A Glimpse into the Future

New York: the city that never sleeps, a place that people say, “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” Though, being a 20-something-year-old from North Texas, making it in the Big Apple can seem like a daunting and impossible goal. Thankfully, on Thursday, May 17, UNT hosted an Alumni Night in which the graduates were at the mercy of our never-ending stream of questions.

The former UNT students sat up on a panel and allowed us to verbally attack them with questions like, “How did you start in the industry?” “How old were you when you moved to New York?” “How can I be you?” Thankfully, they were as willing to teach as we were to learn. The event went on for four hours, two more than what the alumni signed up for. But thanks to their insight and want to see us succeed, no one rushed or rolled their eyes when we asked some of the most basic questions.

Seeing former students who sat exactly where we sat one, four, eight even twelve years ago, was encouraging. Those of us who aspire to live in New York were biting at the bit and had our hands in the air every two seconds, asking another question. Even those of us who had our sights set elsewhere were asking about various connections around the country. The alumni came from all different backgrounds; production, art direction, freelance, planning, social media, account management. No matter what we wanted to do, someone was able to give us a dot to connect to get there.

Thanks to this night full of pizza, cookies and questions, many of our dreams to getting to New York became a reality. We learned that it’s a cut-throat city and that you may have to sleep on a friend’s couch for a few weeks, but we also learned that it is possible. Being the top of your class is great, getting A’s in your creative class is cool, but things like that don’t really matter. If you have the drive, the passion and the nerve to make it, you will make it.