HOTEL HELLO

I had just flown into Panama City Beach, Fla., to participate in my then-boyfriend’s fraternity formal. My flight had departed at 6 a.m., so I was completely exhausted. I was wearing a Penn State shirt and walking through the hotel in a daze when I heard a quiet “We Are.” I was so tired, I almost missed it. I thought it was so cool that Penn State can connect so many people, even across the country.
Maggie Shea
Winchester, Va. 

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

My wife, Ellen, and I were on a tour of New Zealand. Our itinerary included an overnight stay at the South Sea Hotel on Stewart Island, which is south of South Island and which houses the world’s southernmost English-speaking pub. I noticed a young man across the bar wearing a Penn State hat. I shouted, “We Are!” He looked up in total surprise and yelled back, “Penn State!”
David Cavanaugh ’76 A&A
Philadelphia

REVERENTIAL RECOGNITION

My wife and I were on a European vacation last summer, and as we were standing in line to enter the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a gentleman who noticed our Penn State hats walked up beside us and whispered, “We Are.” It’s always nice to hear that chant when you’re far from home. 
Ben Innes ’72 Bus
Lock Haven, Pa.

DOUBLE TAKE IN LONDON

In July 2019, our flight home from Ireland was canceled, and we were forced to spend an extra day in Dublin. Darn. My wife and I did some sightseeing and eventually made our way to the Temple Bar area. As I walked into The Quays Dublin, clothed in my Penn State sweatshirt, I heard from across the room, “We Are.” I scanned the room, found the source, and joyfully responded, “Penn State!” During the band’s break, we met with the fellow Penn Staters and learned they were from the same town where my wife’s cousin lives—and yes, they know the family. Small world syndrome strikes again.
Brian Deam ’80 Bus
Moorestown, N.J.

STREETSIDE IN SCOTLAND

Traveling through Scotland with a non–Penn State friend (who knew we had those?) in 2005, I heard a “We Are” from across the street near the University of St. Andrews. Naturally, I responded “Penn State,” and then chatted with this random person in the middle of the street for a few minutes. We weren’t in school at the same time, didn’t have friends or activities in common, but did commiserate over MATH 141 at 8 a.m. My friend just stood there, shaking her head in amazement. For the record, there was also a sign pointing to “Happy Valley” somewhere near Fort William, but we didn’t find Mount Nittany.
Lynn Koehler Yingling ’96 H&HD
State College

A HOLY "HELLO"

While touring the Vatican, my brother was wearing a Penn State shirt and got a whispered “We Are” in the Sistine Chapel from a member of another group.
Drue Haydt ’72 Lib
Lehighton, Pa.

ROYAL RUN-IN

My wife and I were visiting our daughter, Avery, in London. We went for a walk around Kensington Palace when I spotted a jogger wearing a Penn State shirt and yelled, “We Are!” He kept running for 25 more yards or so when it hit him—and he stopped, turned, and yelled “Penn State!” We waved and he continued with his run.
Paul J. Clifford ’20 MEd Edu
State College

ICELANDIC INCIDENCE

We were on a tour in Iceland and our guide took us to a tomato farm—yes, I know that sounds strange. We were inside a huge greenhouse filled with picnickers sitting at long tables between tomato vines. I was sipping on a Bloody Mary, wearing my Penn State hat and looking for a seat, when I heard “We Are.” A fellow alum was leaving, and she offered her table to me and my wife.
Joseph Henry ’76 H&HD
Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

ON CUE IN CONNECTICUT

I was out at a bar and grill playing billiards in downtown Hartford, Conn., with my two cousins, Steven and Cristian. It was the winter of 2021, we were in a very cozy bar in a second-floor room. I paused for a moment to chalk my pool stick when a young girl asked me, “Are you a Penn Stater?” I replied, “Yes! We Are!” She responded, “So am I! We Are!” It was one of those sporadic moments when I was not in Happy Valley, walking on College or Beaver—or at a sporting or supportive event—that I encountered a proud fellow Penn Stater.
Julius Caesar Ludena ’24 WC Lib
Lock Haven, Pa.

A "WE ARE" WELCOME

I’m a docent at the Library of Congress, where we wear special vests identifying ourselves to visitors. I wear a blue Penn State lapel pin on my vest, and I have the pleasure of hearing “We Are” from some of our visitors. 
Carole Klein ’72 Edu
Chevy Chase, Md.
 

EGYPTIAN ENCOUNTER

I was in Cairo, visiting my office and team. After an 18-hour travel day, I finally checked into my hotel and headed toward the elevators. I happened to be wearing one of my Penn State Alumni Association pullovers when a gentleman nearby smiled and asked if I went to Penn State. I asked him the same question, and as it turns out, he was a Penn State graduate, born and raised in Egypt, who began at a commonwealth campus and later finished at University Park. We are truly a global force that has an impact around the world.
Michael Martocci ’88 Bus
Longs, S.C.

