Moments That Made Alumni Feel Like True Yellow Jackets

Hearing the Whistle as You Walk Up Freshman Hill

You took off on foot from Glenn Dorm to your first class of the day in Skiles and the whistle blew, like clockwork, to signal the start of your day.

Storming Bobby Dodd after the Win

As soon as Scott Sisson kicked the winning field goal against the University of Virginia in 1990, all of us on campus back in Atlanta knew we had to get into Bobby Dodd Stadium,” remembers Vallee Donovan, Mgt 93. “People ran from all over campus, somehow through the gates of Bobby Dodd Stadium, to take down the goal posts—for an away game!” There were no cell phones nor social media. “Talk about a hive-mind!”

Carrying a Goal Post Up and Down Four Flights of Stairs

Although they didn’t know each other at the time, Donovan’s husband, Patrick, Mgt 93, was also in the crowd that day. He and his roommate took a piece of the field goal. “He and I somehow managed to carry it back up the four flights of stairs to our room in Field dormitory—only to discover that the section of the post was too long to actually fit in our room!” Not knowing what else to do, they carried the goal post back to the stadium. “We were exhausted, but it was well worth it!” he says.

Taking (or Avoiding) Drownproofing

Back when Tech was sink or swim, literally, Coach Fred Lanoue’s famous drownproofing course taught Yellow Jackets how to stay calm in any situation through rigorous challenges that tested students’ water-survival techniques. For those who arrived as the course was being phased out, the moment Tech stopped requiring drownproofing became its own watershed moment.

Cheering for Tech to Beat UGA

It was 2008, GT Band’s Centennial year and the year the Yellow Jackets beat UGA. I played the tuba, and we had the honor of marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. For a lot of us, it was our first time being away from home! We woke up for a 4:30 a.m. call time, then traveled by bus to get there. We got to explore Central Park and ended up going to Ellis Island, where I got to see some of the names of my relatives that came over generations ago. It was our first taste of freedom, and we got a generous per diem, too. I felt like I was rich at the time! What they don’t tell you about playing a tuba, though: The instrument is really susceptible to changes in temperature, and in November in New York, when it was freezing cold, holding one left you cold to the bone. But they put us right next to Miley Cyrus!

Rushing from the Macy’s Day Parade to Athens

Immediately after the parade, we grabbed lunch, boarded buses, and drove straight back all through the night to Atlanta. It was a very energetic ride up and a quiet one home! We arrived Friday morning, caught our breath for a day, and then hopped right back on the road to Athens. Cheering our team to a 45-42 victory over UGA in their own stadium (and surviving that whirlwind, once-in-a-lifetime weekend with hundreds of my best friends) was wild, though! It’s the moment I truly became a Yellow Jacket! I met my wife in the band and we’re celebrating our 10-year anniversary in August. —Christian Doetsch, CS 13

Meeting Your Circle in the Stands, at Brittain Dining, or Along Techwood Drive

There’s nothing quite like that first football game watching the Ramblin’ Wreck roll out to make you feel like you’re part of Georgia Tech. My first time at a game was in September 2004 against Samford, which we won 28-7 led by another PJ (Daniels), who was a tremendous running back. Another moment is when you first meet your group of friends who will be with you during your time at Tech and after graduation. It was Rush Week, and I was walking along the Greek houses on Techwood Drive. I saw students on the lawn of the Baptist Student Union (now called the Baptist Collegiate Ministries) giving away hot dogs and inviting people to a small group Bible study. I instantly connected with them.

Seeing Friends at Junior’s Grill

Finding your group and establishing your identity as a young adult in a community was tremendous. They became part of your Tech journey. They were who you walked to football games with, who you ate at Waffle House at midnight with, who you pulled an all-nighter with. I knew that if I went to Junior’s Grill between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on a Friday, I’d see someone I knew. I was also a peer leader in Towers residence hall and I lived in the dorms my whole four years. I met my wife, who was also a peer leader, at Tech and we shared many meals at Brittain Dining Hall. Years later, we got engaged in front of Tech Tower and now we come back to take our four kids to football games. Finding your circle is one of those seminal experiences that I remember and cherish. —PJ Lynn, BME 08

Figuring Out Life Without a Car Your First Semester

While the rule that first-year students can’t have cars on campus is no longer in place, being a carless student required a sense of structure, scheduling, and a willingness to beg for rides from juniors and seniors.

