For the month of October, Lincoln Center was home.

The New York Film Festival is a huge launching pad for many Oscar contending films and from 2014-2016, that festival was my obsession. I remember the hours on end staring at a computers screen in a virtual waiting line trying to get that hot ticket that you pray won’t by on standby. I remember the countless train rides to NYC to get to Lincoln Center and all the dinners afterwards with my dad discussing the movies we just saw. Those Octobers for three years are all there in this one photo.

After one movie years ago, my dad and waltzed around the Lincoln Center to the their amazing fountain, which truth be told is one of my favorite spots in NYC. While during the day it is gorgeous, it becomes immaculate at night. I got lost in the bursting water and my dad took a picture and there’s no photo I love more in this world.

When I see this photo, I feel everything. The hectic chaos, the elation, the disappointment that the New York Film Festival brings.

It makes me miss not being able to have those types of Octobers anymore as I’m now out here, but I can use this photo to bring me back to the New York nights at Lincoln Center that I will never forget. Even as a film student here at Chapman and the amazing experiences out here, sometimes you miss the hustle and bustle of New York and its film festival.

I now sit on the sideline as my parents keep up the NYFF tradition. I’m able to recommend them movies they need to see there and they try to get to as many as they can. After every movie they see, they always call me on the drive home and tell me how the movie was. in a way, it makes me feel like I’m there with them and I can still experience NYFF 3,000 miles away.

Octobers aren’t the same as they used to be, but it’s time now here in California to find the new thing to remember Octobers by. The weather here stays constant, while the leaves begin to change back home and NY night get just a little bit chillier. It’s a change of pace with California Octobers, but i look forward to finding the beauty in them the same way I did in New York and its film festival.