Eiteljorg

When the subject came up in class about going to a museum downtown I was extremely excited. I had never heard of the museum we would be visiting, but I was just happy to be getting out of the classroom. I talked to a few students that had been to the museum already and they told me not to get too excited, because it was not really that interesting. They told me it was about American Indians and Western Art and I was not really into either of the subjects. When we got their, our teacher put us into groups and handed us a list of artifacts to find. It was then that I realized that this would not be the fun trip to the museum I had anticipated.
When my group and I entered the museum we assigned ourselves with a certain number of artifacts to find and report back to the group leader. I rushed around the museum just looking for the key words that related to my artifact. When I found them I simply wrote down the information I needed to and moved on to the next one on my list.
By doing it this way I realized that I did not learn a thing about American Indians or Western Art. I let a perfectly good opportunity to further my education slip away all because I went into the situation with a closed mind. My goal was to finish the assignment and get out of there. I may not have learned anything about American Indians or Western Art, but I sure did learn that if you go into an experience with a closed mind you will get nothing out of it. I should have approached it like I would have if we were going to see a movie I had heard nothing about. If you tell yourself before hand that you are not going to have fun or enjoy the experience, most likely that is what is going to happen. Next time I go to a museum I will approach it with an open mind and just be grateful that Indianapolis has all of these great museums I can visit at anytime.