The festival life
Junior Diem Dang gains a professional opportunity be attending the Beyond Wonderland music festival.
My time in Los Angeles was unfortunately shorter than expected, but it was some of the most fun I’ve had in school and in general. I had never been west of Las Vegas before going to L.A., and I was immediately awestruck by the amazing scenery. My roommates and I took advantage of this and reserved each of our weekends for visiting different parts of the L.A. area.
Being in the heart of Hollywood was for sure a bonus, and the best part about our location was definitely Magee’s Donuts, which was right across the street from our apartment complex. My roommates and I would go there enough that they learned our names and orders, and it really made the city and living situation feel like home.
Some of my favorite moments were when I got to visit the famous Hollywood Comedy Store twice to see my favorite comedians: Tom Segura, Bert Kreischer and Joe Rogan. For one of our classes during the first weeks, we visited Sony for a demonstration of a new technology it was trying out. But the best part was afterward when we went to a karaoke bar across the street and sang “Mambo No. 5.” Our program really became a family, and it was great to do these extra activities outside of class.
There was one great weekend that we got to go on a hike with one of our instructors, Barry Snyder, who brought his three wonderful dogs with him. I got to walk one of his dogs for a majority of the hike, and the other students and I got to see some of the terrain north of the San Fernando Valley. From the beautiful hikes, to trying to involve myself in additional freelance video work, to doing two escape rooms, to trying tons of new foods and seeing great comedy and sporting events, L.A. has proved itself to be somewhere I want to live. I honestly cannot wait to go back there.