The Arrow’s “The Museum of Me”

Mary Wachtel is a sophomore biochemistry major at Southeast. Over the years, Wachtel has collected many seemingly unsuspecting possessions with a lot of history behind them. Here are a few of them, and this is her Museum of Me. (Photo by Kailyn Veach ~ Brand + Projects Manager)

The first record. When Wachtel was younger, she said her dad never let her or her siblings touch his record player because of an unfortunate incident that ended in her older brother breaking the needle. And so one night, I was sick of it. And I said, I'm going to the store to buy a record player. And my dad said, "Why?" And I was like, "'Cause I want a record player. And he said, "Well, I've got one in the basement that's going unused, and I'm like, "Dude! You told me I could not use that for my entire life!" Wachtel's dad ended up letting her use his record player, and this record was the first that she purchased separate from her dad's collection. It's really special to me, 'cause the Rolling Stones isn't my favorite band, but they were one of the gateway bands into getting me into the music taste I have today, '' Wachtel said. "Basically, it got me into psychedelic rock and '60s and '70s rock. It also got me into collecting records. It's the first record I owned, like, now, I own 250 or 300 but I still hold this one most dear. Mick Jagger himself gave me this record and then kissed me swiftly on the lips, before leaving me for his long life on the road back in 1963," Wachtel joked. "Mick said he wanted it to be more under-the-table, and doesn't want me to write about it, but I feel like it's finally time that I share my piece. (Photo by Kailyn Veach ~ Brand + Projects Manager)

The Fall into Autumn wax melt.  Back when she was 14 or 15 years old, Wachtel wasn’t allowed to have candles, so she bought a wax melter and her first wax melt. “The day I bought that was also the first day I watched ‘Futurama’ ever in my life, and I was burning this [wax melt] during that, and it became my favorite scent because it smells so good,” Wachtel said. “I just start rewatching ‘Futurama’ every fall because of how strong the smell association is.” “I couldn’t find [the scent] for like, four years, because I burned through it, it was gone, and I couldn’t find the smell,” Wachtel said. “I would smell, like, every candle at every store ever. And then this year, [my friend] Emma found it at a Walmart and was like, this smells so good, smell this. And I almost cried … I bought six of it.” (Photo by Kailyn Veach ~ Brand + Projects Manager)

The Concert Converse. Wachtel's sister bought her these shoes for her 17th birthday since she was going through a color block phase, and her dad pointed out they look like shoes KISS lead guitarist Ace Frehley would wear. Coincidentally, the next concert Wachtel attended after receiving the shoes was Ace Frehley. â€śI was like, "Oh, it's Ace, of course I'm gonna wear these shoes!" Wachtel said. "It was amazing to see him. He's my guitar idol, and he's my dad's idol, too." The next band Wachtel saw was KISS, which Frehley is no longer a part of. "So I was like, I'm gonna wear these to spite KISS. I'm doin' it for Ace," Wachtel said. "I started to notice the pattern was like, I'm wearing these to every concert," Wachtel said. "And then I decided, I'm gonna start writing down the names of the artists I've seen in concert in these shoes, so I have the name and the date of the person I've seen wearing these shoes."  Currently written on Wachtel's shoes: Ace Frehley, Kiss, Foo Fighters, and Harry Styles. All of the names are separated by a spade, which symbolizes Frehley, except for a heart after Harry Styles, since it's more of his vibe, Wachtel said. (Photo by Lizzy Stock ~ Arrow Reporter)