Got something UH Related, a meeting another alum story, pictures of UH stuff around, etc? Put it here!
My story:
Went on a hot air balloon with my family over winter break. I’m an alum, but taking classes at UH for fun during the gap year that suddenly happened when I left that cow pasture in Austin. Still deciding between UH and VT for graduate school.
I was taking some aesthetic picture with my class ring on that hasn’t ended up on social media yet, but someone riding the balloon with me struck up a conversation about how UH was the first school he went to, told a bunch of stories, and it was pretty much the time when Andre Ware was QB.
It was quite a fun conversation in all honesty, meeting another Coog outside of Houston. Second time was someone who actually did Olympic sports in the late 80s when he was watching a UH Softball game (2019) very closely and cheering the Coogs on. Talked a lot about the athletic program and how talented its been.
If you see someone else wearing anything UH, throw up a paw for them. T-Shirt fan or not, make that connection and let others around you see that we as UH students/alums connect in some way.
Disney World with my wife and two kids (May 2015 I think):
I was wearing my UH hat (as always since it is the only one I have that fits my 7 3/4 size head) and my wife was wearing her visor from another large Texas university. She got several acknowledgements but late one day we were walking and an employee gave me a Go Coogs and stopped to talk to us. She was from Europe but attending UH. We talked for a few mins and I wished her well. She then offered to get us to the front of the line for a very popular ride while motioning to wife’s visor and saying something along the lines of “I forgive her for wearing that other school’s hat”
We all had a good laugh and, from time to time now, I like to remind the family of how the UH hat got us to the front of the line at Disney.
Wait…it must have been May 2016 because I remember seeing a guy decked out in FSU colors waiting in line in front of me and I struck up a conversation just so I could bring up the Peach Bowl. Yep…I was That Guy for once… uncontrollable grin and everything…I am not proud of that moment but couldn’t resist. I need to be better than that and act like UH has been there before now that they have.
I always wear UH gear when I travel. I’ve gotten upgrades when checking into hotels twice, once in Hilo and once in Vancouver both by hotel managers who were HRM alumni. Really cool connecting with them like that.
In 2016 on our honeymoon in Cairns Australia, I was wearing an old weathered UH hat while having some drinks at the swim up bar and a dude swam over that was also UH alum. Kept running into him around Fitzroy Island for the next three days… Threw each other the cougar paw each time. Good times.
Met up with UH shirt wearing Coogs in San Francisco several times while living there: once biking the Golden Gate Bridge, and again at a SF Giants game in the suites. Also, once on a dive boat at the big blue hole off the Belize coast. Good times, Coogs are Global! Eat 'em Up…