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If home is where the heart is, mine is scattered in a million little pieces around the globe. Washington state, where I was born; my childhood home of New Jersey; my adult home (and the birthplace of CMD) in San Francisco—each of these destinations has carved a spot in my heart and will always provide a deep sigh and, “Ah, I’m back.” Another place that evokes such emotion? Virginia Tech University, my alma mater. In fact, VT holds a special place many for my family members—two of my three siblings are also alumni, and my brother even graduated the industrial design program a year ahead of me.
I began my freshman year in “foundation” courses alongside structural and landscape architects, industrial designers and urban planners. Though I originally studied architecture, I found myself drawn closer and closer to industrial design. Thinking in terms of scale, I was drawn to the idea of creating things I could hold in my hand (though a well-crafted building still has my heart).
After officially switching my major to industrial design, I dove head first into the program and graduated with honors in four years (shaving one year off the traditional timeline). The rest is all part of the beautiful CMD history. This past week, I was so fortunate to travel back to Virginia Tech and spend time with my 13 (yes, 13!) closest college friends in honor of our 15-year graduation anniversary. Being back at VT after all these years was refreshing, exciting, nostalgic, and made me incredibly thankful for such wonderful lifelong friendships. To sum it up, it was absolutely one of the best weekends of my entire life.
What places do you always consider home, even if it’s been a long time since you’ve lived there? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below.
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Lately, I’ve been reflecting on some of my favorite custom projects — the kind where memory, metal and meaning all collide. From heirloom diamonds and recycled gold to entirely bespoke wedding bands, these are the stories that remind me why I feel so called to this work... If you’ve been holding onto diamonds, want to recycle metal for [...]
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