Student Blog: 100 Brilliant Things about College Life in NYC

While reading and seeing Duncan MacMillan's renowned play, Every Brilliant Thing, I felt it was fitting to compile a list of 100 brilliant things about my life as a communications and theatre student in New York City as I enter my junior year of college. Here goes!

Imogen's Brilliant Things 

1. Getting the grade you wanted on an assignment you worked hard on
2. The Metro North.
3. Broadway rush tickets 
4. The satisfaction of completing a long-term project
5. Laughing with friends at 2 am
6. Reconnecting with a friend you haven’t seen in a while
7. Crisp Diet Cokes
8. Romanticizing the library 
9. Returning to campus!!
10. Bloom Energy drinks (specifically the crisp apple flavor)
11. Free campus events 
12. Karaoke with friends and roommates
13. Animal crackers
14. Analyzing plays and musicals for fun (and discovering cool details)
15. Being excited to share a contribution to a class conversation
16. Sitting on the quad and studying
17. Sleeping in
18. Peachwave Frozen Yogurt
19. Having special guest speakers come to class
20. Rant sessions at midnight
21. Ram van rides with your headphones and a good playlist
22. Five Below
23. Best friends moving to New York (and not being long distance anymore)
24. Having no class on Fridays
25. Gilmore Girls in the fall
26. Looking through my camera roll and reminiscing
27. Being released from class early
28. Take home exams
29. Having no homework for a day 
30. Walking out of a first class and realizing the syllabus was more intimidating than the reality
31. In-class workshops with Tony Winner Kara Young
32. Schmigadoon! on Broadway
33. Traveling to see theatre
34. New York Public Library Culture Pass (Highly recommend if you go to school in NYC)
35. $1.50 Pizza 
36. Getting to the station just as the subway arrives 
37. Having no plans for the weekend and getting to be spontaneous
38. Hard work paying off
39. Waking up in time to shut your alarm off before it goes off
40. Going home for the weekend and seeing your family
41. Easy Dinners from Trader Joe’s
42. Learning about things that you love and want to pursue
43. Studying in Lincoln Center plaza
44. Meeting a new friend and hanging out for the first time
45. Planning for Study Abroad 
46. Headphones and Spotify
47. Finishing a To-Do list
48. Google Drive spelling and grammar check
49. Helping with theatrical tech and lighting
50. Polar Ice Extra Gum
51. Seeing Denzel Washington speak on campus
52. A friend seeing your favorite show and loving it
53. Long walks around Manhattan
54. Movie Nights (...Teen Beach Movie)
55. Pilot G2 pens, especially the fun colors
56. Portable Chargers
57. Podcasts
58. Getting to the end of a difficult week and being able to relax
59. Crafts!
60. The Broadway Flea Market (particularly at the end of the day)
61. Journaling (and writing these blogs!)
62. When its warm enough to not wear a sweater but you can still wear jeans
63. The stickers on my computer case
64. Daily Broadway Briefing emails
65. Battery Park
66. Kimberly Bellflower’s John Proctor is the Villain (especially the final scene)
67. Working towards making your dreams a reality
68. The weird in between where you’re not quite a teen but not quite a “real” adult yet
69. Calling your mom
70. Being alive (both the Company song and the state of being itself)
71. Seeing artists you’ve admired for a decade in person
72. Last-minute plans and invites 
73. 1iota and attending exciting events
74. Cookie Dough
75. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
76. The smell outside right after it rains
77. Starbucks’ Iced Tea Lemonades 
78. Realizing what you want to do with your life on a random Tuesday because of a class you’re taking
79. Seeing my reviews published in the school paper
80. Ice Cream (with sprinkles)
81. The Drama Book Shop
82. Staying in touch with people online
83. Fun colored pens
84. “Stop the Wedding!” by Ashe
85. Watching people you love succeed and be happy (at their new colleges, post-college, etc.)
86. Winning a Kahoot!
87. Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s Alice by Heart Soundtrack 
88. Reading a play you genuinely enjoy for class
89. Erasable highlighters
90. TJ Maxx
91. The notes app
92. Finding a cheap and delicious food spot
93. Being excited to tell a friend about your day
94. Betsy Wolfe and Adam Kantor singing “The Next Ten Minutes”
95. Watching the rain from indoors
96. Seeing school theatre productions and being so proud of friends!
97. Decorating my apartment
98. Dancing with people you love 
99. Taking (sometimes far too many) pictures
100. Loving where you’re at and accepting that it’s okay to not have everything figured out yet!