Plot and 'L' lines: Living in Chicago
Featured Opinion
Katrina Fajardo
Issue date: 6/15/09 Section: Opinions
Just like any great adventure, the protagonist has to have a spark to start their quest. It slowly builds with a bigger cast and a much bigger goal until it hits the conflict. Then the protagonist must piece their life back together to find the final resolution.
Living in any city is just like that.
Chicago is an infamous city. What other place around the world can offer an extensive list of diverse museums, notorious sports teams, and a hot dog that cannot be replicated?
My experience in the Windy City started off with a simple declaration: to find independence. I signed a lease with three roommates and waited for independence to fall in my lap.
It did not. I had to work for it.
Financially Chicago is draining. Besides the fact that water is free, Cook County taxes are 10.25%, essentially way too much for a starving college student. At one point it felt like the city was robbing me through my daily purchases. I only spent three weeks unemployed in the city before landing a job. Chicago might have suffered from large layoffs but there is a Help Wanted sign somewhere; if you want it you must grab it while you can. But like any 21-year-old college student, you can't just work your life away.
As my time in Chicago progressed, so did my social life. Being a UIC student, I fully understood that there is no "campus life." But this was just another way for me to discover the city. I found my way through infamous nightclubs, dive bars, swanky bars, St. Patrick's Day in Wrigleyville and creepy guys trying to dance with any girl on the dance floor. Honestly, other college students derive their social circle around their school, albeit, their neighbors on their dorm floor. But living in Chicago allowed for my social circle to expand past UIC, which is irreplaceable in comparison to any other college's so-called "campus life."
Eventually, Chicago showed me the multiple facets in its diverse culture. Free performances at Millennium Park, the Sunday Maxwell St. market, even poetry slams at The Green Mill Jazz Club reflected what made Chicago such an eclectic city. Every day there was always something to do: visit a local bar, go to a neighborhood festival, or go to a show. Some cities in the U.S. never sleep, but Chicago never gets boring.
I often found myself throughout the year gazing at the skyline driving along Lake Shore Drive thinking to myself that living in Chicago was the best thing that could ever happen to me.
Until my mom was laid off from her job, meaning I had to come home for my senior year at UIC.
I began to feel void. Was I able to gain my independence, the sole reason why I came to the city in the first place? Not necessarily. Everyone wants independence, but living in Chicago was able to give me the one thing that I needed: I began to grow as a person, specifically a socially aware and culturally diverse person.
Other cities might only tell a simple plot and a quick ending. Chicago, however, tells an epic journey for each resident. Simply put, Chicago has made me into the person I am today and the story doesn't end there.
Living in any city is just like that.
Chicago is an infamous city. What other place around the world can offer an extensive list of diverse museums, notorious sports teams, and a hot dog that cannot be replicated?
My experience in the Windy City started off with a simple declaration: to find independence. I signed a lease with three roommates and waited for independence to fall in my lap.
It did not. I had to work for it.
Financially Chicago is draining. Besides the fact that water is free, Cook County taxes are 10.25%, essentially way too much for a starving college student. At one point it felt like the city was robbing me through my daily purchases. I only spent three weeks unemployed in the city before landing a job. Chicago might have suffered from large layoffs but there is a Help Wanted sign somewhere; if you want it you must grab it while you can. But like any 21-year-old college student, you can't just work your life away.
As my time in Chicago progressed, so did my social life. Being a UIC student, I fully understood that there is no "campus life." But this was just another way for me to discover the city. I found my way through infamous nightclubs, dive bars, swanky bars, St. Patrick's Day in Wrigleyville and creepy guys trying to dance with any girl on the dance floor. Honestly, other college students derive their social circle around their school, albeit, their neighbors on their dorm floor. But living in Chicago allowed for my social circle to expand past UIC, which is irreplaceable in comparison to any other college's so-called "campus life."
Eventually, Chicago showed me the multiple facets in its diverse culture. Free performances at Millennium Park, the Sunday Maxwell St. market, even poetry slams at The Green Mill Jazz Club reflected what made Chicago such an eclectic city. Every day there was always something to do: visit a local bar, go to a neighborhood festival, or go to a show. Some cities in the U.S. never sleep, but Chicago never gets boring.
I often found myself throughout the year gazing at the skyline driving along Lake Shore Drive thinking to myself that living in Chicago was the best thing that could ever happen to me.
Until my mom was laid off from her job, meaning I had to come home for my senior year at UIC.
I began to feel void. Was I able to gain my independence, the sole reason why I came to the city in the first place? Not necessarily. Everyone wants independence, but living in Chicago was able to give me the one thing that I needed: I began to grow as a person, specifically a socially aware and culturally diverse person.
Other cities might only tell a simple plot and a quick ending. Chicago, however, tells an epic journey for each resident. Simply put, Chicago has made me into the person I am today and the story doesn't end there.
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