Thirty seconds. It took thirty seconds, just enough time to glance upon the skyline of Minneapolis, to know that this city would be the place I want to call home. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking, ‘Why a city like Minneapolis?’. Yes, it’s not usually a top destination for aspiring writers and directors, but from all the skylines I’ve had the honor of seeing, nothing has felt more right. For years I’ve dreamed of living in New York City, and having done so over the past summer, I learned more about myself than I even thought, and one of those things was that I still yearn for travel. Having seen the beautiful skyline of New York City, a sunrise in Dusseldorf (Germany), and that of Paris, I’ve experienced many breathtaking sights, and I’ve experienced countless adventures that are housed within those skylines, but I never thought that of all those places, I’d choose Minnesota. Sometimes though, we can surprise ourselves.

In Lower Manhattan (FiDi) there are gold plates along Broadway that have names of important people and events. As I walked to the subway station everyday, I would look down and read the names. Whether it was a sunny day, or one of New York's famous rainy days, the gold never lost its glow. I walked this road hundreds of times during the months I lived in the city, and even though there were a handful of routes I could take, nothing made me feel better than to look Uptown and see the Empire State Building tower over the rest of Manhattan. I referred to this road as the Yellow Brick Road (cliche, I know), though I couldn’t help but feel it was fitting. I moved to the city, a heartbroken train wreck, ready to take on the challenges of trying to make a name for myself in the place that souls from all over the world flock to for the same reason.

Although, after about a month, something inside of me changed. I began to fall into a pattern, a schedule. I’d wake up at the same time (usually, weekends were a different story), I’d stop at the Starbucks in Union Square (the one at the corner by Panera Bread, the other one across the park would always get my order wrong), get the same drink everyday, go to work, after I would head Uptown to Central Park and write in Ladies’ Pavilion with my feet near the water and my back on the rocks, and then I’d head back home and usually partake in some ridiculous shenanigan with my roommate. Nothing really changed. Though I was in the city of endless possibilities, the reality soon hit that just because there are so many things to do, my wallet was not indeed as endless. For years I thought New York would be my home, and in reality one day I hope it will be, but at this time I know that in my heart I would be very unhappy with the life I would be living if I had stayed.

I think that the biggest disappointments come from the things that we’ve had our hearts set on the most. Yes, having a bad date sucks, or like walking all the way to your favorite pizza place in all of New York City (Grotto’s) only to realize that they aren’t open on the weekends and your flight home was on a Sunday. However, as sad as those things are, they don’t compare to disappointment of the heart. Bad dates, closed restaurants, and other similar things are all of the mind. You had your thoughts on them and not your heart. Dreams, however, are different. They end up in your thoughts, but they start from the heart (not literally, metaphorically of course, I promise I know how the human body works despite me being a CLA kid). Though I don’t consider my dreams of living in New York a disappointment, I rather consider them altered. You can never know what to expect when it comes to something you’ve had your heart set on. You meet people who smile through it all and seem perfectly happy, but you also meet the people who see reality for what it is and still try to stay optimistic yet can see the truth and acknowledge it. Waking up at 3 AM to get in a Lyft to LaGuardia, I made a promise to myself. I knew that I would not be returning on my scheduled flight back, but that didn’t mean I would never be returning. Just because my dream of living in New York City didn’t work out the way I initially thought, I altered it. And honestly, I could never be happier with that decision.

Life is a beautiful experience. But beyond beautiful sunsets, breathtaking skylines, exotic places, and a diverse array of culture, life can honestly sometimes just suck. Things don’t go as planned, you don’t get to do the things you want, you have to pack up and leave a life you’ve started for yourself, and more. Yet, through these dark times we all have either found or will find ourselves in, we have to remember that sometimes it’s for the best. Sometimes we have to say goodbye to our own yellow brick roads. And though it may be hard, as long as you live life to the fullest and always strive to improve yourself and reach for your goals, then leaving that yellow brick road will be the best decision of your life.

