A TALE AS OLD AS TIME Senior Kenyon Walker collected watches and the stories they told. Watches told time, accessorized an outfit, and, for senior general studies and pre-professional health major Kenyon Walker, they were collectible. Walker had a collection with various types of watches and each had a unique story behind it. Walker's first watch was a novelty Disney watch with Goofy on the face that worked in reverse. Despite it not telling time properly, Walker was fond of it because of how it looked. The next year, he purchased a watch on a cruise ship, and it was these two watches that began his collection. However, his love of collecting watches faded away until the beginning of his college career. Walker stumbled upon a YouTube channel about mechanical watches, which inspired him to resume watch-collecting. Mechanical watches did not require a battery and tended to have an extended lifespan, making them a good investment. "I like that it is something that's going to last a long time," Walker said. "When I am dead and I give it to my kids, it is still going to work, and it is still going to have all the history and stories attached to it." In Walker's collection, he had a Seikodiver's watch, which he sported on rainy days and adventures. Walker also had an Omega Seamaster from 1960 in his collection, the same type of watch worn by Ryan Gosling in "La La Land," Walker's favorite movie. The last watch in Walker's collection was his World War II-era watch that he found on eBay. He believed the watch was a necessity because of his interest in World War II, and Walker even visited D-Day sites in Europe while wearing the watch. Senior Josh Rankin, a friend of Walker, found Walker's collection unique because of the reason behind each collected item. "I think it's a unique thing to collect, especially at our age," Rankin aid. "I think his collection is unique because he gets watches not for the value, or how they look but for the history or story behind them." Collections were often something that stayed on shelves and in boxes, but, according to senior Andy Shepherd, Walker's former roommate, Walker's collection was different because he used the items he collected. "As simple as it sounds, I think one thing that makes his collection different from other collections is that he actually wears his watches," Shepherd said. "I feel like most people that have a watch collection or own watches that have a great value or history behind chem want to keep theirs safe and locked up, but Kenyon likes to switch up which one he wears almost every day." To Walker, watches were not just an accessory or a timepiece, they were vessels for his stories and thoughts. Walker's collection allowed him to find a deeper meaning in watches, which played a large role in his appreciation for them. "I thought about time a little differently; [with] quartz watches it's like tick, tick, tick, and you feel like this kind of stuttering thing, but when you look at a mechanical watch, it is a smooth sweep, and I thought that was more accurate," Walker said. "Time is this continuous thing; it is not second by second, it is every little bit, and it has caused me to think about the moment more." story by Carson White Senior Kenyon Walker collects watches as a hobby and tells the story behind each one at Kibo Midnight Oil coffeehouse on Oct. 30, 2018. Walker's coffection included a Seiko diver's watch and a 1960 Omega Seamaster, the same kind ofwatch worn by Ryan Gosling in the award-winning movie "La La Land." I photo by Sterling McMichael Walker's first watch, a novelty Disney watch with Goofy on the face, inspires other Disney watches in his coffection on display at Kibo Midnight Oil coffeehouse on Nov. 29, 2018. Walker's coffection, which he viewed as vesselsfor stories, began after he purchased his second watch on a cruise. I photo by Sterling McMichael 123 I SENIORS
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