Freshman still attached to orientation nametag

At this year's freshman orientation, each new student, as always, received a nametag to be worn throughout that awkward period of introductions. It has been a long nine months since those name-tagged newcomers first bobbed eagerly around campus, and now only one of the original 461 nametags remains.

Stephen Pierce '10 decided to make a name for himself by wearing that nametag from the first day of orientation through graduation.

William Hudson: When did you decide to wear your nametag all four years? What gave you the idea to do this? Do you know someone else that has done the same thing or similar?

Stephen Pierce: I decided to wear the nametag for the first day of classes so my professors would know my name. Someone asked me why I was wearing it, and I made up some story about wearing it all four years of college. They thought it was awesome, and I decided to do it for real.

I don't know anyone else who has done this except people who work at places where they have to wear nametags.

WH: How inconvenient is it for you to wear your nametag every day?

SP: It is not too inconvenient. I mean, I do not have to put makeup on or anything. That seems like a lot more of an inconvenience.

WH: What do you see as the main motive for doing this? Is it for new students to feel welcome and to meet more people easily? Did you just get tired of introducing yourself all the time?

SP: I just want to have something for people to remember me by. I mean you meet all sorts of new people at Davidson, and if you're "that kid who wears his name tag" then people tend to remember you. And even if they just remember that I wear the name tag, they can pretend to remember my name because I am wearing a name tag.

I also think it will be cool to take it off in a ceremonious fashion at graduation if I make it all four years.

WH: Have you gotten any criticism? Praise?

SP: People either think that it is a neat idea, or they think that I am crazy/stupid and think that I need to find another way to meet girls.

WH: Has there been a situation in which you really wish you weren't wearing your nametag?

SP: Sometimes random people call my name just because I have the nametag on. That's good because they noticed the nametag. That's bad because I am not sure if they really are random or if I have met them before.

WH: How often do you find yourself explaining the whole nametag thing?

SP: At the beginning of school, pretty much everyday. Now, probably once every week or so.

WH: What will you do during the summer about the nametag wearing?

SP: I only wear the nametag when I am at Davidson or at a Davidson sponsored event.

WH: Do you only have one nametag or multiple?

SP: I have the original and then I got more plastic cases for the actual tag. Now I have scanned the tag into my computer and print out as many copies as I need to make it look nice. I am on my first copy though.

WH: When do you take it off, just as you are going to bed or sometime in the afternoon?

SP: I take it off whenever I sleep or whenever I decide to do some physical activity. It falls open very easily and the cards scatter, and I do not want it to rip my shirt.

WH: Do you encourage others to wear a nametag, too?

SP: Not really. If someone else starts wearing one then the idea loses some originality.

WH: Do you think it will be difficult to wear it all four years?

SP: I think it will just because it is hard to remember to put it on sometimes.