At this point, most Auburn students have seen or heard the "Ukulele Guy" playing a song or two on the concourse between classes.
In fact, the Ukulele Guy has become such a fixture on campus that some people might find it hard to believe that Joc Rivera, freshman in computer sciences and vice president of AUke, has only been serenading the people of Auburn for one semester.
"I started playing when I first got to Auburn," Rivera said. "I found the whole college thing kind of nerve-wracking at first, and I figured other people probably felt the same way. I thought if my day wasn't going so well, and some weird guy walked past me playing a ukulele, I would instantly feel so much better. I like to make people happy, so I decided to give it a shot."
Auburn University United Ukulele Collaboration, also known as AUke, was born after a chance meeting between Rivera and Nolan Rodack, freshman in software engineering and president of AUke.
Rodack, also a musician, said he noticed Rivera's ukulele in an engineering orientation class. The two bonded over their shared love of the instrument, and decided to turn their passion into a club.
"We thought, there are thousands of people that go to Auburn," Rivera said. "There is bound to be at least one other person out there that plays the ukulele."
Rodack said he started putting his unique spin on the ukulele almost three years ago.
"My brother and I were watching TV and 'Bach and Friends' came on," Rodack said. "It showed a bunch of musicians playing Bach on all different kinds of instruments. Normally, you think of guys like Jason Mraz playing the ukulele, but then here are these guys playing classical music. I thought maybe I could do something like that, too."
AUke's motto is "Chill. Play. Ukulele." The purpose of the club is to help people relax, have fun, and express their creativity through the instrument.
"I think it kind of helps people come out of their shells," Rodack said. "We really hope that by coming here and hanging out with us, people will learn to let their guards down every now and then. We just want them to be themselves when they're here."
Members meet once a week in the Student Center to do just that.
"My favorite thing about this club is seeing how it softens people," Rivera said. "Our hearts have this way of getting so hard from stress or from being overworked. It's nice to see people come in here and have fun making music together, even if it is only for a couple of hours."
Michael Barren, senior in business administration, attends meetings every week. He said he had never picked up a ukulele before joining AUke.
According to Barren, it is easy to see what makes this club special.
"It's definitely the people," Barren said. "The good people and good times."
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