What is your name? Eileen Ford

What school do you attend? I go to the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder)

What is your major? I am majoring in speech, language, and hearing science (Check out this amazing video of Eileen signing “Margaritaville!”)

Tell us a little bit about yourself:  I love to travel. My motto is “have suitcase will travel.” From the beginning of 2018 to now I have traveled over 33,000 miles which means I have more than circled the Earth! In my free time I love hanging out with friends at school sporting events, going snowboarding, SCUBA diving with my family, and baking.

How did you find out about Margaritaville University? I found out about Margaritaville University from my mom (shout out to my mom!) while she was looking up concert dates and locations and found the “University” tab on Margaritaville.com.

How have you shared the Margaritaville state of mind on your campus? Lots of people hammock on campus here at CU. Days that are especially nice I will stuff my backpack with MargU swag and hand it out to people I see hammocking (yes, it is a verb) and finding their personal Margaritaville.

What is your favorite Jimmy Buffett song/what is your first Margaritaville memory? My earliest memory is my dad playing a Buffett cassette tape in the car. The song was Volcano, which is my favorite.

What would you teach at Margaritaville University? I would either teach Making Boat Drinks 101 or Homework and Hammocking: mastering the skill.

What is your favorite Jimmy lyric? I have two. One I have always loved is “if we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane”. I am someone who is always trying to have a good time, and you will more likely than not find me smiling or laughing. My other favorite is a new favorite. It’s “when you see the Southern Cross for the first time.” My family went on vacation to Antigua earlier this summer and we were able to see the Southern Cross for the first time. We were walking down the beach to dinner and it was right in front of us, the song came up right away. Definitely a highlight!

What is your favorite memory of Margaritaville University? Making a Jimmy Buffett carpool karaoke video is definitely up there! I do not have a car at school so I made do with what I have- a bike! One morning I tossed on my Marg U shirt, a couple of leis, and my sunglasses and ventured out on my bike to master the skill of biking with one hand while recording myself singing Volcano terribly out of tune. Needless to say, I had some explaining to do to people passing by, but they loved it! And I acquired a new skill! By far my favorite challenge!

When you are not listening to Jimmy Buffett, what are you listening to? When I am not relaxing in Margaritaville, I’m usually listening to Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, or Shawn Mendes. But if I’m hitting the gym or need to pump myself up for an exam, I am definitely listening to Eminem, Kayne, or Kendrick!

How does Margaritaville show up in your everyday life? Whenever I get stressed about school or having to adult, I will take a step back and find something to help me relax before diving back in. Whether it’s chatting with friends about something random or listening to music. Now that I say this, I guess island time is the time zone I’m in.

What should the mascot for Margaritaville University be? Honestly my pet Betta Fish, Finn should be the mascot. He’s shiny and blue and makes a daily appearance on my snapchat story when I feed him breakfast. I don’t think many others, if anyone, would agree with me on this… SO more realistically I think MargU’s mascot should be Pete the Pirate Parrot.

Why is Margaritaville, and it’s values, something that needs to be shared? People are too stressed all the time. They need to breathe in, breathe out, and move on. We all need to take a break from the go go go life we live and find that little piece of happiness and relaxation every once in a while.

Click here to learn more about Margaritaville University.