Oh The Places You'll Go

Hello Blogosphere! My name is Maggie Galka and I have to be honest with you, I’m not really from Chicago as my blog description claims. I’m actually from a LaGrange, IL (a western suburb of Chicago). LaGrange is about fifteen minutes outside of the city and, as is the habit of most suburbanites, I like to tell people I’m from Chicago.

Photo from Sherman-Ave.com demonstrating the tendency of those from suburbs claiming to be from Chicago.

While I’m not technically from the city, I do like to spend a lot of time there! One of the highlights of my summer was taking the train downtown every Monday night to see the weekly free concert put on in Millennium Park. I also had a great time showing off the gorgeous city to some friends from the University of Vermont, who visited to attend Lollapalooza. Lollapalooza is a three-day musical festival, which takes place in downtown Chicago at Grant Park. This year’s festival featured Deadmau5, Coldplay, Eminem, Pretty Lights, Flogging Molly, Foster the People, Young the Giant, Skrillex and many, many more.


Huge crowd at Lollapalooza taken by Natalie Shea

As you may have guessed, I’m very passionate about Chicago and music in general. I should also probably mention that I have an odd obsession with Canada. No, I am not Canadian but I can pretty much guarantee that at some point in my life I will live in Canada and gain dual citizenship. I love to travel and I have been to Canada eight times. The aspects of Canada I love also do a pretty good job of describing me. The first time I went to Canada, I traveled to Whistler, British Columbia for a ski vacation. I love to ski and Whistler Mountain, one of the sites of the 2010 Winter Olympics, is one of my favorite mountains. I also adore everything about hockey, and yes, I did cheer for the Canadian Hockey team in the gold medal game versus the United States. Please don’t hate me. My favorite hockey player is Jonathan Toews, a Canadian, who plays for my favorite team the Chicago Blackhawks. Last fall, when a Blackhawks staff member brought the cup to Burlington, I nearly had a panic attack. In a good way, obviously.

This entertaining Nike commercial, which aired right before the 2010 Olympics, features both male and female Team Canada Hockey players. I have the video's audio track on my ipod and listen to it when I need last minute inspiration for things such as doing my laundry, going for a run, finishing that big paper, eating an apple...

Weird obsessions aside, a big part of my life has to do with my major, environmental studies. While I don’t know specifically what I want to do in the future, I do know that I want to advocate for the environment. Right now, I’m especially interested in the concept of environmental justice and helping people whose lives are especially affected by the negative impacts of environmental destruction, contaminated resources, biodiversity loss and climate change. Currently, I am attempting to foster environmental responsibility in the residence halls through University of Vermont’s Eco-Rep program.