“Sophie brings joy to studio every single day. She inspires, likes to tell stories and asks questions about everything. Her go-to line upon meeting someone is “so, what is your story?” Three hours later she is your best friend.”
–Keaton McCargo
Talk to anyone and everyone, all the time. It is so easy to keep your head down and just move through your four years of college, thinking that staying and chatting after studio sounds insignificant when all you want to do is go home and sleep, but these are the moments that add up to make this program what it is.
Where are you from?
Silverthorne, Colorado
What inspired you to come to ENVD?
The spiral staircase. I have found I am drawn to incredibly inefficient, yet extremely fun design elements…though I also loved that ENVD holds a core tenet of interdisciplinary teaching; that you could come out of undergrad with a degree that has allowed you to hone skills spanning so many design disciplines.
What have you enjoyed the most about being back in person on campus and ENVD?
My favorite thing about being back in person is being able to sit in the stifling heat of the third floor. I wasn't able to fit in enough sauna time in my day-to-day schedule, so it is very nice to be able to have a one-stop shop for academics and sweating. No, I'm kidding, I have loved to be back around the hustle and bustle of designing minds. You don't realize when you're designing alone, what is lost when you have a lack of cooperative iterative moments.
What has been one of your favorite memories so far, this academic year?
I forced my studio to have an elementary school-style Valentine's Day party. Everyone brought in handmade Valentine's boxes and passed out individual valentines. I just said this is the last time we will have a “class party” as students so let's take this back to our roots! It's funny the mundane school events you mourn when you realize your time in academia is up.
If you could say or share anything with all your ENVD peers, students and friends, what would you say?
I would tell my peers to talk. Talk to anyone and everyone, all the time. It is so easy to keep your head down and just move through your four years of college, thinking that staying and chatting after studio sounds insignificant when all you want to do is go home and sleep, but these are the moments that add up to make this program what it is. Your time at ENVD is made up of what seem to be so many inconsequential mundane moments, but it is the community here who celebrates your wins and supports you through your losses (or your painful jury critiques). Maybe I talk just too much, and this is bad advice…but it has gotten me this far.
What’s your go-to activity during the spring/warm months?
My go-to activity during the summer months is pretending to trail run. Every summer I believe "this is the year to take up a passion for long-distance running," and every year I am gravely humbled by my lack of appropriate pulmonary function. Though without fail when the weather gets warm, I don a hydration vest and stumble my way through the mountains.