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Things are never boring in Chicago. You’ve got top notch sports teams, great restaurants, night life, and more improv troupes than you can shake a stick at. (Quick side rant: How many things can you shake a stick at? Have you ever gone outside and started shaking a stick? You look like a raving lunatic.) Anyway, let me get back to Chicago not being boring. When I left another Columbia College Chicago Directing II shoot last weekend, I strolled past Wrigley Field on my way to the train. I literally pushed my way through a sea of red and blue Cub fans. As I was skipping past ticket scalpers and photo bombing touristy snap shots I thought, “Where would I rather be?” Just so you know, that’s a loaded question.

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Let me expand on the idea of “WWIRB.” Right now I’m in Chicago, racking my brain with the idea of visual storytelling. I’m figuring out how the landscape of film will be different tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that. I’m working as hard as I can to support my classmates’ projects so we all have great films. I chose this. I wanted this. Right now there is no place I’d rather be than Columbia College Chicago.

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When you choose to attend graduate school for a discipline like film, you are committing to the pursuit of the art. You’d rather learn fundamentals with like-minded peers than blindly imitating what videos you see online. You’d rather be in an environment that challenges you, that stimulates you, and that intrigues you. If you are like me, then you’d want to be in Chicago.

The next “rather” is the tricky one. What do we want to do when our stay at Columbia is complete? Hopefully, we’d rather be on set, or working in a post house, or writing, or teaching. Hopefully we’d rather be using the skills we learn and not just sit on them waiting for opportunities to come. So, I’ll say it again. I’m glad Chicago isn’t boring, because I’d rather be putting what I learn into action and luckily I can.