Bobbing Between the Third and Fourth Quarters

Rhythm not required; Tech spirit a must. When the band plays the “Buzzweiser song,” you and your buddies to your left and right know just what to do.

Surviving Finals Week Panic

You can leave a coin or energy drink on Sideways’ Grave for good luck, but “hell week” is named so for a reason. It’s also filled with moments of camaraderie fueled by late-night studying, pancakes at Midnight Breakfast, and a collective scream at Midnight Bud.

Feeling a Sense of Belonging next to Skiles

I wanted to be a mechanical engineer since third grade, but there just weren’t that many women doing it at the time, and I wasn’t keen on going to school locally in Texas. I got a mailer from Georgia Tech, but had never been to Atlanta. So my family and I took a trip to Tech campus for fall break in 1973 during my high school senior year. We had no scheduled meetings, no planned tour—just stopped in at the ME office in the J.S. Coon Building, met Norma Frank and Dr. Johnson, who both worked in the ME department, and got a campus map.

A Yellow Jacket Offers Help to an Incoming R.A.T.

As we were exploring, looking out of place, a student stopped us somewhere near Skiles and the library, and asked if we needed any help to find our way. He said: ‘Just keep going, you’re in the right place, and I hope you enjoy your time.’ That’s when I knew Tech was the place for me—folks here were smart, helpful, and kind! There weren’t many women on campus, but everyone from students to professors was welcoming. Thank goodness for that because the highest level of math my high school taught was trigonometry. I remember walking into my first day of class in an amphitheater of 200 to 300 freshmen. The professor asked, ‘How many of you took calculus in high school?’ And about half held their hands up. The rest of us looked around, thinking, Oh, dear, we are in a world of hurt! Thankfully, it all worked out in the end. —Lorena “Lori” Charbonneau, ME 78

Building a Machine for ME 2110

You stayed up all night worrying over whether your Rube Goldberg–like robot would win the competition or spontaneously combust.

Riding in the Ramblin’ Wreck

It was forbidden to even touch the Wreck during your first year or else Georgia Tech would lose to UGA. So hearing that “Ahooga!” sound from the passenger seat—or even the rumble seat—sticks with you long after your first ride.

Spending Late Nights Debugging Robots in the Student Lounge

A moment that stands out from my early days at Tech was my very first semester. As someone who grew up building add-ons for World of Warcraft, I was taking CS 1301 and got completely hooked programming Scribbler robots. Watching those little guys zip around and respond to my code made computing feel fun and tangible for the first time. At the same time, I was hyper-involved in activities, playing club men’s lacrosse, rushing and starting my fraternity experience, and was staying super active in the College of Computing student lounge.

Casual But Meaningful CoC Lounge Conversations

It was this perfect storm of late-night robot debugging sessions, intense lacrosse practices, fraternity brotherhood, and those casual but meaningful conversations in the CoC lounge that suddenly made campus feel like home. I went from feeling like a new student to truly feeling like a Yellow Jacket. I became part of something bigger, balancing academics, athletics, and community all at once. You know how some people go to business school? I treated Georgia Tech like a learning playground, participating in startup challenges, clubs, and hackathon events, and enjoyed the networking opportunities as much as the education. I was surrounded by a ton of smart people, and being exposed to so many ideas and perspectives really taught me to trust myself and have faith that I could figure out any challenge. I wholly encourage students to seek out every opportunity on campus that they can. You don’t have to commit four to five years to learning one single thing, after all. —Christian Battaglia, CS 17

Meeting the Person Who Becomes Your Co-Founder

They shared your passion for an idea, they helped you compete for the InVenture Prize, and together you built something bigger than you could have ever done by yourself.

Studying Multivariable Calculus in Metz While Planning Your Next Trip

Studying abroad as a Tech student meant balancing serious coursework with travel and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. You would work on a coding project all night on the train to Italy to enjoy a pesto-making class the next day on the Amalfi Coast.

Sneaking Into the Seniors’ Section of Grant Field to Cheer for “Pepper’s Gang

My cherished memory was cheering for ‘Pepper’s gang’ in the senior section of Grant Field. As a pledge of Kappa Sigma, I remember the older brothers “enhancing” our freshman IDs with some creative taping. Back then, the cards were color-coded to denote first-quarter freshmen, upperclassmen, and seniors, and you could bring a guest with you. Freshmen sat at the bottom of the stands, and seniors got to sit in the upper level at the 50-yard line.

