Revenge of the Shirt: Part II of ‘A Year in T-Shirts’
Hi, my name’s Alycia, I like to get free T-shirts, and this is part two of my blog about them. If you haven’t already, read my Part I of “A Year in T-Shirts”, then you can catch up on all the T-shirts I obtained first semester. And now that you’ve thoroughly enjoyed my wit, I can continue telling you about the bountiful T-shirt opportunities at the University of Rochester.
9. The CAB shirt
Although I was technically elected to the executive board of Campus Activities Board, more commonly known as CAB, during the first semester, I didn’t begin serving until second semester. I was elected special events chair because one of the current e-board members was studying abroad second semester, and the rest of the e-board wanted someone to fill that gap. As special events chair, I helped come up with a slogan for CAB (“Your ticket to entertainment”) and planned Dandelion Day. Although I will not be keeping this shirt forever (ex-e-board members are supposed to return it to the organization), I’ve really treasured the experience I’ve had serving both my club and the campus as a whole, and look forward to continuing that as Wilson Commons Chair next year.
10. The Super Bowl Shirt
I am a New England Patriots fan, so of course I watched the Super Bowl this year, and also every year, but it’s better from the get-go that you know who I’m rooting for. I lived in Sue B this past year, and there was a Super Bowl party put on in Friel Lounge (which is on the first floor of Sue B). My friends and I visited this party because there was going to be free food, but little did we know that there would also be games and prizes and one of the possible prizes was a free T-shirt. Looking at the T-shirts hanging on the wall, I immediately decided I needed to have one. If you beat a challenge, you would get a ticket and I needed five tickets to win the T-shirt. My challenges were:
1. Transferring a large bottle of gobstoppers into another bottle in under a minute. Two words: Bottleneck effect.
2. Stacking three milk jugs in under 30 seconds. Piece of cake. I stack things for fun all the time.
3. Hula-hooping challenge. The highlight was kneeling and then getting back up again, all while hula-hooping. Fun fact: I can also walk and hula-hoop.
4. Keeping four balloons in the air for one minute.
5. Balancing a cup on my head and tossing three ping pong balls into it in a minute. This one was the most difficult challenge.
I’m not going to lie, I was stoked to win this T-shirt, and completing the challenges to do so, just made it that much better.
11. The Spirit Week Tee
This is probably going to sound bad, but I don’t remember when Spirit Week was (because I love Rochester with all my heart every day . . . except exam days. Then it’s 2/3 of my heart and all of my spleen). You could exchange an old T-shirt for this lovely Rochester shirt, as well as write on a banner why you love the University of Rochester. I wear this shirt a lot.
12. The Baja Shirt
For this shirt, I and my fellow Baja team members left our beautiful university campus to travel to Cookeville, Tennessee for a Baja competition. It was my first time at competition, and I can’t wait to go again next year!!
13. The Carnage Crew Shirt
Technically, “Carnage Crew” has now been renamed “Recovery Crew” but I prefer the old name because I’m a fan of alliteration. The last event in a Baja competition is a four-hour endurance race run on a track that is designed to push your car to the limit. In other words, to break it. There are numerous obstacles, and at the particularly challenging ones, volunteers are stationed to push the broken cars off the track so they can be towed off and fixed in the pits. I volunteered because I wanted to watch the cars maneuver through the course, and because I would get a free T-shirt. In case you were wondering, this is the back of the shirt because the front isn’t as interesting.
14. Dandelion Day!!!
This is the shirt worn by all the volunteers on Dandelion Day. (The shirt is actually a much brighter green; it just looks washed out in this picture.) As special events chair on CAB, I planned a fair portion (rides, novelties, and vendors) of Dandelion Day. I got to wear a walkie-talkie, drive a golf cart, and be in charge of a campus-wide event . . . as a freshman. At Rochester, you don’t have to wait until you’re an upperclassman to be in charge. So go for it! I did and I got to wear an awesome T-shirt while knowing that I helped make a Rochester tradition happen.
15. “Your Last Name Can Get You a T-Shirt” Shirt
Abbott’s Frozen Custard is one of the vendors that come to Dandelion Day. I’d never heard of them until I got to Rochester, but they are delicious. After being in contact with the owner throughout the planning process, and given my last name, he decided it was only right for me to have an Abbott’s T-shirt, which I am very proud to wear.
Now you’ve seen all the T-shirts I got during my first year of college. I’ll admit I’m a little disappointed that I only managed 15 since my class year is ’16 and that would have been the perfect number . . . but there is always next year! I’ll be on a mission to get 16 T-shirts next year. Let me know if you want to join me on my mission, and let me know what awesome T-shirts you collect!
Bonus Fun Fact: The backdrop for all the t-shirt pictures is my kitchen table.