The Great Adventure

Christiana Jones

Common Hour

Walking and Me

October 17, 2016

This picture marks what I thought of as “The First Day of The Rest of My Life”. I was in the back seat of a car stuffed full with a comforter, clothes, various laundry necessities, pictures from my life in Michigan, and the plethora of other assorted items necessary to live in a 12 x 16 foot brick room with no air conditioning (Yes, I am referring to the dreaded Corcoran). It was my first perfect view of the city of Chicago — my first perfect view of the place I was venturing to live on my own.

I’m sure everyone else had some strange feelings about their first day at college. I could go into all of that but I won’t, because honestly that isn’t what was important to me. What was important to me was that weightless excitement I felt when I looked at this view of the city, a giant playground filled with beautiful surprises and endless opportunities and complex people with complex lives just looking to live out their dreams. This picture, my very first picture of a city I have grown to love, signifies a turning point in a grand adventure for me. It is so much different from tiny rural town, and for all of the best reasons. There are so many different people with different ideas here, and it has allowed me to feel free from the binding ideas of tiny rural background. Here are some of my favorite things relating to this.

1. When Jason asked if anyone in class was a hunter, and no one raised their hand. WHAT A RELIEF IT IS.
2. A person can be vegetarian here without being ridiculed or asked, “Wait, so like, does it make you feel sick?”
3. One word: STYLE
4. I don’t think I’ve heard someone utter “ain’t” from the moment I got here.
5. Different religions!
6. MUSIC
7. Camouflage isn’t a shirt pattern…
8. Art and artists are everywhere
9. Things to do!

There are so many other things to list, but I’ll spare all of you. All you really need to know is that Chicago was my first escape to experience a life I’ve always dreamed of leading, a chance for me to accomplish a goal, and the opportunity for me the person I truly wish to be.

This is another of my favorite places (and times of day, I should note) because it looks so much like my side of Lake Michigan but, of course, is not. I’m sure many of you have made the venture down to the lakeshore for the sunrise, but let me tell you about my experience, and why it made such an impact on me.

First of all, this occurred the weekend after our first week of class, so let me just put an emphasis on the fact that me and my friends had to get up EARLY, and even then we were late, as the sky was beginning to grow light just outside of Corcoran. If getting my first glimpse of the place I was going to spend the next four years wasn’t enough, sprinting down a dark street with people I had only known for five days certainly did the trick. The sunrise was beautiful, and the streets were almost empty (except for runners, per usual) and we all just sat there in stunned silence, watching the city wake up and the sun rise and Lake Michigan move. It was such a strange place to find myself in, but that’s why I think I like it so much — I wouldn’t have guessed that I would be able to spend my college years in Chicago any more than I would expect to find myself at the edge of Chicago at sunrise, with people who would turn out to be some of the greatest friends I’ve ever made.

So if you really want to know, that’s what these pictures, and any picture I take in Chicago really mean to me — being in a moment, being here, in a big wondrous city meeting incredible people to make crazy memories with. I’m so glad I came.

On a side note, I also really enjoy this picture because it reminds me of the video we watched about urban spaces being built to combat the homeless. The seat is only one plank — impossible to sleep on comfortably — so of course I gave it a try.