Altering a Student ID to Sit in the Upper Deck

With a little creative tinkering, we were able to attach a different color stripe on the IDs. Such artistry allowed us to enter the senior section of Grant Field and hang out in the upper deck. It was a little dicey walking past the security guys, but it worked! And it was a great bonding experience. Plus, it was fun to take our girlfriends up there. My now-wife used to go with me, and we’ve been together for 48 years, so I guess it must have impressed her. It was hard not to feel like a true Ramblin’ Wreck from there (though one regret…I never did get a RAT cap). That said, I wouldn’t advise trying the trick today with all the technology and electronic scanners they’ve got in this era, but at the time, it sure felt fun to beat the system. Those were the days! —William Boyd, ChE 82

Nick Selby Proclaiming, “We Can Do That!” at the 2013 Convocation

I was definitely late to convocation because I lived on west campus and that was so far away from everything. And I wouldn’t look at the map because people said that’s how they know if you’re a freshman. Finally, I made it to McCamish. It was something you had to do to check off your list for starting college. I remember being in this crowd of students and we had our RAT caps and then Nick Selby got on the stage for his speech. He could have gone up there and treated it like a formal speaking event, but he didn’t. He was screaming and playing theme music and telling you that you could do anything because YOU were at Georgia Tech.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Before then, I think a lot of students go through the college application process and start something new, and that can make uncertainty start to creep in. You think, Maybe I got into Tech by accident. Maybe there was a mistake, and I’m not meant to be here. But his speech erased that doubt. It made you feel like you were meant to be at Georgia Tech, like everything had come together so that you could be here, and that great things were going to happen from this point onward. It made you feel like people support you, the alumni support you, the community supports you, and they’re all cheering you on. I still watch his speech from time to time on YouTube.
—Liz Raman-Grubbs, BA 17

Engineering a Multi-Stop Route to Make it Back to Class

When I was studying abroad my second year in Metz, France, with Georgia Tech–Europe, there was a train strike in Amsterdam that disrupted our plans to get back in time for class that Monday. With multiple train routes canceled and limited options, my roommate and I sat down and created this crazy, multi-leg route to get back in time. It involved a combination of multiple trains and buses, and although we were stressed at the time, we carefully mapped out each leg to make it back. Another time, we got stuck in London and had to devise a plan to get back to Paris and then get up super early to make it to class.

Exploring Europe with Fellow Yellow Jackets Through Study Abroad

It was nice to be with fellow Tech students who cared just as much as I did about making it to class on time. Our engineering classes counted toward our degree, so we couldn’t miss one or we’d be behind. My study abroad friends became some of my closest friends at Tech. We all saw each other again at the Georgia Tech–Europe graduation reception a few weeks ago, where we received a special medallion, a new tradition, commemorating our time together.
—Anna Carlton Maddox, IE 26

Finding a Campus Pie on Pi Day

Certain days are sacred to Yellow Jackets: Burdell’s birthday, Dean George Griffin Day, the last day to change your major…to name a few. Another such day is March 14, or “Pi Day,” when lucky students can find pies hidden around campus

Walking Into a Class Where Everyone Knows Your Name

You go from being one of 200 in an introductory physics class to one of only six in a bioengineering course, where your professor knows exactly who you are.

Hearing “What’s the Good Word?” Miles from the Flats

You’re studying abroad in France or leaving a meeting in Seattle...wherever you are, fellow Yellow Jackets have a way of identifying their own.

Reconnecting With “Your People” at an Alumni Event

I had gone out to L.A. to work for Boeing at the time, and L.A. had a great alumni group that would get together to watch football games. I remember another alum clued me into it. So it was about eight months after I moved there when we had our first football game and I was starved for other Georgia Tech people at that point. I didn’t know any other alumni out there, except for my roommate, a Tech chemical engineer who helped convince me to move to Long Beach.

Talking the Same Tech Lingo

I walked into the event, and it was maybe three minutes in and I started to feel my shoulders relax and it felt natural and amazing. We were talking the same lingo. I didn’t have to translate what I was thinking or the expressions I was using. We were all on the same page. It was a type of fascinating conversation, where we’re talking about a problem or suggesting solutions. For me, it was this quintessential moment of, I am a Yellow Jacket. These are my people.
—Adam Weiss, AE 10, IA 10

Teaching Your Kids the Full, Uncensored Version of the Fight Song

There comes a day when “helluva” enters the family lexicon.