Going through old facebook videos is wild. So much has changed in two years.

Not much has changed in two years.

virali asked: You go to Emerson? How do you like it?

My opinion about the institution hasn’t changed much since I last answered this, so here you go.

Although my opinion regarding the people here is constantly in flux, it’s not quite as relevant, so I’ll leave it out.

Photo from: Boston Phoenix

Some guy went around to various college parties in Boston and evaluated them and took clandestine photos and hey look that’s me. Talking to the beanie girl with her back turned.

Anonymous asked: I'm thinking about college right now, and one that really seems like the *~perfect~* school is Emerson, but I live in Oregon and it would be a lot of money and a lot of fuss. Is it worth it in your mind? And did you go to another college before Emerson?

Without knowing what exactly you want to pursue and the level of skill you’re carrying with you at the moment, I’m still going to go ahead and say yes.

I didn’t go to another school before Emerson, and I’m confident that Emerson is the best place in the world for me to be right now. It’s an amazing, unique school.

I can guarantee you I wouldn’t have half of the career opportunities that I do now if I had gone with another school, with perhaps the exception of NYU. (The one advantage NYU has is its location; if you want to intern at MTV or the Colbert Report, you don’t have to wait until the summer like Emerson students do.)

My frustration at Boston’s lack of career-relevant job opportunities aside, Emerson is the place to be, especially because of the people you’ll meet. You’re surrounded by people who are majoring in directing, lighting, screenwriting, cinematography, acting, animation, sound design, graphic design, musical theatre, stage management. If you want to make something, you have everything you need at your disposal. No other place will afford you the human resources that Emerson will.

If you’ve got that fire in you, you’ll regret deciding to go anywhere else. I guarantee it.

Let me talk about my school really quick[ly].

I have a lot of disdain for hip, for hipness, and for really basic humor that relies solely upon self-reference and self-deprecation. Poking fun at a negative trait doesn’t negate the fact that you express it. Emerson college is like an effing rare-earth magnet for those types, and that gets on my nerves.

BUT

A lot of those people are also very talented. And as highly as I value modesty and sincerity, I have to say that I value talent more. So here’s this video we made about what Emerson is like. It’s pretty accurate, and in some respects that’s sad, but in some it’s great.

Emerson patriotism gets taken too far a lot of the time. It parallels American Patriotism in that respect; out of blind nationalism or novelty, you get these I BLEED PURPLE AND GOLD (our colors) types. Just like you get the I BLEED RED-WHITE-AND-BLUE types.

On the flip-side, you get the people that hate the place because…well because they like to hate things. And because they can’t look past the negative aspects of the place and embrace it as a whole for all of the good and awesome that it has.

My relationship with my school is very similar to my relationship with my country. Sometimes I’m embarrassed by how it represents itself, sometimes I disagree strongly with the decisions made by those in charge, but at the end of the day, I am humbly proud to be a member of the community. I’m proud to be an Emersonian.

And goddamn, we really know how to sell ourselves.