Moving on, leaving Pittsburgh

Any graduating senior who definitely knows where she’ll be six months from today is lucky…. Any graduating senior who definitely knows where she’ll be six months from today is lucky.

Whether we’re waiting to hear from jobs or post-undergraduate schools or trying to decide between them; most of us don’t know exactly what next year holds. New York City, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles – the possibilities seem endless. But I’ve noticed that when people speculate about their post-college lives, mentions of Pittsburgh seem far and few between.

I’m guilty of this as well. In thinking about where I want to be next year, I often end up thinking about where I don’t want to be, and Pittsburgh always comes to mind. I’m not trying to hate on the ‘Burgh. After my decision – my great decision – to leave Penn State and come to Pitt, I’ve really come to enjoy many of the things this city has to offer.

I love being able to get a sandwich with fries and coleslaw on it at 1:30 in the morning. I love how during the holidays I can turn on the radio and hear the “Yinz better watch aht” rendition of “Santa Clause is Coming to Town.” I love how this city is big enough that I feel that I can escape and explore but not so big that I feel lost and alone. And there is still so much more of Pittsburgh for me to experience.

Then why am I so certain that I want to get out of here?

There’s no doubt that staying in Pittsburgh is tempting. I could move on to the next phase of my life without confronting Earth-shattering changes. I could still go home to my parents’ house 30 minutes away to do laundry when I’m out of quarters and get a home-cooked meal while I’m there. I wouldn’t have to learn any new street names, shortcuts or bus schedules. I wouldn’t have to wonder which restaurants are a rip-off or which bars have the best specials.

But the same reasons that make staying in Pittsburgh so appealing are the same reasons that are driving me away.

Growing up near and spending my college years here, I have convinced myself that remaining in Pittsburgh would be a cop out, the easy way out. When it comes time to get married and have kids, I want to start my family near Pittsburgh. That leaves a window of only a few years for me to experience life somewhere else, which I made myself believe is a must because in a world so big and with so much to offer, it would surely be a sad waste for me to restrict myself to Pittsburgh. So, following this line of thinking, if I’m ever going to live somewhere else, it’s now or never.

The reason why I take this so seriously is because I’ve put it in my head that unless I move to a new city, where all sights are unfamiliar and everyone is a stranger, I won’t be independent and will never be able to claim that I’ve truly survived on my own. I need to prove to myself that I can conquer a new place, alone, even if I hate it and find myself crying for the ‘Burgh. It’s a risk, but a necessary one.

So I’m sure you get it by now, I need to move on. But the more I think about it as my days in Pittsburgh become numbered, I wonder: Does moving on have to mean moving out?

Come senior year, we’ve spent at least four years here. It’s natural to get a little tired of the same old and yearn for a change. But how much did we really take advantage of Pittsburgh while we were here? Did we really soak up all it has to offer? I, for one, can’t claim that I have. While I’ve visited the Garage Door Saloon more than once in one weekend, I’ve never visited the Andy Warhol museum. While I’ve used my student ID to hop on the 54C to go shopping in the South Side, I haven’t ridden the incline since an elementary school field trip.

And who’s to say moving to a new city would definitely be all it’s cracked up to be? What if after two years in Chicago I just have to move to New York City to prove something else to myself. It’s healthy and good to want to experience new places, but never being satisfied where you are and always wanting to be somewhere else – anywhere else – certainly can’t be good.

I’m not saying I’ve convinced myself to remain in Pittsburgh until I die, but I realized that I shouldn’t be so quick to rule it out; clearly there is a lot more to this city for me to explore. As far as proving something to myself, challenges come in all forms, and I’ll probably be faced with more of them than I could ever ask for, regardless of whether I’m in Pittsburgh or Los Angeles. A plane ride and a new zip code doesn’t guarantee anything.

After all this analyzing and coming to realizations, I’m still right where I started: having no idea where I’m going to be in six months. But no matter where I am, I’m sure the future holds new experiences and challenges. And while I may be able to leave Pittsburgh, I certainly won’t be able to leave without looking back.

Are you gonna go my way? E-mail Anjali at amn17@pitt.edu.