My initial frustration with race relations on campus led me into the arms of Charlottesville. I was trained as a jazz singer at LaGuardia and performed professionally in New York, so I picked up some gigs. I got a part-time job at the cool new restaurant on Main Street, Southern Culture, where I met my current partner so many years ago. I moved off-campus to a predominantly African-American section of town. I went to book readings, helped on local theatre productions, and left the library to listen to live music on a regular basis. In the city, I was just another character on the scene — a piece of the fabric of this liberal, artsy, accepting, and intellectual tapestry of Charlottesville. I never felt like I didn’t belong, or was different, or like I had to choose sides. Without the town and people of Charlottesville, it would have been much more difficult for me to make it through Mr. Jefferson’s University.