Everyone thought I was crazy when I decided to go to college in Iowa. “Why would you want to go there?” my friends would ask, doubting the usefulness of leaving my hometown of Chicago and heading into the no-man’s-land of what they called “middle-of-nowhere” Iowa. Nothing could prepare me for what would happen in my years at Iowa State.

When I visited Iowa State in the spring of 1997, I was charmed by its beauty. It seemed like the setting of a storybook – lush fields of green grass surrounding a tranquil lake and a campanile that chimes every hour. I came to Iowa State because I wanted to experience something different. And sure enough, I did.

My first day at Iowa State, I remember being immediately intrigued by the fact that there was a barn right outside the window of my dorm room in Towers. There were cows grazing in front of the barn and cornfields surrounding it. “I’m not in Chicago anymore,” I thought.

Chicago is an isolated island in the Midwest. It’s pretty easy to live there and be completely oblivious to what is going on outside the confines of the Windy City. I live on the north side in Lincoln Park, a lively neighborhood near the lake that is teeming with shops, restaurants and bars. It’s the residential area that lies north of downtown and south of Wrigleyville, the neighborhood surrounding the baseball stadium where the Chicago Cubs play.

Living in Chicago has strongly shaped my personality; I’ve learned to appreciate the opportunities associated with city living. I love seizing the chance to attend a world-class art museum, an excellent concert or a remarkable play with such ease. That’s probably why I wound up becoming an arts and entertainment journalist. I value diversity and multiculturalism, and I like to think of myself as idealistic and open-minded. I had to see what else was out there. Moving to Iowa would provide a chance to branch out.

I joined the staff of the Iowa State Daily as a reporter, and secured a time slot on the campus radio station. Campus media made me feel at home.

As a freshman, my blue hair, punked-out style of dress and unconventional music taste clashed with most ISU students – especially in the dorms. While most of my floor-mates would sit around watching football and drinking beer, I was more interested in listening to music, going to concerts and playing guitar. The deeper I got into my freshman year, the more I wondered if I belonged.

I guess I never knew I was liberal until I came to Iowa State. I had never really come into contact with Republicans. Politics were just something I didn’t think much about because my views had never been challenged. The conservative climate of Iowa annoyed me at first, but I would learn to appreciate the challenge of maintaining a minority opinion. It’s easy to be liberal in a place where there are many others who share your views. Iowa strengthened my views because it forced me to think about politics from a different perspective.

Sophomore year I moved to Friley and roomed with Iain, a Scottish exchange student from the University of Glasgow. It was a great experience to live with an international student. Later that year, I went to Spain to study abroad. By the time I reached my junior year, I was so involved with activities I didn’t have time to feel out of place. I was putting in 30 hours or more a week at the Daily, working as arts and entertainment editor, all while balancing class work. I was living on a Spanish-speaking dorm floor, which helped to add some variety to dorm living.

I acquired a close-knit group of friends, and we bonded over the fact that we were liberals in such a conservative setting. I even scored an ideal summer internship in New York City at Rolling Stone – which proved to be one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Now it’s all ending. I’m graduating Saturday and moving back to Chicago where I will continue to search for a job. I’m hoping to become an entertainment writer at a major magazine or a big-city newspaper.

But I’ll always know that living in Iowa helped shape me as a person. Leaving home makes you appreciate where you come from even more. I know that’s cliche, but it’s true. Now I know the importance of living life to the fullest.

Looking back at my four-year stint at Iowa State, it’s not football games, Veishea parades or keg parties that will remain vivid in my mind. It’s really the people that make this university sparkle.

As I head into the scary world that is Not College, I’d like to thank the following people – former A&E editor Corey Moss who taught me the value of compelling magazine-style writing; editor in chief Carrie Tett who has stayed with me since we first stepped into the newsroom as freshmen and never left since; former opinion editor Greg Jerrett who reassured me that I wasn’t the only lefty at Iowa State; professor Tom Emmerson who showed me a fantastic time in London one summer and always went the extra mile to help me write the perfect cover letter; Daily editorial adviser Mark Witherspoon who wrote the recommendation letter that landed me an internship at Rolling Stone; my entertainment staff, particularly my assistants Kyle Moss and Jon Dahlager, who have been amazing editors and great friends. Everyone at the Daily – you all have formed the backbone of my college experience and the countless hours we spent in our crowded newsroom chatting away, clicking at our keyboards and chowing on countless pizzas will never be forgotten.

Many people complain that there is nothing to do in Ames. I say, stop complaining and start creating. Art, music, theater, creative writing, journalism – when there’s nothing else to do, turn to the arts.

John Darnielle of the Ames-based indie rock band the Mountain Goats told me something that sums up why Iowa’s state motto, “A Place to Grow,” makes sense. “When you’re working in Iowa, it’s just you and your thoughts,” he told me. “Nobody else cares.”

Why would a city boy want to go to school in Iowa?

Why not?

Conor Bezane is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Chicago. Listen to his final radio show on 88.5 FM KURE Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.