbol of freedom after the troops, majorly consisting of the African American people fought and won the battle. While in school, we learned that a flag is a symbol of a national unity. The flag also helps to indicate to other people the people and land were our possessions. In addition to the flag, the valley home and its hilly landscape which Herschel Logan drew on a rag paper are similar to many homes and houses in our village.

Moreover, the Olympic village letter amazes me. The letter was written by Glenn Cunningham during the 1936 Olympic Games. He addressed the letter to Lesley Heath, telling her about his experiences in Germany. The letter reminds me of my days in high school. We would always write letters to our parents and friends explaining to them our experiences in school. The Christmas card by aviator Amelia Earhart is another thing that I love about Kansas. Individuals usually send Christmas cards to friends and relatives celebrate the day in a style. What about the violin that the settlers played? I could not read through all the things without recognizing the violin since I own one and regularly play it on weekends.

The farmers' overalls also caught my attention, my father was a mechanic and would always put on an overall. I thought that the reason for wearing it was to protect himself from smearing himself with oil. But I have learned that the overall was used to carry the required tools and equipment due to its many pockets and loops. The baseball trophy won by Kaw valley team reminds me my college days when we would hold a volleyball tournament. The winners would be awarded a trophy. The picture of cowboy boots which the governor Fred Hall wore looks like the ones my friends and I own. This makes me believe that the current shoe fashion evolved from ancient fashions.

An early portrait of an African American woman is beautiful. Having been taken a long time ago, and found in a white family house, then to me, the portrait meant that there were white people who had compassion for the blacks during that particular time. I cannot fail to mention the Kansas constitution. This compares to our country which also has a constitution. The Kansas constitution shows me that all the countries of the world have a basic structure of the government that governs its citizens.

The fired clay carving captured my attention too. This shows that the creativity of people of Kansas was on another level. The carving reminds me of my brother who has a talent for carving. He made almost the same carving and took them for exhibitions. Although my brother did not win, he brought them back home and mounted them on a wall. I must admit it's very beautiful. Pizza is one of my favorite foods, I cannot fail to recognize the pizza Hut Toy bank from the restaurant in Wichita. If I was Kansas resident, Hut Toy bank would have been my favorite joint to hang out with my friends. Lastly, the thing that I loved about Kansas is Dorothy Gale's quote, which states that there is no other place like home. With the story about Kansas, I concur since being in Kansas makes one feel at home.

References

Everhart, M. J. (2017). Oceans of Kansas: a natural history of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press.

Whetstone, K. N., & Whybrow, P. J. (1983) Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas (No. 96-109). The University.