Fact: A “Chair Traveler” is not a mysterious species of globetrotting furniture, but rather the infamous alter ego of Ames High Junior Chiara Travesset.

“It was freshman year. When you spell my name on iMessage, it autocorrects it to Chair.” said Travesset. “I was doing a science project with Lucas Bleyle and Maria Kozakova, and they thought it’d be funny to turn in my name as Chair Traveler. The rest is history.”

Since her infamous birth as a nomadic home furnishing, Travesset has gotten involved with garden club and cross country.

“It’s just a time to reflect. I find that because I’m exercising, I find it relaxing at the same time because you’re sort of getting out all the energy while you’re reflecting, so it allows me to think clearly.” said Travesset of her cross country experience. “There’s also the challenge of it. That feeling of accomplishment is pretty nice.”

Aside from running, Travesset has a passion formath.

“I like the fact that it’s indisputable. In math, it’s one solid, concrete answer,” Travesset explained. “I really like proofs because they’re like puzzles. It’s like an explanation. It wouldn’t really matter what math class I was taking, I’d still prefer it over anything.”

Though not a math class, Travesset says her favorite class at Ames High so far has been APUSH.

“I feel like since I’ve gotten APUSH out of the way, I can tackle pretty much any class in the world.”

Travesset says Ames High’s very own Tim Mooney was a big reason she enjoyed the class so much.

“I really appreciate his honesty in things. I feel he doesn’t sugar coat anything. Just his general philosophy of living a simple life.”

More than anything however, Travesset said she appreciates the beautiful curves of the capybara, a South American rodent.

“They look like massive guinea pigs, and they’re the size of a golden retriever,” said Travesset .

Travesset’s passion for capybaras began freshman year, after forming a “capybara fan club” with several other classmates.

“It got to the point where me and my friend Hana Lee would send Mr. Sullivan holiday emails with a capybara picture attached to them. Any holiday we could think of. I’m pretty sure we sent him one for my birthday.”

“I think that he secretly liked them,” said Travesset. 

Travesset’s advice for new Ames High students:

“Chill out. Your grades will survive. Don’t stress over every little assignment.”