livingthedream

I’ve just moved to Chicago to study improv comedy. Already! Just two months ago, I finished the Technical Writing program at Ferris State University, located in a small town about 40 miles north of the even-smaller farming community in which I grew up. I’m going it alone, but the trip wasn’t my idea. Ryan was the one who first decided to go study improv in Chicago. I thought it was a great idea and said I’d go too. We decided to go there this summer, which was 8 months away at the time. People around my hometown were exhilarated when they heard the word “Chicago.“ We all hated being in a small town with “nothing to do.“ And Michigan’s depressed economy had kept us all on the verge of financial ruin. To us, Chicago was the land of opportunity. During the 8 months between the decision and the moving date, many others signed on.

Ryan, Mike, Amanda, Jenn, Kenny, and I were all going. But Ryan went broke and was afraid to try to get a job in Chicago. Mike and Amanda signed a year lease on their rural apartment because they didn’t want rent to increase, Jenn–I don’t know what happened to Jenn. Kenny and I were all that was left. We went to Chicago to check out apartments and look for jobs, but when Kenny heard that I was actually expecting him to pay his share of the rent, he was gone. Now it’s just me. I’m like the frat boy who was first out the door after everyone said, “Let’s go streaking,” finding myself locked out, alone, and exposed. But I think I like it!

Driving around Chicago really gives me a sense of how different it is from the small community I’ve lived in for most of my life. The constant bumper-to-bumper traffic in Chicago forces everyone to drive aggressively. All traffic signals are just suggestions. This stands in stark contrast to a drivers’ training experience back home. A friend stopped at a stop sign at a rural intersection and stayed there. There were no cars in sight, so, after a while, the instructor asked why she wasn’t moving, and told her to go. She protested, “I’ll go when the sign says I can!“

My degree isn’t actually called “Technical Writing.” It’s actually “Journalism and Technical Communication with a Graphic Design Content Specialty and a Political Science Minor.” The diverse nature of my degree means that I’m am fully qualified for absolutely no job. To raise money for the trip, I’ve been selling musical equipment and old Super Mario collector’s items on eBay. I was planning to sell my car, but then I thought I might need it.

So here I am, alone in my cozy, one bedroom apartment in Wrigleyville. It’s time to go meet people!

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