Category Archives: Memories of Penn

May 5, 2011 · 5:25 pm

I Remember…AOL Instant Messenger

Author: Elizabeth K., C’04

When I started my freshman year at Penn, the only thing I used the internet for was AOL, and all that was good for was e-mail, instant messenger and (nerd alert) checking out The X Files fan page. Before school started, I got a Penn email address and I thought it was really cool to have e-mail that wasn’t an AOL account. Penn even gave me six choices for my email address. Unfortunately, both my first and last name were too long for their eight-character limit, so I went with “ehk2” because I thought it sounded nice and was easy to remember. Turns out, you can never get rid of your Penn email account. Not even if you come back to Penn five and a half years after graduation and join the administration. Thanks, 18-year-old self, for my less than professional work email address. Anyway, when I got this sparkly new ehk2 email, I had no idea how you would check email that wasn’t on an AOL account, or how the internet existed without AOL and a telephone line. To me, AOL was the internet.

While I was setting up my dorm room, an IT guy came by and explained our cable internet access. I didn’t understand and asked him how I would get online. He patiently explained that I was always online. I still didn’t get it and even my technologically-clueless Mom had to chime in and help him. The poor IT guy needed to see so many students that day, and here I was, needing my Mom to explain to me how the internet worked. I asked him how I could access my AOL X Files fan site, at which point he just gave me the phone number for the help desk. Sooner or later (probably later) it clicked, and I felt like I had won the lottery! No more weird staticky dial up noises while waiting to hear “Welcome! You’ve Got Mail!” Email arriving on my computer screen whenever it wanted to! And, best of all AOL INSTANT MESSENGER.

AIM Sign in screen

AOL Instant messenger, or AIM, was the chat part of AOL, except you could access it without signing onto AOL and be on it all of the time, except when you turned your computer off. You could also leave status messages. So, when you went idle your name would appear in italics and your status would say, “In class” or “Dinner with Terri.” A lot of people (not me) would leave AIM up all night long, with the status, “Sleeping.” It seemed absolutely necessary that your AIM friends should know where you were at all times. Another great thing about AIM was building your chat list as you met more and more people. A key part of a new friendship with someone was exchanging AIM names.

The Buddy List

AIM was great, but it also meant that you had to use your email name from your AOL email. I got my AOL account in 8th grade, and my name was “PBGiggle.” At fourteen, I thought this was brilliant, and I don’t have nearly enough space here to explain why. Suffice it to say that by 20, I felt like an idiot. So, I made a bold move junior year and changed my AIM name to “EdashLiz” (E-Liz, get it?). Because AIM was so omnipresent during college, our AIM names became part of our identities, and changing from PBGiggle to EdashLiz was like growing up. A lot of my college friends still call me “Edash.” AIM names also taught you things about people. For instance, my friend JUDE831 loved the Beatles and to this day I still remember that her birthday is August 31st. Another friend’s AIM name was fish3333, because she loved to swim (a habit she didn’t keep up in college). I probably never would have known of her swimming past without her AIM name. So much information in just seven to ten characters!

Eventually, when jobs and “real life” hit, AIM fell to the wayside, but I still miss it. I miss the excitement of seeing a boy I liked or a friend I hadn’t talked to in awhile sign on. I miss everyone’s colorful, fun status message for Spring Fling (“Flinging!” “Spring Fling!” “Fling, baby!”) It seems like students today use facebook chat, which I understand – it’s probably easier and you don’t need to remember some weird iteration of someone’s name in order to talk online. Plus, I’m part of the Facebook revolution (more on that in the next blog post) so I think it’s hypocritical to complain about it. But, part of me is sad that today’s students won’t experience the magic of AIM. After all, what would I call my best friend from Penn if she wasn’t “TBelle?” Not by her actual name – that’s just ridiculous.

AIM Chat

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May 3, 2011 · 12:02 pm

Fisher Fine Arts

Definitely the prettiest library on campus – Fisher Fine Arts Library. The inside is breathtaking, but I’ll save that for another day. I spent about 10 hours a week here my first semester not because I was a fine arts student or needed any of the amazing art books there, but because I’m vain and think I work better in aesthetically pleasing places.

