One of the things that has stayed with me after all of the days of orientation this week was a particular moment during introductions the first day of orientation. Everyone stood up, said where they were from, where they went to undergrad, if they had any film experience, and other stuff about themselves. The ages of my classmates vary (there are five to six 22 year olds, the rest are older). When a couple of the older students introduced themselves, they expressed how overjoyed and relieved they were to be here. Years of working in jobs or pursuing careers that were unfulfilling had beaten them down (they didn't say it, but you could hear it in their voices) and they felt so privileged to finally be able to do what they wanted. Maybe it took them a long time to realize they wanted to pursue film or maybe they knew all along and never wanted to admit it or were afraid to, but now they were facing it head on and were ecstatic. I always knew I was lucky to not only get in here but to have the ability to come here, and hearing the stories of some of my older classmates, it made me really appreciate my current situation and this wonderful new school and community of filmmakers I have become a part of. I have always tried to be a person who is grateful for all of the advantages I have and my classmates have reminded me that humility and appreciation for all of my blessings are qualities to be cherished now and forever. I want to help others achieve their dreams, because just getting by is not living. A nice job, car, apartment, house, clothing, vacations, etc is not living. People need a chance to be really happy.
Wednesday consisted of long sessions about the post-production and production centers. We also chose class representatives and had a brief financial aid session. For lunch I decided to finally use my meal plan and try out an NYU dining hall. Now, I'm a grad student, so I've done the whole campus dining thing before, but when you're on an urban campus at a new school looking for a dining hall to eat in all alone because no other grad students have meal plans, well, it can be an uncomfortable (embarrassing) experience. Every dining location that was listed on the map was in a residence hall. I had no idea how to get in and I had no desire to ask. Freshmen streamed past me giggling and sucking on their binkies (exaggeration) and I grew even more uncomfortable with the idea of a meal plan. Eventually I wandered to 14th street and found a quiet dining hall in a building that has a fitness center, meeting rooms, student housing, and a career center (I don't even know what you would label this building) and is supposedly across the street from a house Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes just bought. I had lunch and declared my first NYU dining hall experience a minor success. Dinner, however, would be the same thing all over again. Except it was late, I was tired, and once again didn't feel like asking for help. So I walked all the way back to 14th street after unsuccessfully hunting down a closer dining facility, got some pizza to go (you can swipe a meal to get into a dining hall and then fill a plastic container to take with you instead of staying there and having to eat yourself with all the other eat-by-yourself losers) and went back to my room. I changed my meal plan to a more flexible plan and had no immediate plans for venturing into a dining hall anytime soon. Nevertheless, the next day I found a much closer dining hall and food court with a Quiznos and other good food (one meal gets you an actual meal, meaning: a sub, chips, and drink. Take that Towson meals) that I have been enjoying (for FREE with my FREE meal plan) ever since.
Living in NYC is riding waves. It's highs and lows. Peaks and troughs. Great food, culture, excitement, walkability, movie everything--high. Crowded sidewalks, unfamiliar NYU dining facilities--low. I was pretty unhappy with NYC when I couldn't find a dining hall to eat dinner in. But as soon as I ate and settled back into my apartment and looked out the window as this beautiful city, I was riding high once again.
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