Illinois Wesleyan UniversityLocal Atmosphere Summary

Written by Diego Báez

Diego Báez

Major

English Writing

View all previous student authors

Most Illinois Wesleyan University students will never escape the Wesleyan bubble. The bubble captures students and keeps them on campus for lack of a car, motivation, time, and so on. When students manage to make it off campus, popular draws are downtown and ISU. Since most students hail from the suburbs, they acquaint themselves with Main Street, and the rest of the town might as well not exist. There are a good number of bookstores and coffeeshops for students who want to relax off campus, and they are fairly easy to find; it's a small town. You'll have to go to nearby Peoria or Champaign to go to larger events, like concerts. Champaign is a big draw for its bars since no one under the age of 21 is allowed inside Bloomington bars.

Bloomington has a lot to offer for a small community. The people here acknowledge that Bloomington is in central Illinois, and the Midwest is not the most exciting or geographically diverse area in the nation. The community here embraces that. There is enough diversity in lifestyle choice and just enough eccentric people downtown to make things interesting. There is always something to do in town, but it often turns out to be the same thing: catch a movie, go downtown, or visit ISU. The new Coliseum built in downtown Bloomington draws a number of large shows and concerts, as well as indoor football games, ice hockey, and the occasional rodeo and Monster truck rally. The University of Illinois is located nearby in Champaign, and many students make the 45-minute drive to party.