ENGL3844 P2.Walkings
Prof. Derek Mueller (dmueller@vt.edu)
10/10/25
Intro: The media below demonstrate many walks that I’ve taken in Blacksburg, Virginia. Whether they were for leisure or purpose, all of my journeys have been collected in this document. I used mostly photos in this documentation, but there is one video link present as well for some variation. Some takeaways I gathered from this project are the fact that I rarely walk alone, I usually walk later in the day or at night, and that I documented mostly fun walks rather than objective ones. Noticeable motifs in this collection include friends, downtown Blacksburg, and activities outside of school. Like I said, most of these walks are for leisure and nothing else. I believe one of the most significant walks in this project was the halloween walk. Everyone was very excited to let loose after a hard week of school. Plus everyone knows how horrendous college gets in October. It definitely wasn’t the longest walk on the list, but it was by far the most enjoyable and memorable. We ran into so many cool characters and costumes on our way to the club. Some of our costumes got recognized too, which was reassuring because of how low effort they were. Another significant walk would be the frost walk. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved snowy weather. I was very excited that I got to experience Tech’s first snow of the year, even though I was less than thrilled to be walking to class. However, the weather improved my entire day, and my roommate and boyfriend went out to buy matching Christmas socks because we all felt very festive. Basically, all of these walks have different stories to tell with shifts in tone and setting.
P for Parking Garage (South Main St.):
Figure 1. This is the view from a small parking garage in downtown Blacksburg. My roommate and I like to come here on our nightly walks. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
My roommate and I have a habit of going on night walks after a stressful week. On this particular night, we grabbed some DX (I got a burger and she got a chicken sandwich), and set off. We live on-campus in New Residence Hall East, so the journey wasn’t too burdensome. As we people-watched, we discussed our week, what exams we have coming up, personal drama, and more. This parking garage has been our usual spot since our freshman year, so we come here pretty regularly. Not a bad spot. We tend to frequent downtown a lot, which can be observed in more entries. It’s close to where we live and there’s a decent amount of stuff to do, even just walk around. Sometimes we’ll grab some snacks off-campus like at Benny’s or The Boardwalk, but we usually just eat with our dining dollars to save money. It’s been a newfound stress to juggle a job and schoolwork this year. My roommate has a work study position with the chemistry department and I work at a pasta restaurant close by. (180)
G is for Going Out (Draper Rd.):
Figure 2. The Milk Parlor is a music bar in downtown Blacksburg. This is the best spot to see live bands and grab some chicken tenders after a long night. This video shows a local band playing. (Original Video, Chloe Norton)
The Milk Parlor is one of my favorite spots to go out in Blacksburg. My friends and I frequent it pretty much every weekend since we all love live music. On this night, we had tried getting into The Burg (just to go somewhere new) but the cover charge was $40. That’s preposterous so we decided to come here instead (got in for free). We happened to see a decent band that we never caught the name of. They covered “Song 2” which made me very excited because I’m a really big Blur fan. The lead vocalist and guitarist seemed a bit unsure of himself as he would frequently skip over lyrics or hit the wrong fret, but it was still enjoyable to watch. They played a few songs my roommate enjoyed as well like “My own worst enemy” by Lit. They somehow messed up that song more than Song 2. After they were finished playing, we walked around downtown some more and looked for something else to get into. It didn’t take much effort since it was a weekend. (180)
D for Ducks (Duck Pond):
Figure 3. Ducks seen swimming around in Virginia Tech’s duck pond. My roommate and I think that the two ducks in the center were romantically involved. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
This day was a relatively exhausting one. My roommate and I had just gotten out of our labs (I had chemistry and she had bio). We had decided to grab some Chickfila from Perry Place and eat at the duck pond picnic tables. While we were eating, we noticed some ducks surrounding the tables and decided to snap some photos. The two ducks in the center were very touchy with each other, signifying a clingy relationship. The weather was cool, the sky was cloudy, and it was nice to unwind outside after our labs. In my opinion, labs are way more annoying than lectures. They take so long. Especially the required STEM labs that we have to do. Some of the other ducks we saw were far more aggressive with each other, but there were some more chill ones too. They would do this thing where they put their heads in the water and lift up their feet above. It was pretty cute. We were very surprised that there weren’t more people out, but Duck pond is usually kinda quiet. (180)
S for Skateboard (Skatepark):
Figure 4. This is me trying to remember how to ride a skateboard properly at Blacksburg’s skatepark. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
