Field Notes: The Media School Travel Blog

Usually when people decide to make the big move to California, their biggest worries are likely money, housing or how they will get there. But my biggest concern was the people.

After realizing I knew nobody else who had been accepted into the fall 2021 Semester in Los Angeles program, I was so overwhelmingly nervous about who would be joining me in this experience. Questions about what they would be like, whether we would all get along or whether I would even make connections that I considered to be friendships all plagued my head in the months leading up to August. Little did I know that exact worry would morph into my most prized experience from this semester.

Within the first few days in L.A., most of us spent nights hanging out and getting to know each other, and we made plans to explore the city and all it has to offer. This trend continued throughout the semester, and we eventually sectioned off into groups of people who got along best, had the most in common or saw each other the most often, all while maintaining a harmonious balance as an entire program.

The friendships and connections I have developed over my time in this program, simply within the IU community already at my fingertips, are something I would have never experienced otherwise. I was a freshman at IU when the world halted due to COVID-19, and I’ve always felt I haven’t had a great opportunity to meet people during my time in school. However, this semester alone has reversed any grievance I may have once had about that. 

I’ve dreamt of moving to Los Angeles since the age of 12, but I have always been unsure of what attracted me here so magnetically or what the city would ultimately bring me. Along with these unanswered questions, the overall uncertainty of how this city would impact me left me nervous and worried. I always figured once I got out of the Midwest and started living my life the way I had always envisioned it, suddenly I would be happier and my problems would magically dissipate, as if L.A. was this all-encompassing universal saving grace.

While these things didn’t happen (big surprise, I know), I learned one of the most important lessons in my life thus far: Happiness is not going to come to you based on a location, and relocating to start fresh won’t fix your life. But surrounding yourself with people and experiences that help you grow, expand your mind and make you happy is far more important than any city or job could ever offer. And sometimes your friends can be a really good temporary family.