ABINGTONIANS IN ALASKA

In June 2022, I was on an Alaska cruise. One of our last stops was Victoria, British Columbia. My daughter and I selected the excursion to Butchart Gardens. I was wearing my Penn State Abington string backpack. Walking along one path I heard someone call out, “Hey, Abington.” They mentioned the campus they went to, which I don’t recall now. It was nice to be so far from Pennsylvania and meet someone else connected to Penn State.
Linda Rowan ’78 Abgt
Levittown, Pa.

PENN STATERS AT SEA

I was on a southern Caribbean cruise aboard a Princess ship. I was wearing a PSU T-shirt and heard, “We Are!”
Sharon Smith ’18 MEd Edu
State College

EAST MEETS WEST

About 10 years ago, I was visiting family in the Venice, Fla., area and had rented a condo. My assigned parking spot was right at the street where many folks passed by walking each day. My car sported the N.C. license plate PSU-61, and also had a “We Are” window sticker, faded by years. One morning, as I was unlocking my car, a passing couple stopped to say that they were Penn Staters and had seen the car for weeks, but never saw me. We chatted and found that they were from western Pennsylvania, while I hailed from the Poconos.
Bill Oelkers ’61 Bus
Salem, Va.

TAJ MAHAL TRAVELERS

We were in India, marveling at the sheer majesty of the Taj Mahal, when I heard the siren song “We Are.” I immediately snapped my neck around, located the source—thanks to a small backpack pin—and in front of hundreds of silent, awestruck observers, I shouted, “Penn State!” The look on my wife’s face, a blend of pride and deep cultural embarrassment, was priceless. Since that day, she no longer packs a carry-on; she packs a disguise kit. She knows I’m a ticking “We Are” time bomb, ready to detonate Penn State spirit in the quietest, most inappropriate corners of the world.
Akash Kapoor ’06 Bus
Cypress, Texas

PENN STATER BY DEFAULT

While hiking in England, I came across an Indian family taking a break beside the trail. The college-age son had on a Penn State sweatshirt, so I called out, “We Are.” I got blank looks in response. I said, “Did you go to Penn State?” And he replied, “No, I just bought the sweatshirt because I liked it.” I explained the tradition to him and he in turn explained it to his family. I am sure they were talking about me as I left.
Mark Zaitsoff ’75 Eng
Pittsburgh

FROM CLEVELAND TO CANCÚN

Everywhere I’ve traveled around the country, I’ve crossed paths with a Penn Stater. In September, I was at a work expo/tradeshow in Cleveland and was, of course, wearing a Penn State polo. A rep from one of the companies attending started chatting with me, and I found out his daughter was in the same major as me, we had classes together, and I know her personally. And last summer, when I was on vacation in Cancún, Mexico, there was another individual who went to Penn State. We got to chat and hang out and found we have mutual Penn State connections. 
Brady Reese ’17 H&HD
Lock Haven, Pa.

PARTY IN THE PERSIAN GULF

In 1989, I was in the Navy and about to be deployed to the Persian Gulf. Around that time, I was reading the Penn Stater and was surprised to see there was a Penn State Club of Greater Dubai. I snail-mailed the chapter president and asked, where was the place to be in Dubai? I included a stamped return envelope, but never heard from him. A month or so later, my ship pulled into Dubai. After we put the gangway over, a man asked to come aboard, and he asked for John Bergin. My XO thought I was getting picked up by INTERPOL. The man was Bruce Berwager, the Dubai Chapter president. Bruce and a bunch of his friends were waiting with their SUVs to take us to a party that evening. I was on duty, so I couldn’t go. I turned it over to our chaplain, and about 50 of our junior sailors wound up going to Bruce’s community center near his residence for a night of barbecue, volleyball, and swimming. I never properly thanked Bruce and his friends, so if any of you read this, thank you, 36 years late, from the sailors of the USS Leahy (CG-16), scrapped into razor blades in 2004.
John Bergin ’88 Sci
Drexel Hill, Pa.

FROM SICILY TO SOUTH AMERICA

Walking through the narrow streets of Syracuse, Sicily, on an Alumni Association tour, I heard a “We Are” from an approaching crowd. I answered with “Penn State.” We only had a few seconds to talk, as our groups were headed in different directions; she had seen the Nittany Lion logo on my baseball hat. Our most remote “We Are” experience was at Iguazú Falls in the jungle between Argentina and Brazil. Another Penn Stater noticed me wearing a PSU wrestling shirt.
Don Smedley ’67 Lib 
Audubon, Pa.

BAVARIAN SURPRISE

In 2023, I organized a program to take students in our German program to Munich for spring break for a week of cultural and language activities and sightseeing. One of our tours was of the Weihenstephan Brewery, one of several breweries in Bavaria that claim to be the oldest in Germany. When we arrived and our tour guide came out to greet us, he turned out to be an alum: Adam Baker ’14. I knew he was living in the Munich area, but it never occurred to me that he was giving the English-language tours at the brewery. Our students loved that they not only got to tour the brewery—a highlight of the trip—but that they also got to see an alum of our program in action. Coincidentally, when he’d left his apartment that day, he’d grabbed his Penn State to-go coffee mug. 
Carrie Jackson
State College