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April 15, 2011 · 9:01 am

You’re the Inspiration

Author: Nicole C. Maloy, W’95

While dining at 1920 Commons with some fellow freshmen in the fall of 1991, I saw a sophomore named Tanisha carrying a stack of those ¼ size sheets of colored paper – you know the ones – from table to table. When she got to us, she looked at me and asked, “Do you sing?”

I shrugged and responded, “A little.”

She smiled, thrust an orange handbill towards me, and said, “Audition for The Inspiration!”

I struck a defensive posture, hands up, palms out. “Oh, no. You don’t want me,” I said.

I’d just heard The Inspiration (often mistakenly referred to as “Inspirations”) at Performing Arts Night. The audience was mesmerized by this incredibly smooth, polished, R&B a cappella group. My singing experience at the time consisted of high school musical showtunes with the drama club, and harmonizing with the radio. Let’s say my style (such as it was) seemed all wrong for The Inspiration.

Honing in on my concern, Tanisha replied, “I auditioned with an opera.”

My hands came down. “Really?”

She nodded.

Hmm…Hmm…

Had anyone else approached me, I would not have taken that flier. But I did. As a result, I would give up every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday night for four academic years. In return, I would gain a room full of new siblings, and memories that still make me smile 15+ years after graduation. An example: a fire drill once interrupted our rehearsal in High Rise East. We gave a brief, impromptu performance for the growing crowd in Superblock until everyone could get back inside. We were asked to sing at all future fire drills, but politely declined.

The real Sopranos

Just being in the group made my singing better, but who knew I would learn how to arrange music for a cappella performance? By the time I was an upperclassman, the group gave me the amazing opportunity to produce full concerts as a Show Coordinator. Our events were meant to educate as well as entertain so, in addition to living a dream and writing sketch comedy, I got to arrange a song by supergroup Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Then I asked a hallmate from South Africa to translate the lyrics from Xhosa to English for us. This way, we could explain to the audience what they were about to hear.

Post-show Happiness

Duet with Byron. T-shirts designed by Ralphy Bead! I still have mine.

Each time I step back onstage with other alumni (lovingly dubbed, “oldheads”) at a show by the current group, I am moved by the significance of The Inspiration’s continuity on the Penn campus. Having been a part of it, knowing that our shows have added to the quality of life here over the years, is a source of great pride. I offer special thanks to Tanisha Lyon Brown’s background in opera for making it all possible for me.

The Inspiration’s 5th Anniversary show

 

FamilyFeud sketch: Evans (Good Times) vs. Banks (Fresh Prince of Bel Air)

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April 13, 2011 · 1:30 pm

Spring Fling is On Its Way

Author: Lisa V., C’02

With Penn’s annual Spring Fling weekend just days away, I find myself thinking about the origin of this famous (some might say infamous) Penn tradition.

Skimmer Day

According to University Archives, Spring Fling actually grew out of an earlier Penn tradition known as Skimmer. Beginning in 1949, Penn students would gather on a Saturday each spring on the banks of the Schuylkill River to encourage the Penn crew team.  This tradition soon expanded to become a weekend of social, musical, and athletic events both along the river and on-campus. Soon thousands of students from up and down the East Coast flocked to Skimmer, enjoying not just the races, but also the jazz bands, the motorcades, the “co-ed” poster contest, the concerts, the dances, the fraternity parties, and the beer.

Unfortunately, the event turned out to be too popular for its own good. Large crowds, combined with youthful high spirits (and alcohol), eventually led to injuries, property damage, and arrests.  Over time, the focus of Skimmer Day/Spring Weekend shifted more and more away from off-campus activities along the Schuylkill River to organized events on-campus.

Like all traditions, Spring Fling is one that has evolved over time.  As per University Archives,  “The first official Spring Fling was held the weekend of April 21, 1973. Almost all of the weekend’s activities – which included carnival booths, art exhibits, and five hours of square dancing – took place in the Quad, and the concert, then gratis, featured a no-name guitarist named Dave Weinburg, who played from a chair on the grass of the Quad in front of McClelland Hall.”

This year, Spring Fling activities will take place across campus – from the headliner concert at Franklin Field to the carnival in the Quad and everywhere in between – and will attract nearly ten thousand revelers. The headline concert in Franklin Field – featuring Lupe Fiasco, Ratatat and Flo Rida – has already sold out at over 8,000 seats. The campus may have changed over the years, but the spirit of celebration at the start of this new season has not waned. In fact, it grows stronger each year.

