Last Wednesday, I stayed up late on a school night. It was the U Choose Student Voting Night Flashback Party at the Weisman! One of the selection methods used for assembling WAM@20, the museum’s special anniversary exhibition, involves students voting on their favorite pieces from all 20 years that we’ve called the Ghery building home. Naturally, we had to throw a party.

20 years ago was 1994. We all have fond memories of the 90s because it was our childhood. I remember riding around the old neighborhood in one of those Barbie Jeeps and writing in my Lisa Frank diary and spying on my neighbors with my composition notebook a la Harriet the Spy, like it was yesterday.

So on Wednesday night, I slipped into my Doc Martens, twisted my hair into two little buns on the top of my head and tied my cardigan around my waist. I felt a little bit like my cool teenage babysitter I used to adore, but mostly I just felt like I was 8 years old again.

Mean Girls was projected on the wall. Cubes, in the appropriate hues of fuchsia, teal, tangerine and lime, acted as seating. Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys serenaded everyone as we ate too many Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, and Pixie Sticks. We slurped down Capri Sun after Capri Sun in anticipation of the boy band.

To protect their identities, the mysterious boys of Hippo Campus each gave me an alias. Pepper, Brick, Falsmash and Beans were full of youthful energy and humor.  Pepper had a sweet, versatile voice. Falsmash kept us bopping along with him and his crazy dance moves. The skillful group answered our roaring encore with a sneak peek of their new song!

The last chords faded, the Plastics completed their rendition of Jingle Bell Rock, and I could feel my sugar crash coming on. It was time to let the 90s buns down.

Written by: Hannah Germaine, WAM Collective member