I don’t skateboard that often, but when I do, it’s always pretty fun. This was definitely the longest walk on the list; the skatepark is very far away from where I live. As you can infer based on the last entries, my roommate was here for this venture as well. She’s a much better skater than I am and will usually tease me for riding a longboard instead of a street board. She dropped in on the half-pipe a couple of times, and I just skated around aimlessly. Gotta practice a little bit more. It’s difficult to go to skate-parks with a longboard because there’s really not that much to do. I’ve contemplated switching to a street board but they’re so rickety and one pebble can send you flying. Longboards have bigger and smoother wheels so they can ride over pretty much anything with no issues. It would be nice to work up the courage to learn some tricks though. This walk was extremely cold for the clothes that we were wearing. It took about 40 minutes to get there. (180)
T for Trees (Academic Side):
Figure 5. This is a photo I took around Pamplin Hall. The slight coloring of the trees and the evening lighting deserved a picture. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
I cross this path on the academic side very frequently; most of my classes are in Hahn Hall North. This was a solo journey when I got out of my chemistry lab. We had just performed an experiment with lots of titrations and random stuff like that. I had just grabbed some pasta from Veloce in Perry Place, and was eager to get home quickly so that it wouldn’t get cold in my bookbag. It was mushroom pasta which is one of my favorite dining hall foods. I feel like they barely have it which makes it way more special. As I was walking along, it was hard not to appreciate the signs that fall is upon us. I’ve always preferred winter, but there’s nothing quite like a good orange-leafed tree. I wasn’t dressed too uncomfortably for this weather. I had my red coat on which was pretty warm for the short walk. This walk is about 10 minutes which isn’t too bad. I’ll alternate between taking this path or just taking the CAS bus near the Hahn Hall stop. (180)
F for Frost (Residence Halls):
Figure 6. This is some mild frost that I saw one morning when walking to the bus stop. This made me increasingly excited for winter. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
I looked at the weather app after waking up so I could dress accordingly for this walk, and noticed that it was slightly over 30 degrees. I was more shocked to see predictions for flurries throughout the morning. It was very chilly, but it made my walk to my chemistry lecture slightly more enjoyable. I ended up wearing some black jeans, a white patterned hoodie, and a big flannel jacket to keep warm. In my airpods, I was listening to the band Magdalena Bay since they usually wake me up a little. Their album “Imaginal Disk” has been one of my favorite albums of the year. My favorite song on the album is “Death and Romance” which is what I listened to on this walk. The nearest bus stop was very close to my dorm so it took about 5-6 minutes to get there. I was definitely almost late though. I’m really bad at waking up in time for early 9am lectures. I’ve never been much of a morning person which has become even more prevalent since coming to college. (180)
C for Croissant (Marcia’s Park):
Figure 7. These are some pastries that my roommate and I got after roaming around downtown. The left is creme brulee cheesecake, the middle is a creme brulee donut, and the right is a turkey and swiss croissant. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
This was a very leisurely walk with my roommate. We went to Coffeeholics to grab some snacks of the sweet variety. Surprisingly, we didn’t get any drinks even though we went to a coffee shop. Our main mission was to find a nice, outdoorsy spot to eat, and after some searching, we found this small park called Marcia’s park. It’s a bit past where Coffeeholics is at. The weather for this walk was a good mix of warm and cold, but I got chilly as the sun went down. As the leaves crunched under our shoes, we settled on this platform above a small body of water. The pastries were beyond our expectations and I’d say my favorite was the creme brulee donut. It had a crisp, crackling top with a custard filling. That was the one my roommate got while I got a turkey swiss croissant for myself and a creme brulee cheesecake for me and my boyfriend to split. It looked a bit burnt but still tasted really good. It was nice watching leaves fall on the water. (180)
M is for Market (Farmers Market):
Figure 8. This figure shows some mushrooms that I found at the Blacksburg Farmers Market. I was tempted to buy some but I don’t have a lot of money right now. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
My roommate and I decided to go to the Farmers Market on Saturday. We both got up around 12pm, walked to squires to get some coffees, and then headed downtown to the market. This little mushroom stand had to be my favorite. They had small grow kits, fresh mushrooms, and other cool products. I absolutely love mushrooms but it’d be pointless to get some cause I couldn’t do them justice in a dorm kitchen. Another stand we walked by had really good smelling candles but they were like 20 dollars so we passed. I could never understand how some wax is worth 20 dollars. The weather was a bit windy but not unbearably cold. As we circled around the place, mounds of fresh produce and artisan goods continued to catch our attention. There was also this very intriguing looking food stand that made dumplings. I was thinking about trying it but I thought I’d save it for next time cause it’d give me a reason to walk back. There was also some live music playing and it sounded somewhat folksy. (180)