Spring Fling: Then

Spring Fling Now

 

 

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March 30, 2011 · 9:00 am

The “M” Word

Author: Amy Bright Ruben, C’82

“That will be $3.25, ma’am.”

“Can I help you ma’am?”

“Civic House is over the bridge up on the left, ma’am.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Who are they all talking to?  Oh ,no! To the 21 and under set at Penn, have I transformed from a college coed to a  “ma’am” on campus?

It is a fact, yet I was so utterly oblivious. The first time it happened, I simply turned by head 180 degrees to see who the much older someone  was holding the door for this sweet polite student.  “After you, ma’am.” Yikes! It was only him and me.

But wasn’t the real me just on the train an hour ago, headed to Penn’s campus from my home in NYC, wondering if I could pass as a graduate student or maybe just maybe a PhD candidate a few more years out of school?

And yes, sure, I have been called plenty of M words, like Mrs., Mom, and probably multiple other more malicious M’s behind my back.  But wait, it doesn’t make sense. It feels like I was just living on campus not 27 years ago. And are my kids really as old as the people who call me ma’am?

So it’s official. I’m a ma’am. But I’m no longer mortified. I’ve decided to embrace the “M” word.

Now every time I walk up and down Locust Walk, I hold my head high and smile, knowing I am minutes away from being called ma’am. And when it does happen, I simply reply, “You’re welcome, sir.”

Amy and friends circa 1982

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March 25, 2011 · 2:58 pm

I Remember…Graduation 2004

Author: Elizabeth K., C’04

In 2004, I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and cried for about a week straight.  I loved Penn and couldn’t believe that four years had flown by so quickly.  I was so sad to leave my best friends, my boyfriend, and the Penn community for the far off land of Los Angeles, where I was going to go to USC Law School.  Getting to hear Bono speak at graduation provided a little solace, but as people cheered and threw their hats in the air around me, I did it with tears in my eyes. Thirty minutes later, when I met up with my family I was a sobbing, blubbering, snotty mess.  My father, a 1975 alum, was also crying, which set my Mom off, then my Nana and before you know it our red puffy eyes ruined every single picture of my family with me in my cap and gown.  Thanks for the memories, Penn.

Cut to 2009.  It’s September, and I’m back at Penn, this time as a staff person.  After a brief, unhappy stint as a lawyer I decided it was time to find happiness in the very different field of higher education administration.  I loved school but after seven straight years of college and law school, I was done being a student.  So, I thought if I’m not going to be a student, why not work at a university?  Clearly, my first choice place of employment was Penn and I was so excited the day I got my job offer.  I was only nervous about two things.  First, would it make me sad and nostalgic to be back at a place I loved, but not as a student?  And, what if people mistook me for a student instead of a savvy Penn employee?

The truth is that Penn feels like a completely different place from my new perspective as an employee.  I still do a lot of the things I did as a student.  I buy my lunch from Houston Hall (better as a staff person because we get the staff punch card to earn a free meal), grab coffee from Starbucks or Cosi, eat at the Magic Carpet lunch truck, and cheer on the Hey Day parade.  But, all of these things feel new as I’m doing them in my more grown up, professional life.  I think the real difference is that at the end of the day Penn isn’t home for me anymore – home is the apartment I share with my husband that I get to go at the end of every workday.  I love that home, and my adult post-Penn life makes me very happy.  So, being here doesn’t make me miss being a student.  It makes me appreciate what I had, and the chance Penn gave me to grow and mature into who I am today.  I don’t want to go back, but I can look back with even more fondness.

And my fear about being mistaken as a student?  Completely unfounded.  First of all, I could never look as cool or stylish as the girls I see walking around campus.  I’m wearing stockings and heels, not leggings and Hunter rain boots (more on Penn styles to come in my next blog post).  Turns out, I look my age, especially when standing next to 19-year-olds.  I walk down Locust Walk and the students instinctively know not to hand fliers to me.  Sometimes I want to shout, “Come on!  I’m still cool!  I could go to your Strictly Funk dance show!”  But then my heels get stuck in one of the cracks on the Walk, I have to spend all my energy to stop myself from face planting, and my dreams of coolness evaporate.  One day someone gave me a sticker to try to get me to join their sorority.  I was elated.  It’s still on a bulletin board in my office.

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