“I went to Jersey City State College to please a family member. I wasn't prepared for school. To say I failed out is putting it nicely.” StatesSchoolCitiesCollegePleaseMembersPreparedJerseyFamily MembersJersey City Author:Derek Luke
“I am involved with 'Write Girl,' which is such a great organization, because they go into inner city schools and work with underprivileged girls to pair them up with other writers. And it gets them learning to express themselves and become familiar with their own voice. They have a 100% success ratio getting those girls into college.” WritingSchoolGirlVoiceCitiesCollegeInvolvedOrganizationFamiliarPairsRatiosInner CityUnderprivilegedGreat OrganizationsInner City Schools Author:Melissa Rosenberg
“I was interning at a children's theater group in Kentucky - that was my first job out of college. I had jumped around a couple of regional theaters, and I was about to go back to Maine to work at a summer Shakespeare theater there. I didn't want to just jump around the country from gig to gig. I really wanted to go to a city and get involved in a theater scene and a theater community.” WantFirstsChildrenCountryWantedJobsCommunityCitiesGroupsCollegeCoupleInvolvedSceneSummerTheaterGet InvolvedGigsKentuckyMaine Author:Timothy Simons
“I feel like 'Gossip Girl' isn't really 'Gossip Girl' anymore when they're away at school because they don't go to NYU; they go to, like, Yale and Brown. New York City is just as much a character as anyone else in the books, and I was really sort of reluctant to show them off in their separate college worlds.” WorldFeelsBookCharacterShowsSchoolGirlCitiesNew YorkCollegeBrownGossipNew York CityReluctantYaleNyuGossip Girl Author:Cecily von Ziegesar
“I did some professional radio acting as a teenager, and I essentially put myself through college with radio acting in Montreal. When I graduated, I got jobs in professional theatres, repertory, and stock theatres in Canada for a couple of years. And then I went to Stratford, Ontario, where I spent three years with a Shakespeare company. We took a classical play from Stratford to New York City, and I got some good notices there and essentially stayed and did live television. And that brings you to the beginning of filming.” YearsPlayJobsThreeActingCitiesCompanyNew YorkTelevisionCollegeCoupleRadioTheatreTeenagerCanadaNew York CityThree YearsMontrealOntarioLive Television Author:William Shatner
“Twenty years ago the Oklahoma City bombing seared the concept of terrorism on American soil into our national consciousness and proved that we are all vulnerable, even in the heartland. I was in college at Rice University in 1995. All of us remember exactly where we were that day, and we will never forget the 168 people who were killed. Terrorism is evil, yet the incredible response to tragedies like we experienced in Oklahoma 20 years ago serve to highlight the strength, resolve, and resiliency of the American people to the world.” PeopleWorldYearsHeartRememberEvilForgetCitiesConsciousnessCollegeConceptsYears AgoTragedyTwentiesResponseIncrediblesUniversityTerrorismVulnerableSoilResolveNever ForgetRiceBombingHighlightsOklahomaResiliencyOklahoma City Author:Jim Bridenstine
“Absolutely. There are a 1000 better coaches in the cities, but I'm the best in the country.” CountryCitiesFootballCollegeCoachesCollege Football Author:Lou Holtz
“I can't read music. Instead, I'd do stuff inside the piano, do harmonics and all kinds of crazy things. They used to put me in these annual piano contests down at Long Beach City College, and two years in a row, I won first prize - out of like 5,000 kids!” YearsFirstsKindLongI CanTwoKidsUsedStuffCitiesCrazyCollegeAll KindsBeachPianoPrizeTwo YearsContestsAnnualsCrazy ThingsLong Beach Author:Eddie Van Halen
“By the time I started high school, I knew I wanted to be a writer. After graduating from Smith College in Massachusetts, I moved to New York City and worked for the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson.” WantedSchoolCitiesNew YorkCollegeHigh SchoolMovedAdvertisingAgencyNew York CityGraduatesMassachusettsAdvertising Agencies Author:Cynthia Voigt
“I guess I was always envious of people who got to move to New York for college because they got to see the city that I, perhaps, was pretty jaded by with new eyes and discover for themselves that Andy Warhol was dead.” PeopleEyeMovingCitiesNew YorkCollegeEnviousJadedWarholNew Eyes Author:Lola Kirke
“I don't know if I'd want to do that anymore, because you always get bigger laughs on college campuses. So, when the film plays in front of a city audience, you've probably cut too loosely.” IfsKnowsWantPlayFilmCitiesAudienceLaughingCuttingFrontsCollegeBiggerCampusCollege Campus Author:David Zucker
“As Mayor, I have a responsibility to ensure city government is making life better for all Angelenos, especially those whose past hard work laid the foundation for the city we enjoy today. Whether someone is born here, or comes here for college, career, or retirement, I want L.A. to be a place that welcomes all generations.” WantHardGovernmentTodayPastEnjoyBornCitiesResponsibilityCareersGenerationsCollegeHard WorkFoundationRetirementMayorsEnjoy TodayCity Government Author:Eric Garcetti
