A Warm Pair of Socks

My interview for the Bonderman Fellowship came on a day that I had to give an address to an audience who had come for the opening of the Visions of Valor Exhibit on the Univeristy of Washington campus. Normally, giving an address would not have been that big of a deal, but the VoV exhibit happened to run in conjunction with the fundraising efforts for a memorial dedicated to former students and Alumni of the University of Washington who had been awarded the Medal of Honor (If you're interested in the whole story, you can access background materials here, in chronological order: 1, 2, 3). Without going into the whole story, and in the spirit of getting to the point, I was a very nervous kid that day. I'm not sure if I was confident, although I do know that I had dressed really nice that day (at least by my standards). I don't remember my interview going very well, and, in fact, I can't even really remember any of the questions, let alone my answers--except one.



Last night, as I sat in my hotel room with a fire ablaze, I started to miss home about as bad as I have yet. I've now been gone for over a month--the longest that I have ever been away from some kind of stable environment with the majority of my belongings. Being the human that I am, I instinctively scoured the room for the things that would bring me the most comfort... There was this amazing apple pie from the Pie Shop in downtown Otavalo, coffee, water, blankets, fire, a dog outside my door, etc. and nothing quite did the trick. Aside from just going to sleep, I had no idea what I could do. Then, as I rustled through my backpack, it dawned on me--a pair of socks. A nice warm pair of ultra comfy wool socks. My mind immediately flashed back to that interview and I remember Brook--the BF advisor--asking me what essential things I would bring. I said socks, because you aren't always guaranteed a hot shower, nor can you feasibly pack a blanket. They warm your feet and eventually your heart (I'll openly admit I was certainly not this cheesy during the interview). I put on my socks--a pair that my mom had bought for me before I left on this grand venture--and apparently the answer to the question turned out to be the right one for me.