Finding familiarity and new friends at Whataburger 

When Emily Cowen moved from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to Oklahoma City for college, she was overwhelmed and nervous about her first night away from home.  

“It was my very first time away from my family, and I felt completely out of place,” Emily said. “I was just anxious all day. I couldn't eat. I could barely focus.” 

Her family all came to help her get settled, but once they left, the only familiar faces were a few people she’d met during a summer research program. In their group chat, someone said the four words Emily needed to hear: “We’re going to Whataburger.” 

“All of us were a bunch of science nerds,” she said. “So of course we're talking about Dungeons and Dragons, having just the dorkiest time.” 

But they also talked about their upcoming classes, their new living situations, and their futures. It gave them a chance to process all their feelings together and ease their worries about starting a new chapter in their lives. 

“It's like that bit of familiarity that you kind of need to branch out when you're in a new place,” Emily said. 

The trip also gave birth to an inside joke that followed them through college when one of them read an upside-down day dot sticker and said, “What’s NOINO ON?” They all had a good laugh and started saying it to each other every chance they got. 

After that experience, Whataburger became a place to celebrate big events and milestones. 

“When I got my first job out of college, straight to Whataburger,” she said. “When I got promoted, straight to Whataburger. Believe it or not, breaking up with a bad ex? Straight to Whataburger.”