IU junior Eric C. studies atmospheric science. He hails from New York State and has been collecting ink pens since he was young.

"Pretty much all my friends think I'm a little weird. My roommate came in the other day and asked to borrow a pen. I was like, "Sure, what kind?" and he goes, "I don't care, any kind," and I was like "Well, I have a lot..." I opened the drawer and showed him, and he's like, "Holy crap, that's a lot of pens! I just need a basic, black Bic pen!" So I found him one... he was pretty appalled."

"Pens in general, I probably have about 400. I mean, that includes your basic Bic pens, and all that stuff. When I was about ten years old, we went on a cross country trip, and everywhere we went I wanted a souvenir; my mother said, "Why don't you buy a pen?" and I was like, "That's such a good idea!" so I started a very small collection of pens from different states and different monuments, and after that, I was just... I got hooked, that's about it. On vacation, you wanna buy cool souvenirs and I'm like, "Guys, I can't, I'm gonna buy a pen." People go shopping for t-shirts and stuff, and I'm like, 'Where are your pens at?'"

"I can recall, my collection started with... well, you know those pens you used to get at the zoo? There's an elephant in there, and you tip it and he kinda slides down, then you tip it the other way and he goes back the other way? Zoo pens really jumpstarted the collection. I thought it was really cool, and you can't just have one... it's like I have the elephant, but what about the hippo? Then, all the kids at class have them but you, you don't have the cool little cheetah, you've gotta have the cheetah, so this way, I had everything. No matter what John or Bill had, I had 'em too. Just one of those things."

"My cousin made fun of me for years about it, he was like, "Why don't you collect something else, something worthwhile?" But... well, people collect stamps, I think that's pretty stupid - people pay $100 for a thirty cent stamp just because it's cool... it's kind of the same thing. When I first started working, I'd never spend my change. I kept it all in one big container, and I'd use that to buy pens. I think the one year, after like ten months, I'd saved up about $180 just in change. I bought two Cross pens, and some other pens. I haven't bought a pen in awhile... the last one I bought was one that lights up and changes six or seven colors as you write. The bottom half is clear, it rotates red, orange, green, blue... and you can write with it in the dark."

"Best pen I've ever written with is a Cross pen. Number one, they are more affordable than a Mont Blanc. The Cross pens, I find, are very light to hold. My biggest collection is Cross. I have a lot of those, really nice pens."

"Kind of like, you know, people buy hats and women buy shoes, I used to buy pens. I happen to find pens a lot, too. Find them and take them, if no one claims them. If they're laying on the floor when you walk in school."

"I went to an all-male Catholic high school, so we had a lot of rich boys who'd have really nice pens, and I would like their pens. And some days, I'd find their pens. And I would keep their pens."

"Sometimes there were run-ins... they'd be like "Hey, I had a pen like that... is that mine?" and I'm like, " No, actually, I got this pen, um, about a week and a half ago." I never told how I got the pen, I'd just tell em I got the pen. It wasn't like I was thinking, "Okay, he's got a nice pen, I'll sit next to him and hope he drops it or leaves it behind during class, but I'd keep my eye out."

"Teachers, too. Lost and found... I'd ask the teacher to borrow a pen, and Mr. So- and-So would open up his desk drawer, and I'd be like, "Wow, he's got 4 or 5 nice ones," and I'd take one. He didn't care, they were just lost and found pens. Teachers have really nice collections. I'd pilfer through theirs to find a nice pen or just a pen that I didn't have."

"I have a 14 karat gold Westinghouse pen. But they definitely don't have to be expensive to fit in my collection. Every Christmas except for one in the last eight or nine years, I have gotten a pen. The one at Kohl's that changes colors - I have that one too. I got it for Christmas. I use that one during class. It's pretty awesome. The bottom half is clear, it rotates red, orange, green, blue... and you can write with it in the dark."

"It freaks people out, they're like, "Oh my God, your pen changes colors," and I'm like, "You haven't seen it before? Come ON. What are you, sheltered? Do you live in a box? Are you not cool?'"

"I don't take the Mont Blanc or my favorite Cross out in public. I don't want anyone to steal them because, you know, they're expensive. So I keep those at home. I use them at home every so often when I'm in a scholarly mood - that's when I bust out the Mont Blanc. One of the coolest pens I have is the Sensa grip pen - that's the pen that has the gel down by your fingers. I've had that pen for about two years, now, and it's one of the best pens I have when it comes to comfort. I bought it at Brookstone; when it first came out, it was around $50. Fifty bucks isn't much, you know. Well, okay, for most people it sounds weird..."

"I used to have them all organized by color - color of the pen and the color that they write. But I lost that with moving so much here. I just throw them in one big drawer now. It's one whole drawer full of just pens."

"I use my pens every day. In my school bag I have five pens right now, and the other day I just switched them out for five new ones. I always keep at least two blue and two black. I always carry two crappy ones that I don't care if I lose, if they're doubles or triples. If someone asks to borrow one, I don't want to give them a nice pen. I don't really lend those out to people. You never know what you'll run into, you never know when you'll need more than one pen."

Jenny Davis

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