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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is that if you give the world a hint

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Speaker 1: about your affiliations, you may be able to connect with

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Speaker 1: other people who share those affiliations. That can be a

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Speaker 1: very cool thing. Indeed, so of all the bumper stickers

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Speaker 1: out there, I encountered a new one recently, Hank, if

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Speaker 1: you passed PIKM. In case you haven't taken or passed PIKEM,

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Speaker 1: and I definitely haven't, I can tell you that PIKM

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Speaker 1: stands for physical chemistry. This tends to be a particularly

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Speaker 1: demanding course and one that is less commonly taken and

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Speaker 1: passed than say, organic chemistry, which prospective physicians to take.

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Speaker 1: Hence the bumper sticker inviting you to honk if you've

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Speaker 1: passed PEAKM, that means you are part of a small

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Speaker 1: club of serious chemists. I love imagining a person who

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Speaker 1: just passed PIKM seeing that bumper sticker and honking proudly.

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Speaker 1: Maybe the person with the sticker on her car waves

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Speaker 1: back into solidarity. It feels great to find our people.

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Speaker 1: If there are affiliations or experiences that are important to you,

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Speaker 1: especially ones that are less common in your particular town.

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Speaker 1: Consider offering a hint of them so you can find

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Speaker 1: people who share them. Bumper stickers like the piakam one

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Speaker 1: are a way to do that. Lots of people have

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Speaker 1: stickers from their alma maters, whether high school, college, or

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Speaker 1: graduate or professional schools. Sports stickers are common too. They

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Speaker 1: can help you find the other Eagles fans, for instance,

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Speaker 1: which may be common near here in Philadelphia but perhaps

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Speaker 1: not so common in say Boise vacation destination. Stickers can

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Speaker 1: foster a sense of connection too. If you have an

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Speaker 1: ac K sticker on your car, other people who love

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Speaker 1: Nantucket may feel connected and say hello. Hanging a flag

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Speaker 1: outside your home is another way to share your identity.

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Speaker 1: Perhaps alongside an American flag, you could display a flag

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Speaker 1: from your family's country of origin or from your favorite university.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you are from ann Arbor but live in Nashville,

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Speaker 1: if you want to meet more Michigan fans, even if

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Speaker 1: you went to Vanderbilt yourself. I have a hunch that

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Speaker 1: hanging a University of Michigan flag by your front door

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Speaker 1: would help neighbors, dog walkers, joggers, and others who are

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Speaker 1: from Michigan, attended the University of Michigan, or just root

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Speaker 1: for the Wolverines will likely introduce themselves if they pass

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Speaker 1: by and spot you working in the yard. Nashville doesn't

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Speaker 1: feel so distant from ann Arbor, after all. If bumper

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Speaker 1: stickers and flags aren't for you, consider T shirts, sweatshirts, hats,

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Speaker 1: water bottles, coffee cups. We sport all sorts of logos

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Speaker 1: all the time. Why not make them mean something. When

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Speaker 1: you literally wear your affiliations on your sleeve, you are

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Speaker 1: more likely to find people who share them. My husband

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Speaker 1: is a Texas A and M alum, which is not

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Speaker 1: especially common here in Pennsylvania. Anytime he wears A and

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Speaker 1: M gear, it tends to turn up other Aggie fans.

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Speaker 1: Have you met anybody or made new friends by announcing

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Speaker 1: your identity, whether on a T shirt or a bumper

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Speaker 1: sticker or something like that. I'd love to hear about it.

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Speaker 1: You can read at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

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Speaker 1: listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas or feedback.

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Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.