Part 1: Cornfields
The playlist I’ve created contains songs with no particular commonality except for their association to Champaign-Urbana. Whether it’s snippets of their lyrics that capture specific moments, songs my friends and families played constantly, or melodies that manage to touch the emotions I feel when I’m back home, I have nothing but love for this playlist.
During the evenings in Champaign-Urbana, the sunsets turn the “city” into the most gorgeous cascade of reds, oranges, and pinks that illuminate everything the shadows don’t touch. A city in name and a small town at heart, I can barely begin to explain the love, nostalgia, and relief I have for escaping the place. A home is, after all, the beginning of one’s identity. It’s the central part of the complicated jigsaw puzzle that makes a person who they are.
The cornfields are a defining characteristic of CU. In the summertime, the corn grows so tall that the backroads become filled with teenagers pulling their cars off to the side for whatever reason—some to talk, watch the sunset, drink, or smoke weed. The simplicity of what we did for fun growing up in a small town is a reflection of the Midwestern mentality. Wandering around Target and Walmart at night, sneaking cheap beers into high school dances, breaking into barns, and eating at the same diner with a close friend group. The purity of these moments is what keeps me grounded as I’m navigating my college years in the glitzy city of L.A. Anytime I catch myself losing myself, I bring myself back to Illinois and remember the feeling of watching a sunset over a cornfield.