“Cities are broke, there are no jobs, people without a high school diploma and sometimes even with a college degree can't get jobs.” PeopleSometimesSchoolJobsCitiesCollegeDegreesHigh SchoolBrokeDiplomaCollege DegreeHigh School Diploma Author:Rachel Grady
“College is a magic time. Yes, youre young and fickle, but you want to be part of this college experience... Then you graduate from that. You have your first job, moving to a new city.” WantFirstsJobsMovingYoungCitiesMagicCollegeGraduatesFickleCollege Experience Author:David Sze
“Crack offered a lot of money to the inner-city youth who didn't go to college. Which enabled them to become businessmen. I know about maybe five people in the entertainment industry who did their peak work as a result of crack usage.” PeopleKnowsResultsCitiesFiveYouthCollegeIndustryEntertainmentCracksLots Of MoneyBusinessmanUsageEntertainment IndustryInner City Author:Questlove
“I made my performance debut in New York City downtown on the Lower East Side in college doing awkward performance art as a go-go dancer at Lady Starlight's Party. And I never thought that my love for mediocre performance art and bad mime would ever come to use in my career as an actor. But my fantasies came true and I got to play Maureen in Rent.” ArtMadePlayUseActorsSidesPartyCitiesCareersFantasyNew YorkCollegePerformancesEastDancerNew York CityAwkwardMediocreDowntownDebutStarlightPerformance ArtMimeEast Side Author:Annaleigh Ashford
“Everybody's in New York and, hopefully, my younger kids will go to college in New York and find something they want to do so they'll stay in the city” WantKidsCitiesNew YorkCollegeHopefully Author:Robert De Niro
“I wanted to be a jazz pianist, but I wasn't good enough. I got into city college because I didn't have the grades to get into university. I took acting because it was a way to get three credits. I just needed three credits and my friend told me to take acting because it was like gym - nobody fails you. I took it and that's literally how I got involved in acting.” WayLifeEnoughWantedThreeActingCitiesDestinyFailingCollegeNeededInvolvedDirectorsMy FriendsJazzUniversityCreditCinemaGradesGood EnoughGymInvolvementInvolvingPianist Author:Dustin Hoffman
“What happened is I was going to college in 1950. L. A. City College. A guy I knew was going to an acting class on Thursday nights. He started telling me about all the good-lookin' chicks and said, "Why don't you go with me?" So I probably had some motivation beyond thoughts of being an actor. And sure enough, he was right. There were a lot of girls and not many guys. I said, "Yeah, they need me here." I wound up at Universal as a contract player.” NeedsSaidEnoughMotivationNightGuyGirlActorsActingCitiesClassPlayerHappenedCollegeUniversalYeahWoundsContractsChicksThursdayActing ClassesGoing To CollegeThursday Night Author:Clint Eastwood
“The feeling persists that no one can simultaneously be a respectable writer and understand how a refrigerator works, just as no gentleman wears a brown suit in the city. Colleges may be to blame. English majors are encouraged, I know, to hate chemistry and physics, and to be proud because they are not dull and creepy and humorless and war-oriented like the engineers across the quad. And our most impressive critics have commonly been such English majors, and they are squeamish about technology to this very day. So it is natural for them to despise science fiction.” KnowsMayWarFeelingsHateNaturalCitiesFictionTechnologyCollegeProudMajorsBlameScience FictionCriticsPhysicsSuitsGentlemanDullBrownChemistryDespiseEngineersPersistBe ProudImpressiveRespectableCreepyRefrigeratorsEnglish MajorQuads Author:Kurt Vonnegut
“Most of my life, I thought that I would end up a novelist. But then, in New York City, after college, I started a company with a college friend where we made documentary video for museums. In that capacity, I shot, directed, edited and began to learn the vocabulary of film.” MadeEndsFilmCitiesCompanyNew YorkCollegeShotsCapacityVideoNovelistsMuseumsNew York CityDocumentariesVocabularyEdited Author:Jon Spaihts
“John Shook's experience shows just how important problemsolving is at Toyota - it comes before any other job skill for the graduate intake. When I joined Toyota in Toyota City (where for a time I was the only American) in late 1983, every newly hired college graduate employee began learning his job by being coached [...]” ImportantShowsJobsCitiesCollegeSkillsLateEmployeeGraduatesCollege GraduatesToyota Author:Martin Burns
“The Jews celebrate Passover by eating unpalatable food to remind them what will happen to their people if they ever leave New York City. The traditional meal often includes gefilte fish. For those of you who don't know what gefilte fish is, it strongly resembles a ball of tuna fish that has been passed nasally. It's not good. During Passover, the angel of death passed over the Jews - an event that, up until the late 1950s, was re-enacted every year by Ivy League colleges and suburban country clubs.” PeopleIfsKnowsYearsHas BeensCountryHappensCitiesEventsNew YorkCollegeLateEatingAngelBallsFishesJewClubsTraditionalCelebrateLeagueMealsNew York CityIvyTunaIvy LeagueCountry ClubsAngel Of DeathTuna Fish Author:Jon Stewart
