THE LOOP — Kevin Droniak misses his Grandma Lill.
"I miss her because she always makes me laugh," said Droniak, who made his grandma a YouTube star when he started posting videos of their conversations in her car in 2012. "This is the first time I've been away from her."
Droniak, a Connecticut native whose hometown is near New York City, on Tuesday moved into a dorm room at Columbia College Chicago, where the freshman will be majoring in broadcast journalism with a possible minor in photography. Classes start next week.
Droniak, 18, said he already loves living in Chicago.
"It's really clean, and the people are really nice compared to New York City," Droniak said. "People in New York don't hold the door for you and don't even look at you."
Droniak said Columbia, which he visited in April, was the only school he seriously considered attending. He wanted an urban campus and somewhere where "I didn't have to deal with people I always see."
"I wanted change," he said. "And I just want to get the regular college experience."
Justin Breen says Droniak makes a living off the YouTube videos:
Still, Droniak already has been recognized a few times on the Chicago streets and in the dorm. That's probably not surprising considering Droniak has hundreds of thousands of followers on his popular YouTube channel — thiskidneedsmedicine — plus tens of thousands on Twitter and more than 100,000 on Instagram.
"I never expected this to happen," said Droniak, who once tricked his grandma into believing Disney's "Frozen" was real. "People on YouTube hope to reach a point where a lot of people can watch them. That it's happened to me is pretty cool."
The popularity — he was interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel when he was 17 — has also put money in Droniak's pocket, enough to live somewhat comfortably. He considers his video-making gig a full-time job, spending an hour to take them, plus another two hours to edit.
Droniak saved enough videos from Connecticut shoots to last him through November, but he plans to start making Chicago-focused YouTube creations in a few weeks. His grandma will be appearing in them as well, either when she visits in the coming months, or via FaceTime. Droniak taught her how to use the App when he bought her an iPad.
"She's pretty tech-savvy," Droniak said.
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