Nickname?

What’s the story behind your nickname?

In another blog post I talked about the origin of my avatar’s name, and how I came up with Phorkyad Acropolis. Here we focus on my real life name.

To begin, I don’t really have a nickname, per se. My birth certificate says, “Stephen Alan Schrum.” My mother once told me she wanted “Steven” but I guess they didn’t care and as a result it’s been a lifetime of confusion—for others, anyway. I prefer this spelling, and relish pointing out, “Stephen, with a P-H,” since I also have to spell “Schrum.” (No one wants to include that C.)

I grew up as Steve (except when I was in trouble and I heard, “Stephen Alan!”). I never had any other nicknames along the way. When I became a theatre professor, I followed the tradition I had passed through with my professors and suggested students call me “Steve” or “Stephen.” Most opted for “Steve” or “Dr. Schrum,” with the latter explaining how they couldn’t quite call me by first name (and some still don’t, years after graduating).

One student I was very close to decided to call me “Stephen,” and often referred to me as “my professor Stephen.” When I was asked by someone what I should be called (as we started dating), I decided to rebrand and said, “Stephen,” because I liked the sound of it. That has of course caused more confusion than the PH as people now sometimes call me, “Steve, uh, Stephen,” remembering what they used to call me and honoring my rebranding.

Often, students in my courses would refer to me only as “Schrum.” I asked them to call me Dr. Schrum since getting the PhD was a difficult task, and adding the “Dr.” helped me celebrate that. On a humorous note, I had one student referring to me as “Schrumdawg,” so I corrected him: “That’s Doctor Schrumdawg to you!”

Professionally, I am Dr. Stephen A. Schrum, Associate Professor Emeritus. But that’s a bit long, so you can just call me…whatever you like, as long as it contains some form of my first name.