I lost my umbrella over the weekend. It was a very sad moment, stepping off the subway, the doors closing behind me and realizing it was still sitting on my seat. I turned back, wondering if it was possible to get back on, but subways have a schedule and the doors rarely stay open for more than a few seconds. I watched it ride away, and I like to think that some poor old woman found it and was able to stay dry in the rain.

On the way back to MCPC, I boarded the subway once again and was surprised to see a bag underneath the seat I chose to sit in. I picked it up and peaked inside. All I saw were some papers and a cell phone charger along with a pair of glasses in their case. Relating to the bag owner because of my recent umbrella loss, I took the bag with me when I exited and carried it back to MCPC. I looked through some of the papers, trying to find a name or phone number. There were multiple addresses, probably a work address and home address, some bank information including a check book, a pay stub (from a production company, which I particularly noticed being a film major myself) and finally a phone number. I called him, explained that I had found his bag. He was so surprised, and said he would be on Broad Street in 20 minutes to pick it up. Apparently his car had been broken into earlier that day outside of work, and that bag was one of the items stolen! I guess the robber left the bag on the subway once he realized there wasn’t much to sell inside. Still, the man was very thankful I had contacted him and also seemed extremely surprised that he had his bag back. I made a new contact at a production company in Philadelphia and will hopefully ask him sometime about life after college in the film industry. It’s funny what opportunities you can find to meet new people and make connections in the city!

Hello, I am Krista, a new MCPC blogger. I am a senior Communication/Film major and this is my first semester at the Philly campus. I’ve had really interesting experiences since arriving last week. Growing up in a safe suburban neighborhood, I was led to believe that cities were dirty, scary places. That if you lived in a city, you had to be on the lookout at all times to avoid being mugged or shot. Imagine my shock when I discovered how comfortable I am in this city after only living here a few days. It has been easy to find my classes at Temple, since the campus is much simpler to navigate than I previously thought. Instead of an intricate weaving of subway tunnels, I found that there are only two subway routes to choose from: north and south on Broad Street or east and west on Market Street. Could living in a city be this easy? I had prepared myself for the worst in vain.
Have you ever heard a song that you hate at first, but the more you listen to it, the more you like it? Eventually it becomes a song of comfort because it is so familiar. Well it has been the same experience with the Philly campus. Freshman year I visited for a weekend with my Intro to Film class since all film majors are required to spend one semester here. At the time I was not officially a film major, so I was happy that I did not have to live here. It seemed so unfamiliar since I’ve had very limited experiences with cities in general. As the weekend went on, I decided that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have to take classes here, but I still didn’t want to do it myself. There have been several visits to the City of Brotherly Love since that first impression and each time I grew to like it more and more. Now, here I am thinking about the possibility of living in or around Philadelphia after graduation. I guess you never know how much you’ll like something until you give it a try.
Krista