Parker the penguin almost didn’t make it.
When apparel design sophomore Jessica Sapera was younger, her favorite stuffed animal was involved in a traumatic accident that left the penguin without a head.
“One time, when we went on vacation, my mom washed [Parker], and his head fell off,” Sapera said. “I cried, and my mom had to sew [the head] back something.”
Psychology senior Laura Germany said she has collected about 50 stuffed animals over the years. Germany started with a couple of stuffed animals from her childhood, and then her boyfriend and roommates started giving them to her as gifts.
Germany’s boyfriend, psychology senior Taylor Copeland, said the collection has continued to grow.
“It’s kind of snowballed, like, ‘yeah, you know, I have a bunch of Beanie Babies,’ and she was always crazy about Beanie Babies and … as a child, she would literally do just about anything for them,” Copeland said. “And it went from me getting her a couple, and then someone was like, ‘Oh, I see you have a stuffed animal collection,’ and use that as a reason to say, ‘Hey, Merry Christmas. I didn’t know what to get you, so here’s a stuffed animal,’ and people just kept seeing other.”
Germany said although she still likes the actual dolls, the journey she and her boyfriend went through to find them is especially memorable.
“They’re still cool, but trying to find them was an effort,” Germany said. “Because they were exclusive in some places and they’re super expensive online and stuff. And we finally found them. Well, [Copeland]