Four years of keeping them laughing

Aaron Karo has received a marriage proposal, a random phone call from fans in Illinois and an unexpected radio show interview. He has since decided to remove his number from the phone book. Karo, a Wharton senior, is the creator of the popular e-mail newsletter Ruminations on College Life. And for the past four years, Karo has detailed his collegiate experience in witty anecdotes on everything from throwing up Rice Krispies to mastering beer pong. Microsoft founder Bill Gates reads Ruminations. Udo from Germany perused Ruminations to learn about Americans. And Andrea from Arkansas learned the meaning of the word "ruminations" from the newsletter. What started as an e-mail forward to 20 high school friends has expanded into a e-newsletter with a worldwide readership of over 10,000. "I came up with the idea even before I came to school," Karo admits, contrary to his Web site explanation that he started Ruminations because he couldn't sleep on Sunday nights. "I had visited before, so I already knew college was a crazy place. I thought, 'I'll write this and send it to friends. Maybe it'll catch on.'" And certainly, it did. Karo smiles at the mention of his semi-celebrity status. People love Aaron Karo. "They are HILARIOUS!" says Andrea Hampton, a freshman at the University of Arkansas, "Aaron depicts college life to a 'T' and makes fun of it at the same time." From the 11/17/97 Ruminations: "You guys have that cup. I know you do. You know, that one all-purpose cup that you use for everything from cereal to orange juice to shots of Johnnie Walker Black Label and never ever clean. At the end of the week that shit is sticky as hell. And there's always that poor spoon that gets stuck in the cup forever." "To this day, [my roommate] and I will still fall out of our seats, dying laughing about the notorious 'cup' that Aaron wrote about in the first issue we ever received," says Jessica Pettrone, a junior at Duke University. Karo often envisions ideas while observing his peers. "My friends are the source of everything, so even without trying to come up with things, they're my inspiration," he says. Still, some people will try to contrive witticisms. "I have people running up to me all the time saying, 'This is a Rumination! Put it down!'" he says. Yet most of the time, he dismisses the eager requests. "Just keep trying," he tells them. A collection of post-it notes are accumulating on Karo's desk, where he rewrites stories scribbled on napkins at parties. Every other month, he sits down and compiles the post-its into the newsletter that coeds everywhere have come to adore. In the latest Ruminations, dated 2/27/01: "If you have to take a shit during class, is it OK to take the book you are reading in class to the bathroom? The other day I walked out of poli sci with our big-ass textbook under my arm. When I came back like 10 minutes later everyone was giving me looks. I mean, you have to read something while on the can, it might as well be relevant to the class you're missing, right?" "Karo's rantings are more than just cheesy criticisms. They are a collection of brilliant comments on the daily and nightly lives of college students around the world," says Jennalyn Ranta, a second year student at Loyalist College in Bellevue, Ontario. His work has won him the titles of "genius," by Ranta, "fantastic entrepreneur" and "punk," by Jennifer from the University of California at Los Angeles and "a single and a really cute, FUNNY catch," by College senior Jen Gordon. Popularity as a humor writer may seem uncharacteristic for a number-crunching Whartonite, with a double concentration in e-commerce and management. "I can use both sides of my brain if I need to," Karo says. And he does just that. For a brief period, Karo used his business instincts, teaming with advertisers to rake in profits from Ruminations. Five issues and a thousand dollars later, he stopped the money-making. "It was impeding my creativity," he explains, "I do it for the love." Following graduation, Karo will work at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The last Ruminations on College Life debuts in April. As for a future Ruminations on Yuppie/Professional/Working Life? "We'll see," he says.