A few weekends ago, my family met up in Blacksburg, Virginia to visit my sister and go to Virginia Tech’s homecoming game against Duke. Virginia Tech in the fall is beautiful. The leaves on the trees join the football fans in donning their maroon and orange, and the grey gothic architecture combined with the chilly air makes you feel like you are spending a day at Hogwarts. I went to college at a basketball school, not a football school, so going to football games at Virginia Tech alway seem so huge. The fan base goes all out in full on maroon and orange – you have to embrace it and tell yourself that it is in fact a good combination, because everyone else around you sure is. They wear t-shirts, sweatshirts, and anything with a VT on it. It is serious business, you certainly won’t see any of those sundresses or cute school colored scarves that I wore to football games at my non-football focused school. While we were on campus, my sister, an industrial design major took us on a tour of her studio and some of the workshops she uses to make her projects (metal shop, wood shop, plastics, etc). It was such a different world from the regular academic classrooms and textbooks I was used to seeing in college. She and her classmate showed us some of the projects they have been working on and it made me want to go back and change my major. Please?
Below are some pictures from the fun family and football-filled fall weekend. While the game was close and Virginia Tech was pulling through until the end, it wasn’t the outcome we would have liked (well, except Will). We still made it a great trip that I can’t wait to do again :)
These are the students’ desks in my sister’s studio – empty before the football game. It looks like complete chaos from above, but it is so cool to see the projects they are working on and how they shape the materials they use. In the picture below one of my sister’s friends was in the studio working on a project. She explained to us how she was designing an improved guiding stick for visually impaired people that has a more comfortable handle (she had a box of testers where she marked pain points) and will combine with technology to create a less obvious guidance system. It was so intriguing!
I just love Virginia Tech’s campus. The Hokie Stone, the Drill Field, Burrus and the Pylons, and all of the Hogwarts corners are great :)
In these two black and whites you can make out the school’s motto, “UT PROSIM,” etched into the stone below the seal. In English it means “That I may serve.” The motto appears in many places on campus and students rally around it. It is such a good motto, one that we should all keep in mind in our every day lives.
Hokie hokie hokie hi! Tech tech VPI! Woo hoo for spirit sisters :) Below is Lane’s awesome reaction to a VT touchdown! Gooooo HOKIES!
The game was a “Maroon Effect,” or a maroon out for those of us who don’t speak the lingo. The whole stadium (which is much larger than I am used to) was covered in maroon. Only at Virginia Tech.
The excited fans, colors of the trees, Hokie Stone buildings and the mountains provided such a great view during the game :) See you soon, Blacksburg! Go Hokies!
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