Indiana University

Indiana University is the setting for a major transition in Alex Nilsen’s life: after graduating from college, he plans to move there for an MFA in creative writing, and later continues there toward a doctorate. His studies also become part of the future Sarah Torval is prepared to build with him.

Alex’s Graduate Studies

Eight summers before the later account of his relationship, Alex has graduated from college and is about to leave for Indiana University to pursue an MFA in creative writing. The news gives the celebratory trip a distinct edge: it marks both his achievement and the beginning of a new stage in his life. Poppy Wright tries to reassure herself that the move will not place them far apart; she expects to live closer to him than they have since she dropped out of college.

A Shared Future in Indiana

By the time Alex and Sarah have been seriously dating for nine months, he is finishing his MFA at Indiana University. After their chance meeting in Chicago, their communication developed from texting into phone calls and visits; following six months of a long-distance relationship, Sarah took a teaching job and moved to Indiana to be with him. She is willing to remain there while he works toward a doctorate and expects she may follow him wherever he settles afterward. The university therefore figures not only as Alex’s place of study but as the center of a prospective life together that Poppy watches from the uneasy position of his longtime friend.