Memories

At UAB, we laugh. We cry. We discover. We learn. We cheer. We invent. We excel. And we do it together. That’s why including your memory in our 50th anniversary oral history project is so important. Your memory’s a part of UAB, and it belongs in our Archives. Furthermore, we want to share your tale on the web, on social media, in print, or in a podcast this fall.
Check out some memories and share yours today. After all, our story isn’t complete without you.

Share your own UAB memory UAB Memories Podcast

Ronan O'Beirne, Roger Clark & Bob Norman

"In 1981, Coach Bartow asked me to be the head coach, and that was like a dream job to me."

"They literally thought that we were a family and not this odd group of people that worked together, studied together, and interacted."

Zachary Watson, Anna Parker, Dhruv Singh, Callie Walls, & Alex Clark

"As soon as we walked out of the Hill Center, it was torrential rain. It was crazy. Mother Nature smacked us."

"We got married on Homecoming, October 19, and we graduated on December 13 together."

"The help of my mentors here at UAB has actually impacted me a lot. I have been supported by almost like a squad of really strong women."

"They asked me what I thought I could do to help kids get more interested in voting, and the first thing that came out of my mouth was, 'We need to do things like offer pizza parties.'"

"It was the UAB vs. Nebraska basketball game, the first basketball game ever at UAB."

"My surgeon looked me in the eye and then hugged me because she knew that I was broken from being diagnosed."

"I feel it is my job to do what I can to make their stay as pleasant as possible."

"It is our job to educate everyone. Everyone deserves an opportunity to be educated, and I love that mission that we have."

"They walk in an interview, and without saying anything at all, they aren't given a fair chance because of the way they are dressed."

"After choir, he offered to buy me a soda from the Hideaway Café, which was on the third floor of the Humanities Building."

"A little piece of you dies every time a patient dies. But it's one of the great gifts to get to know people during that time in their life."

Emily Delvo, Lindsey Lawrence, Micael McDaniel, & Christopher Powers

"The first thing she told us about was Gurney Derby. She said we have a winning reputation, and we need a team that can keep that going."

"It was probably a 14-hour process that day. I was pretty much done with school, I thought, when I finally got registered."

"I asked him what he had been praying for, and he was praying for God to watch over and to protect me."

"Some of my best memories include cheering on the basketball and football teams, not only here in Birmingham but traveling with the teams."

"It was the night that UAB beat Middle Tennessee for the Conference USA Championship."

"I got the ring out, got down on one knee, and the rest is history."

"I could feel every moment of it but I didn't know what was going on."

"I remember voting on the school colors. I remember thinking, 'Gosh, I was a part of history.'"

"In April 2011, there was the tornado super outbreak."

"During my time in undergrad, I studied abroad for half a year in Perth, Australia."

"The work in the medical examiner office goes on day by day but when a tornado comes and causes many deaths, it changes everything..."

"I started as a temp in 1986. And then I became a full time employee on March the 27th of 1988."

"We were driving on Southside . . . and I found a dog."

"I feel like I saw UAB grow from a small institution to what it is now."

"Many years ago I used to work a lot of crazy hours, and I just happened to notice an elderly woman in the parking deck."

"I got to UAB, and my fraternity let me know that they were wanting to colonize on this campus."

"The day of the snow-pocalypse - which we were working in Heritage Hall..."

"I have a new lease on life."

"When I saw it, I wanted to bring it back to Birmingham."

"We were on some Polaris ATV in the middle of nowhere, July in Alabama, It was so hot, and I thought, 'This is the best moment of my life.'"

"My freshman year - that was the year that UAB won the conference USA Title."

"I wanted to leave because I wanted to experience different cultures."

"I was teaching philosophy at a small liberal arts college."

"My earliest memory is of wanting to be an artist."

"UAB for the second time gave me an option and saved my life.That's when it hit, I knew I had to come here."

"Seeing everyone come together as a family is what I loved most about going to UAB."

"You could tell it wasn't just their job—that they really cared about us."

"My friends have been a big impact
in my life."

"I joined the Marching Blazers when I first came and honestly didn't even notice you."

"Our story starts off after our very first band camp at UAB."

"We're racing down the highway—It's like two in the morning..."

"I was and still am the first-generation college graduate in my entire family."

"My husband and I met at UAB as freshmen in the fall of 2011."

"My mom is my role model, and she helped me through so much while we were in school together."

"It was the most awkward thing ever."

"UAB is not only where I went to college and where I work—it's where I met my husband and started a family."

“...Sterne—around midterms and finals—it turns into ‘Club Sterne.’”