UWO alumni born on Feb. 29 take a leap

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alumnus David Anthes ’87, of Marietta, Ga., remembers his grade school teachers turning his Leap Day birthday—or lack thereof— into a lesson about how long it takes the earth to really travel around the sun.

The answer is 365.24 days instead of the less-precise 365, which accounts for why February picks up an extra day every four years to keep us all in sync.

“It’s always interesting when people recognize you have an unusual birthday, such as someone at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) or a healthcare professional taking information,” Anthes said. “Usually, they do the math and make a comment like ‘You don’t look like you’re 11 years old.’”

Leap Day also provides an opportunity to learn a bit about probability, as offered by UW Oshkosh associate professor John Beam.

“The odds (of having a Leap Day birthday) would be about 1 in 1,500 days,” he said. “Every four years, there is one Leap Day and 1,460 other days, so 1 in 1,460 would be more accurate, except that birthdays are not exactly uniformly distributed throughout the year anyway. So, it would be easiest to just say about 1 in 1,500.”

Calendar conundrums
For Leap Day babies or “leaplings,” figuring out when to celebrate your birthday can be tricky. Growing up, Anthes always got his cake and presents on March 1, because his mom said he wasn’t born yet on Feb. 28.

“My wife likes to celebrate it on Feb. 28, though,” he said. “I sometimes announce to everyone that I’m taking a birthday week, since sometime during the week I was born. My children enjoyed it when they figured out they were older than their dad.”

UWO alumna Sue (Janz) St. Pierre ’78, of Neenah, always celebrated her birthday on March 1. “My parents decorated our kitchen with streamers and balloons. My godparents would come with their families for cake and ice cream.”

When there is no Feb. 29, UWO alumna Sarah (Schott) Woods ’06, of St. Paul, Minn., celebrates her birthday on Feb. 28. “Some people try to tell me my birthday hasn’t technically happened yet, so I should celebrate on March 1. I like to keep my birthday celebration in February,” she said.

Birthdays were not a big deal when Renee (Baier) Miller ’82, of Fond du Lac, was growing up, unless there was a Feb. 29. “Otherwise, we would celebrate on a convenient day that was close.”

This year, Miller’s coworkers are taking her out to lunch to celebrate becoming a teenager in Leap Year birthdays (13).

Minor complications
The first time UWO alumna and leapling Annette Resop ’95, of Oshkosh, had to renew her driver’s license, it was not a Leap Year so there was no Feb. 29. The DMV computer couldn’t handle the situation and crashed, so from then on her license has expired on March 1.

“There haven’t been any complications, except a few times I’ve had certain computers not recognize the date but that hasn’t happened in a long time,” Anthes said.

Online forms don’t always offer a Feb. 29 option for recording birthdays, St. Pierre noted.

Miller laments that she has never gotten a “golden birthday.”  “I turned 28 on Feb. 29 and 29 on Feb. 28,” she explained. “In leap years, turning 29 on Feb. 29 means I’ll really be 116! Everyone is invited to that party.”

Added benefits
Leap Day babies do enjoy some perks.

“I think being a Leap Year baby is pretty cool. It is fun to be different,” Miller said. “I’ll receive cards and greetings from people I hardly know, only because they know someone who is a Leap Year baby.”

Anthes has had a similar experience. “Many times, I’ll receive a message from an old friend who I haven’t heard from in a long time, saying they thought of me when a real Feb. 29 comes up,” he said.

Few people forget your birthday. “I get calls from childhood friends or students I taught years ago.” Resop said.

In addition, she always got to do something extra special on her Leap Year birthdays. “At 12, I had the biggest sleepover. At 16, my dad rented the union hall, and I had a dance party,” she said.

St. Pierre just loves being a Leap Day baby.

“I get to celebrate my birthday more than others do, because I don’t really have a day. Also, people ask me a ton of questions. It is fun discussing it, and I feel very special,” she said. “At the office, I go around writing the 29^th on everyone’s calendars during non-leap years.”