Who we are
About us
Hello! We are Zhiwen Xu and Maryann Xue (CLAS' 23), the co-directors of the project "2020: Extraordinary Moments" funded by the Jefferson Trust.
About us
Zhiwen Xu
Biochemistry and Studio Art '23
Zhiwen is always curious about the world and loves to explore new things. She is the co-founder and the current president of the Genomics Society, hoping to promote undergraduate research and equip students with the skill sets needed to conduct biological research. She is the president of Mind&Body, hosting many art/meditation workshops to advocate students' mental and physical health. She also serves as the culture chair for the Taiwanese Student Association, which she has choreographed dances and organized cultural-related events.
She loves art and science. Through art, she wants to bring people happiness and entice awareness toward protecting Mother Nature's beauty. She started to draw at three and has been doing art ever since. Her works have been exhibited at the "Little Museum of Art" show at The Fralin Museum of Art, the "Breathing" exhibition in Shanghai, China, "EnviroArt" Gallery hosted by Duke University, and more. In 2020, she founded MoonPrint, an art and design business currently selling posters and canvas designs of her works. Some of the sales are donated toward environmental/social causes. Moreover, she was funded twice by Harrison Undergraduate Research Award to conduct research projects in understanding the role of KLF14 in diabetes. In the future, she wants to combine the creativity from both art and science to invent new products and find solutions to cure and lower the occurrence of inflammatory diseases and cancer. In her free time, she loves dancing, singing or playing music, watching movies, ice skating, and going outdoors!
Maryann Xue
Psychology and English '23
Ever since making her first print magazine with a group of friends in third grade, Maryann has stayed close to the literary world. After completing her term as a news editor for The Cavalier Daily after serving as a writer for three semesters, she interned and is now freelancing at C-VILLE Weekly and plans to continue pursuing her passion for writing in other areas in the future. For her work at The Cavalier Daily, she has received an award from the Virginia Press Association, and she has also interned and published articles with the South China Morning Post.
Maryann is a research assistant for Motivate Lab, studying feelings of belonging among community college students, a research assistant for Chinese media and technology policies, and an undergraduate student researcher for the Biocomplexity Institute, working to compile and analyze data relating to non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 interventions. She is also a culture chair for the Taiwanese Student Association, a professional development chair for Undergraduate Women in Law, Humanities Week 2023 chair, a member of the Chinese Student Association, and volunteers with VISAS and Madison House. After graduation, Maryann plans to attend law school. In her free time, she likes to visit natural parks, curl up with a book, learn how to play guitar, and watch movies/TV shows.
We hope hosting this project can help strengthen our UVA community, encourage student innovation, and relieve students from many COVID-19 related stresses.
-Zhiwen Xu and Maryann Xue
Our story
Why did we want to initiate this project?
2020 was a year full of unprecedented obstacles. Two years since then, we are still facing much of the same challenges. Everyone has been impacted differently by the pandemic and has different stories to bring to the table. However, with the media focus often on the negative impacts of the pandemic — such as increased case numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths — we want to shift the focus to increasing recognition of the ordinary events happening in people’s lives that defined the past two years. This is not trivializing the virus but rather showing an appreciation for the human ability to emerge strongly from adversity.
The goal of the project is to highlight the ordinary moments that made up the extraordinary two years, beginning when everything changed in 2020. These ordinary moments will be captured through a documentary and literary magazine. The documentary will feature interviews from students and faculty/staff discussing the little moments that made the last two years so unique.