Some call Pittsburgh the Steel City, the 412, the City of Bridges or the Three-River City. To me, it’s my college campus and where I’ve spent the last four years. There’s definitely a reason that so many people come to Pittsburgh and never end up leaving! Even though it’s a city, it can still feel like a town at times. You’d be surprised by how many familiar faces you run into on the street. Though I can’t say I’ll be sticking around after graduation, I know that I’m already dreading saying goodbye and looking forward to my first visit back.
If I had never come to Pittsburgh, I wouldn’t know the joy of eating fries on my sandwich, the embarrassment of having your umbrella invert during a wind gust or the delight of hearing a local use the phrase “yinz.” If I hadn’t moved to Pittsburgh, I wouldn’t know the importance of a good snow boot, the deliciousness of a perfectly fried pierogi or the insanity that is a 40-degree fluctuation in temperature in a single day. There are some things that I definitely won’t miss about this city: the unreliable buses, the endless cloudy days and the elevators in my apartment building that never seem to work (I’m looking at you, One on Centre). When I think back on my college years, however, I’ll always remember the beautiful campus, the great friends I’ve made and the awesome memories that the city has given me.
It’s going to be hard for other cities to compete with Pittsburgh in some respects. This city definitely wins the award for worst weather. It’s still in the 70’s and sometimes even the 80’s through October, and yet you’re lucky if finals week in April is above 50 degrees! I’ll never forget the times I’ve forgotten my umbrella and been caught in a random rain shower. And the flashbacks of me sliding all the way down the sidewalk in Converse after an unexpected snowstorm replay over and over in my head… Pittsburgh does have some good things going for it, though. I’m really going to miss the museums, the food and all the dairy-free ice cream (who knew Pittsburgh was so lactose-intolerant friendly?). On my first trip back to the city, you better believe I’m getting breakfast at Pamela’s, walking off the food baby at the Carnegie Museum of Art and then getting a cookie dough milkshake from The Milkshake Factory to end the night.
Pittsburgh has taught me valuable life lessons, too. I now know how to (and how not to) share a living space, how necessary it is to avoid physics at all costs and to never take Cooper Cheese for granted because it tragically does not exist here. I learned how to advocate for myself, how to gain the confidence to try new things and how exciting it can be to step outside of my comfort zone.
There are some sights in the city that I’ll never get over: rounding the corner to a mesmerizing view of the downtown skyline, driving across one of the many bridges at night while watching the city all lit up and the Cathedral of Learning at dusk as the sunset paints the sky pink and orange. Pittsburgh also has some notorious smells. The most potent and most horrifying is whatever stench is coming from the manholes. I don’t even want to think about it honestly — and I fully look forward to forgetting that smell even exists. Then, there are the noises. The weird exhaust of the port authority buses, the noise that wakes me up every other morning that sounds like a train coming to a stop, the crosswalk pings and the sound of one of my roommates plopping onto our living room couch ready to spill the tea will always be ingrained in my memory.
I’m ready to close the chapter on my four years of college but looking back on all the memories is incredibly bittersweet. Thanks for everything, Pittsburgh, and I’ll (hopefully) see you soon!