Evanston is undoubtedly an amazing college town. There’s always events going on – open mic nights at Kafein, storytelling or bluegrass music at the Celtic Knot, live music and dancing each Thursday at LYFE Kitchen – and it’s known as the dining capital of the North Shore, so there’s no shortage of places to eat. There’s even a day in early October called Big Bite Night when all the Evanston eateries open their doors and offer free samples for all the Northwestern students! So anyway, long story short, Evanston is a great place to be a college student.

However, Evanston and Northwestern certainly wouldn’t be the same without the city of Chicago only a couple miles away. Standing on the southern tip of the Northwestern Lakefill on a clear day and seeing Chicago’s iconic skyline, I am reminded of how close (and BEAUTIFUL) the city is. Within a five-minute walking radius of campus, there are two trains and a free bus (the Intercampus Shuttle) that take students straight into Chicago. Having such easy access to such an incredibly vibrant and diverse community has been very important to me in my time at Northwestern. I have done my best during my three years to get into the city every week or every other week. Some weekends I’ll just take the ‘L’ train a few stops into the city and attend the Neo-Futurists’ weekly performance and longest running show in Chicago, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. Or perhaps I’ll go a few more stops south and stop by the Bourgeois Pig for a cup of coffee and a scone on my way to the free Lincoln Park Zoo. (I actually had to visit the zoo for a class assignment once!)

If I take the train just a few more stops south, then I find myself in the Loop, and the possibilities are endless. Sometimes I’ll take the short walk to Millennium Park. During the summer, Millennium Park offers free movie screenings and concerts to the public. (I was just there a couple weeks ago to watch and sing along to the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!) If I’m near Millennium Park, then sometimes I will drop into the Art Institute of Chicago, named the Best Museum in the World by TripAdvisor, and which is totally free for Northwestern students. And of course, after walking around the Loop or hanging out in Millennium Park, I will most certainly be hopping on the Blue Line and taking it to Margie’s Candies, a Chicago ice cream diner that’s been around for more than ninety years.

I have only just scraped the surface of all the things available to do in Chicago, just a short ride away from my home in Evanston. I don’t have room in this blog post to go in depth about the sporting events, concerts, theatre productions, $10 Chicago Symphony Orchestra tickets, and so much more. Being so close to such a big and vibrant city is also good for me as I approach my senior year thinking about what I may be doing after graduation. But even when I’m not thinking about future job opportunities, Chicago remains an amazing place to just take a break from a busy Northwestern schedule – and always on a college budget!

–Clayton Shuttleworth