H is for Halloween (Centros):
Figure 9. This is my roommate, boyfriend, and friend waiting in line for Centros on Halloween night. We ended up staying for about 3 hours and we were all pretty tired the next day. (Original Video, Chloe Norton)
On Halloween night, some friends and I decided to go out and dress up. This wasn’t a long walk since it was just downtown, but we were all kinda cold. The hoodie I was wearing wasn’t warm enough at all. I dressed up as Sukuna from Jujustu Kaisen. I was too lazy to invest in the actual outfit so I just used some temporary pink dye on my hair and got my roommate to do the face markings. We stayed at Centros Bar for about 3 hours and we saw somebody get kicked out too. As soon as we got in the club, it felt like it turned 80 degrees because of all the people. My glasses fogged up instantly and I had to repeatedly wipe them off in between songs. They were playing a mix of really good party songs and songs that shouldn’t have even been considered like Taylor Swift. Who wants to hear Taylor Swift at a club? Not me. We all danced around with some cool strangers in fluffy monkey onesies and they recognized a majority of our costumes. My roommate’s costume was by far the most intricate and she made it from scratch. It was a pretty eventful night to say the least. All of us were so tired when we got back. This was the most fun walk on the list even though it was brisk and somewhat short. Everybody knows how stressful college gets in October so it was nice to have a night of letting loose with friends and just dancing around pretty much. This was definitely a great Halloween to remember. (270)
V is for View (Study Lounge):
Figure 10. This is the view from outside one of my dorm’s study lounges. I got some schoolwork done and was then greeted with this pretty view. (Original Photo, Chloe Norton)
It was a pretty slow day, so I decided to catch up on some schoolwork (which has been a struggle this year for some reason). I walked down to my floor’s study hall so it was no big journey. I worked on chemistry notes and my chemistry lab worksheets. The lab worksheets are usually pretty lengthy with a lot of calculations to do. This worksheet was about Plus my director is a very strict grader so it’s mandatory to make sure everything is up to standard. I was able to complete a couple hours worth of homework and then noticed how pretty the sky looked. I’m not sure why, but I feel like there’s a lot of good sunsets here. Especially with the mountains in the background of it all. It was a nice ambience to accompany the studying. I’m not sure why a lot of people venture outside their dorms to get their schoolwork done. There’s no point in adding extra effort to completing something you’re already reluctant to do. It’ll be nice to have a break soon. (180)
Installment #1 (Oct. 10) Artificial Intelligence Disclosure for ENGL3844
You can review the AI policy for this class in our course syllabus at any time; please communicate directly and promptly with your professor if you have any questions or concerns about the policy.
- Boldface the appropriate terms in the [square brackets]. To prepare this document, I [HAVE/HAVE NOT] used generative artificial intelligence to assist with the process.
If you HAVE used generative artificial intelligence to assist with the composing process, please add a note about the scope of use.
- Describe in approximately 100 words how you have used AI, including the specific application, number of times, and purposes:
Your Name: Chloe Norton
Date: 10/10/25
Installment #2 (Oct. 31) Artificial Intelligence Disclosure for ENGL3844
You can review the AI policy for this class in our course syllabus at any time; please communicate directly and promptly with your professor if you have any questions or concerns about the policy.
- Boldface the appropriate terms in the [square brackets]. To prepare this document, I [HAVE/HAVE NOT] used generative artificial intelligence to assist with the process.
If you HAVE used generative artificial intelligence to assist with the composing process, please add a note about the scope of use.
- Describe in approximately 100 words how you have used AI, including the specific application, number of times, and purposes:
Your Name: Chloe Norton
Date: 10/10/25
Installment #3 (Dec. 1) Artificial Intelligence Disclosure for ENGL3844
You can review the AI policy for this class in our course syllabus at any time; please communicate directly and promptly with your professor if you have any questions or concerns about the policy.
- Boldface the appropriate terms in the [square brackets]. To prepare this document, I [HAVE/HAVE NOT] used generative artificial intelligence to assist with the process.
If you HAVE used generative artificial intelligence to assist with the composing process, please add a note about the scope of use.
- Describe in approximately 100 words how you have used AI, including the specific application, number of times, and purposes:
Your Name: Chloe Norton
Date: 10/10/25