Katrina Valera’s Obsessions
by Zoya Brumberg (MA 2015)
Illustrations by Dani Knight
Katrina Valera is obsessed with finding other worlds inside our own.
Whether it’s a camping trip to Yosemite, a science fiction novel, or a 12-hour board game, she entertains herself with a healthy dose of escapism. Valera brings her creativity and world-building skills to her work as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) associate dean of student success. Since joining SAIC, she’s worked with student leaders for affinity and identity-based groups and supported heritage and awareness programming across campus. She’s also helped launch the Cultural Oasis: A Space by and for Students of Color, to find and build community. Below are some of her current obsessions.
FANTASY NOVELS
I am reading a number of high fantasy novels, including the Mistborn series, which I just finished. I'm working through The Stormlight Archive series—these are all Brandon Sanderson books. I’m also currently reading the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. Those are fun books! I’m also reading things to learn about mycelium and mushrooms.
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
My husband and I go hiking a lot. We try to go camping at least once a month. We go up to Wisconsin and Michigan, set up a tent, and go hiking. Recently we've been looking into camping out west. Last summer we did a camper van trip, flew into the Bay Area and took the van to Big Sur, Yosemite, and Sequoia. I think it's centering for us—it’s a good way to leave everything behind. Now I've got the bug to get into all of the national parks! I'm collecting some posters from all the places that we go. Our next goal is to hit the big ones around Southern Nevada.
ESCAPIST TV
TV is escapism. I'll watch fantasy things like One Piece and She-Ra, but I also get absorbed in drama. Severance is really good. I’m in the middle of What We Do in the Shadows, and it is great TV. I love cooking shows like The Great British Bake-Off. And creative game shows—I'm watching Queer Love right now. It is excellent.
BOARD GAMES
One of my biggest obsessions is board games. I collect many, many board games, and I love them. I'm a completionist: if there's a game I love, I need to have every expansion to it. Games give us a world that's outside of this one; they take us to different realms. Each week we're playing one to two games. Some games you really have to prepare people for—you find a group of six and are planning for months to get everyone together to sit down and play the game for 12 hours. One of my current favorite, less-involved games is called Wingspan. It’s beautiful. The art is by a woman artist, Elizabeth Hardgrave. There are pictures of birds. You're a birder. It’s just a joy to play. ■
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