So, as I sit here in a coffee shop in Dinkytown (don’t even get me started on how much I love Dinky), I look around and I see so many untold stories. Faces in crowds. Students just trying to do what it takes to get to where they want to be in life. Basically, as I sit surrounded by college kids sipping on lattes, I realize one thing. We’re all pretty much screwed six months after graduation when we have to face the reality of loan repayments. Though, none of them seem phased by this, because four years (or more) is a very long way away. I read about all these famous film directors that never even went to college or either got hired before finishing Sophomore year. Life sometimes will do that to us. It will take everything we thought we knew, and flip it upside down. We just have to be along for the ride. I sit in this coffee shop and wonder if any of these students might be the next President, or the next Nobel Prize recipient, or even the next Albert Einstein. I wonder if I’ll even ever receive that Tony award for best new play, but I know all I can do is just keep trying. The only true failure in life is when you give up. As cliche as overused that saying is, I never knew how true it actually is.

Some of my friends in New York laughed when I told them how excited I was to be moving to Minneapolis. And even though they didn’t appreciate the fact that it’s called the Mini Apple, I didn’t care. As beautiful as this city is, there is a secret gem that really made me excited to begin a life and career here. During one of my visits I had the honor of attending a class taught by Professor Longhi. Initially I walked into the building and was thinking ‘Oh great, experimental theatre, can’t wait!’ (sarcastically), but witnessing her lesson and then later hearing her guest speak during another lecture, made me almost cry. Rarely before have I met another individual as inspiring as she is. If it honestly wasn’t for her, I wouldn't have found the inspiration I needed to continue to pursue a career in theatre and living in New York City. She really taught me was that it doesn’t matter what situation you find yourself starting from, wherever you end up is entirely upon you, and if you continue to work and push yourself beyond the limits of your own ceiling, you will find nothing but happiness. Just because things may not seem as glam as they did in the start (referring back to her early career life story), that doesn’t mean you can’t alter the situation to make it into what you love and dream of doing. The only thing holding you back is your inability to allow change into your life.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone will ever read the words I write or the plays I craft. Sometimes I allow myself to have doubt. And in all honesty, maybe nobody will, but I don’t let that stop me from writing and telling the stories I have to tell. I’m not looking to become famous or to sell out theaters across the world (although that would be pretty ideal), I’m just looking to change at least one persons life. That’s when I will know I’ve truly succeeded. Though my road to my goals may not be paved with beautiful yellow brick, I honestly prefer it to be rough and rugged. It’s formed me into the person, the writer, and the soul I am today. I fear of becoming the person who gets everything handed to them, or those who get the easy path through life, because one day they will be hit with reality hard. So, as I sit here in a coffee shop in Dinkytown, I wonder how many of those around me are walking the rugged road or strolling down the yellow brick road. I wonder what stories they have to tell.

I don’t know what tomorrow has in store for me. I don’t know what next week will bring. I don’t know where I will find myself next year. I don’t know how my life will play out. These are simple facts that we must accept. We can have ideas, we can have goals, and we can have dreams, but in reality we simply will never truly know what to expect. Over the past few months though, I’ve learned to love every second of the unknown rather than fearing it. I took my first few steps off my yellow brick road and I was terrified. Now, though, I can feel myself running head on in to the unknown. Saying goodbye was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, but when I step back and take a look at where I am and the people I’m with, I wouldn’t want my life any other way. Dreams inspire us to push for a better tomorrow. However, dreams eventually end when we open our eyes and face the reality we find ourselves in. So, if you give up, why should you expect to open your eyes and be where you’ve dreamed of so long? One day I will open my eyes and be back in the city of my dreams, but as for tomorrow, I’ll open my eyes and see the mountains I have to climb to get back. Luckily though, I have the supplies necessary and the dedication to tackle the journey trekking through the cliffs. Also, I have a whole lot of coffee.

Thirty seconds. All it took was a mere thirty seconds for me to reflect on everything I’ve experienced in my life, and see the thousands of possibilities one city has for me. Sometimes all we need is a new perspective.