Virginia

I like the kind of thinking that only happens when your hands are busy with something slow. Before UChicago, I spent two years at UVA, and when I left, I wanted to hold onto something from that time beyond just memory, so I crocheted a blanket. Thick and warm, built from UVA's own colors: blue and orange.

Crochet is repetitive enough to let your mind wander, but exact enough to keep pulling your attention back, stitch by stitch. I've come to like that combination more than almost any other kind of focus. Each stitch marked a little unit of time, of routine, of care. UVA gave me a real sense of warmth and belonging, and making this taught me something about what it means to hold onto that feeling and then try to offer it back outward, to someone else.