Although most people don’t think about it this way, a school is a brand and a business. What makes a brand successful are the positive experiences that users have with it. With that in mind, I would like to discuss the University of Georgia as a successful brand.
Every day, you can see students walking around the Arch, not through it. We knew we looked ridiculous, ducking our heads and jumping backwards, yelling, “Oh sh**!” For a split second, we thought we wouldn’t graduate, because our heads went through, too busy looking down at our phones to watch where we were going as we walked to class.
Many people tried to avoid seeing acquaintances on campus. For girls, it was because we very rarely put in the time and effort to look presentable for class. Girls hate every aspect of getting ready (unless for a formal event); they dread it, complain about it, then the moment comes. And as they are applying their makeup and blow drying their hair, they still wish they could hire someone to do it for them 24/7. So in the scenario of seeing a familiar face on campus, a lot of students would just push their sunglasses further up their nose (even if it was overcast) and look at their phone so intrigued, you would think they just discovered fire. Guys did it, too. But no one was ever truly offended by this. It was more of a mutual, “I’m really tired, maybe a little hungover, and the last thing I want to do is make small talk with you on the way to my Greek Mythology class at 9 in the morning.” Each person would move on with their day and greet that person later, perhaps when they had had more caffeine and sleep. If you parked at Hull Street, you would consider putting on your sunglasses immediately after exiting your car in the deck, as everyone and their mother parked there. For me, this sometimes led to embarrassing jumps into the air as my friends drove by honking at me.
Having a class outside was just as exciting as it was in high school. If you had to be there, at least there was an opportunity to people watch as you weaved in and out of daydreaming. And if you had a class on South Campus? Well, you got used to being ten minutes late every day. Putting all of your faith into the bus system was never a good way to be on time. You instead turned to your beloved friends, begging them to drop you off at class while bribing them with money and food.
I think it is a safe assumption to make when I say that everyone dreaded the required P.E. course. Some took bowling and almost failed. Some, like me, took racquetball, a sport for which I have no desire to play ever again. That is, of course, until I’m retired and all I do every day is go to a country club that desperately needs a facelift, like my future 70 year old self.
Students know to never buy anything from the UGA bookstore unless they’re rolling around their bathtub in cash. Navigating Grady was one of life’s biggest challenges. Creating your class schedule was an actual art, because nobody had time for class on Fridays. Tuesday/Thursday classes seemed to last approximately eight hours; while in comparison, Monday/Wednesday/Friday (God forbid) classes only seemed to last approximately seven hours. But I guess these hours were somewhat essential if you ever planned to leave Athens. Granted, why would you want to do that?
If you had to make the trek through Tate Plaza, you braced yourself with your sunglasses and phone. Avoid eye contact, or you will either be drawn in or become engaged in an awkward stare contest with the students promoting this or that.
Finals were an odd mixture of dread, depression, and an academic soiree. Everyone you knew would be at the library and the SLC. Some people would even bring sleeping bags and pillows into their study rooms for fear of leaving and losing it come morning. Study snacks and headphones could be found on every desk. The Reading Room was the ideal spot if you needed complete and utter silence to focus; it was also the perfect place to embarrass yourself by having your phone vibrate and ring, shattering the quiet with every second you fumbled with it, anxiously heaving, your heart rate spiked, attempting to just make. it. stop.
Flashback to freshman year dorms. Brumby had not yet turned to the dark side by inviting boys to live between the walls. The shower heads were as tall as my shoulders, which made for an interesting time as I tried to get the shampoo out of my hair. You quickly found out which shower stalls had the best water pressure, and you willingly waited an hour for them. A radio sitting on the line of sinks appeared out of nowhere during the first week – this happened in every single bathroom in every single hallway on every single floor. It was astonishing. Each one of them would be on 100.1 Power Athens. Every time you opened the door, it would be one of three songs playing: Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In the World)”, Katy Perry’s “Firework”, or Chris Brown’s “Yeah 3X”. To this day, I still don’t know if that is actually “3X” or “three times.”
Living in the sorority house had its perks. You had every meal laid out for you three different times a day, not including weekends. Fried Fridays were one of the reasons why Thursday nights were so fun. In Greek life, you had chapter meetings, philanthropy events, sisterhood events, etc. The trick was figuring out how to get out of things you didn’t want to go to while still being eligible for the events you did. At least, that’s how it was in my friend group. To quote one of these friends, “The only time girls are die-hard fans of their sororities are rush and Greek Grind.” Truer words were never spoken.
Gamedays in Athens are incredibly exciting and intoxicating (no pun intended) scenes. Everywhere you turn, red and black is in your direct and peripheral views. UGA fans are high-fiving each other on the streets. Tailgates are blasting music ranging from Willie Nelson to Jay-Z. People come together from all over the country (mostly the South) to unite in their love and passion for UGA Football. Given the crowd’s reaction, you would think Ryan Gosling was walking into the bar if Aaron Murray and Todd Gurley strolled in after a win. The bell would still be ringing. Ain’t nothin’ finer in the land…
Thursday nights were absolute chaos. Wonderful, exhilarating chaos. 8es Bar was a hidden gem (RIP). The happiness that a dog shows when given a new toy is equivalent to that which you felt walking into Silver Dollar or Gameday and seeing all of your friends (maybe Moonshine, if you’re feeling really nostalgic). If it was sunny, you could be sure people would be on the Theatre rooftop drinking and enjoying the weather. Georgia Theatre brought acts to Athens like Drive-By Truckers, Disclosure, Dirty Guvs, and Cherub. On any given night, there would either be a concert or a private event booked.
Twilight weekend is wild, hectic, crowded, overwhelming, and by far the best weekend of every spring semester. I don’t think anyone could ever invent or create a better Fall Break than Georgia/Florida weekend. Studying abroad was trendy, cool, expensive, and awesome; nevertheless, by the end of their trip, students always wanted to be back home. To be back in Athens.
Downtown Athens on a spring day put anyone in a good mood. During the winter, we would drive downtown with no other purpose than to look at the Christmas lights and listen to holiday music.
Snow days in Athens were like having rain in Los Angeles, except more fun. Even when there wasn’t any snow left on the ground, HOLD UP. We are not going to have class today due to the highly unlikely probability that someone will have a wreck on the way to school from the water rising a quarter of an inch off the ground. For students, this was like Christmas. Christmas came five days in a row last year.
Sometimes after four years of college, people are ready to move on with their lives. But four years at the University of Georgia will never, ever be enough time. It goes by a thousand times faster than anyone describes. We lived in houses with our best friends. We went to the movies on a weeknight instead of finishing that fifteen page paper. We congregated with our roommates in our living rooms to watch tv and pretend like we were doing work. We had the never-ending conversation of La Parilla vs. Agua Linda, but always ended up at Taqueria. We went to Pauley’s on Wednesday nights, because why not? Those four years were a time to find yourself with the help of your friends.
The feeling of coming back to Athens after summer break was like the feeling you felt when you left it for summer break. A year ago today, I had just started my last semester at UGA. Now, every time I return, I get the same feeling of going back home after being away for a while – a giddy, uncontrollable glee.
Here’s to the greatest brand ever to grace the earth. And to hell with Georgia Tech.
The Brandwasher 