“Fifty years ago, great schools like the University of California and the City University of New York - as well as many state colleges - were tuition free. Today college is unaffordable for many working class families. For the sake of our economy and millions of Americans, we must make higher education more affordable.” YearsWellsStatesTodaySchoolCitiesClassMillionsEconomyNew YorkCollegeHigherYears AgoUniversitySakeCaliforniaFiftyWorking ClassAffordableHigher EducationTuitionGreat Schools Author:Bernie Sanders
“It's true you have to screen out a lot living in the city. I stayed away from New York for a long time after college, and when I was first back, I'd read The Village Voice and feel like I was having a panic attack.” FeelsFirstsLongVoiceCitiesNew YorkCollegeLong TimeScreensVillagePanicTrue YouPanic AttacksLiving In The City Author:Lynne Tillman
“I was quite naïve, a boy from Southport. When I went to art college in Leeds, I lived in a basement flat, and I heard clunking on the stairs all night, and I thought it was just nurses going to work on the night shift at the local hospital! Then I found out it was all working girls upstairs. I suppose I came from a protected background and had my eyes opened wide by that side of city life.” ArtEyeNightGirlFoundSidesCitiesBoysHeardCollegeWideBackgroundsLocalsFlatsHospitalsNurseProtectedGoing To WorkAll NightStairsBasementsCity LifeUpstairsNight ShiftLeedsWorking Girl Author:Marc Almond
“Education is huge for me. I went to public school until I turned thirteen, and was lucky enough to afford college once I became successful as an actress. I cannot believe that quality education costs as much as it does in this country. Ghetto Film School is a remarkable public high school in New York City where students get to learn to express themselves through filmmaking, and have hands-on access to equipment.” BelieveDoeCountryEnoughHandsSchoolFilmCitiesQualitySuccessfulNew YorkStudentsCollegeHugeCostLuckyHigh SchoolActressesAccessRemarkableNew York CityFilmmakingEquipmentPublic SchoolGhettoThirteenFilm SchoolQuality Education Author:Julia Stiles
“I both loved and hated South Pasadena. On the one hand, it was so diverse - all my closest friends were immigrants or had immigrant parents. On the other hand, it was a bit conservative - in a sort of wholesome, Midwestern, small-town sense. I never met a single writer until I moved to New York City for college.” HandsBitsParentCitiesNew YorkCollegeMetsTownsMovedSouthConservativeHatedImmigrantsNew York CityDiverseClosestSmall TownClosest FriendsImmigrant ParentsPasadena Author:Porochista Khakpour
“To be in Boston, which is a great city and which is full of many colleges and young kids, and to be around that many people that were at the same point in their lives, who played guitar or whatever instrument - it was just perfect. It was a great environment.” PeopleKidsYoungPerfectCitiesEnvironmentCollegeInstrumentsGuitarBostonGreat Cities Author:John Petrucci
“College is a safe space where it can be hard to truly fail. The institution is rooting for you because your failure makes them look bad, too. New York City has no such mandate. I've had to hone and sharpen and refine my work here at a pace which may not have happened in other cities.” LooksMayHardSpaceCitiesFailingHappenedNew YorkCollegeSafeInstitutionsNew York CityPaceMandatesSafe Space Author:Baratunde Thurston
“When I was in college my improvisation troupe and I did a road trip to Chicago, and went to The Second City to see the classic 'Paradigm Lost' revue - with Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Scott Adsit and Kevin Dorff. It blew my mind, and proved to me you can do sketch comedy like you're doing 'Long Day's Journey into Night.' We could treat it like theater.” MindLongNightLostCan DoCitiesComedyJourneyCollegeLike YouTreatsTheaterClassicChicagoParadigmImprovisationKevinRoad TripLong DayFeySketch ComedySecond CityTroupe Author:Mike Birbiglia
“I'm a Tennessee boy. I grew up in East Tennessee most of my life, then came up to Philly to go to college and fell in love with this city, and particularly, my neighborhood on the north side of Philadelphia.” SidesCitiesBoysCollegeGrewGrew UpEastNeighborhoodPhiladelphiaTennesseeEast Tennessee Author:Shane Claiborne
“When you go into a college of education you've got aspirations of making a difference in people's lives, of loving children, of working with kids, but none of that is affirmed in your college of education. Then you go working in schools, especially in places like New York City and Chicago that I'm most familiar with, and you find these huge aspirations are beaten out of you in a very systematic way - and still people persevere.” PeopleWayChildrenStillsKidsSchoolDifferencesCitiesNew YorkCollegeHugeFamiliarAspirationMaking A DifferenceChicagoNew York CityBeatenPersevereSystematicLoving Children Author:Bill Ayers