Grace: I moved to Laramie in the summer of 2024, but it was not the first time I visited Laramie. The first time I visited Laramie was Christmas break after my freshman year of college.

And so this was the winter of 2018. My freshman year roommate, she was from Colorado, and she told me that I just had to visit this little town, that she loved this little town so much. And so we drove up from Colorado Springs to Laramie for the day. And it was very cold. One thing that I remember is how vicious the wind was, and kind of how empty downtown was. But I was so enthralled with the town that when it came time to apply to graduate school, the University of Wyoming was the first school that I started my application for. And I really felt after that first visit that I could see myself going to graduate school there.

One thing that I really liked about my visit there was I liked the personality of the town. I feel like Laramie is something you have to experience. I remember visiting Night Heron for coffee and Born in a Barn for lunch that day. I was impressed with all of the little books, uh, bookstores, and I actually bought a Wyoming Pennant that day as a souvenir. And at the time I was buying it, I was like, "Why am I buying this?" Because I'm not the biggest souvenir person. And so it actually hung up in my room for six or so years before I actually moved to Laramie. I had this Wyoming pennant and I was never really sure why I had it until I actually ended up moving to Laramie.

I find that Laramie is a wonderful place to create art. That was one of the things that appealed to me most when I first visited there. I felt like there was such stillness in the place.  And also, the environment is something that you really can't ignore, and I find that to be really cool and interesting about Laramie.

Working on the Restoring the West Project, I've been able to think about the way that Wyomingites use language. And one thing that I am constantly impressed by is the brevity in which people speak. Because as a rhetorician, I think sometimes less words can be really impactful and important. It's been such a blessing to be able to listen to these stories from Wyomingites this summer, and then to also add my own story.

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.