Freshman—do you remember the first time you logged onto our Accepted 2017 Facebook group? It was nearly impossible to check the Facebook feed without coming across a post from Megan Yung.
Megan posted countdowns to events like Blue Devil Days or Move-In Day—but in terms of the number of times you could watch a specific movie or read a book. As people commented on the posts and submitted her countdowns to the blog www.accepted2017.com, Megan’s posts quickly became Facebook famous and eventually earned her the nickname of “Countdown Girl” on campus.
“The day after I was accepted Early Decision, I put one post on the page saying something about how long it was until Blue Devil Days,” Yung said. “Someone commented on the post saying, ‘I bet you can’t do this every day.’ So naturally, I couldn’t back down from that challenge.”
A fair point.
Megan posted in the group every day from December to late March, when she dropped the frequency of her countdowns to once a week. Her favorite and most popular post was when she calculated how many times you could watch Finding Nemo before Blue Devil Days.
“I would ask my friends for help [with inspiration for the posts],” Yung said. “Or if I was watching a movie, I would just do that. Another person sent me a website of ideas.”
Megan’s posts developed a cult-like following in the group, making her very well known throughout the freshman class. During O Week, first years would approach Megan after recognizing her and chat about the posts.
Her attitude toward her recognition on campus is incredibly laid-back. Megan has embraced her nickname and responds to it willingly, even though others might resist having a label during the beginning of college. And when friends relay stories about other freshman that want to meet “Countdown Girl,” Megan usually just laughs.
Megan is certainly well known on campus—even as I was interviewing her, people would walk by and say, “Hey, Countdown Girl!” With such a memorable beginning, I’m sure that Megan will continue to make her mark throughout her time at Duke!