As of 2024, FSU has over 44,000 students enrolled, meaning an estimated 44,000 different versions of weekend plans, course schedules, and extracurriculars. That means you’ve probably overheard your classmates making post-football game plans while your plan was ramen and Netflix.
Even though you couldn’t feel more different than the guy next to you bragging about how he somehow made it home last night, every FSU student has experienced at least one of these six canon events:
- Getting the Tally Flu
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Yeah, we’ve all been there. It starts as a sore throat, develops into a fever, and then evolves into a cough that seems to last all semester. Sometimes, a stomachache makes an appearance.
Maybe it was your roommate, or the person sitting next to you in class who couldn’t stop coughing, the questionable quality of Suwannee dining, or just the air in Tallahassee. Regardless, every freshman gets some undiagnosable illness that will continue to come back every semester.
- Hiking Up Mount Diffenbaugh
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Whether it’s your randomly required philosophy class or an 8 a.m. biology lecture, Mount Diffenbaugh can get the best of you. During my freshman year, I was constantly out of breath attempting to trek from the Rovetta Business Building all the way to Diffenbaugh Building.
Now, as a sophomore, I still get winded from the uphill hike. I thought living a whole year in Tallahassee after moving from South Florida would’ve better prepared me for my second year. However, the hills are always humbling.
- Running Into Your Hometown Mutuals
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It’s Tallyween, you open your Snap Map, and suddenly every person you know has a friend at FSU, meaning they’re in Tallahassee too. Yet, specific weekends and game days aren’t the only times you run into people you don’t remember meeting. It can even be the beginning of the semester, and you see someone you haven’t talked to since middle school walk into your class.
I’ve experienced this way too many times. At this point, everyone from South Florida seems to go to FSU, but it can sometimes be a blessing in disguise. FSU has a weird way of bringing people together, whether it’s our mutual hatred of Mount Diffenbaugh or reconnecting with friends you never thought you’d meet again.
- Realizing Your Campus is Like Hogwarts
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Nothing makes FSU feel like Hogwarts more than studying in Dodd Hall’s Werkmeister Reading Room when the fall weather hits. The leaves are starting to change, and the weather is just cold enough for a cozy sweater, which means it’s the perfect time to imagine you’re on the set of Harry Potter. You can even study on Landis Green and admire FSU’s gothic architecture to romanticize your study sessions.
- Spotting a Local Celebrity
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FSU is home to some of the most unconventional campus celebrities, from viral influencers to viral pets. Right now, S’mores, the FSU Dwarf Goat, has been taking over my feed with sightings at basketball games, sorority houses, and even Buc-ee’s. S’mores seems to have taken the position of celebrity pet from Garnet the Goldfish, which has traveled around campus and numerous places in the past couple of years, including all the way to Dublin, Ireland, in the fall of 2024 for FSU’s football game against Georgia Tech.
The Garnet and Gold Guys are also always exciting to see on their tandem bicycle pedaling to and from games. Making appearances for photo opportunities and team spirit since 1998, they’ve been a longstanding FSU tradition.
- Getting Thrown Into the Fountain on Your 21st Birthday
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Your 21st birthday is a major milestone at FSU, so it’s no surprise that there’s a designated tradition for your big day. Since certain fountains are chlorinated like pools (close enough anyway), it’s common for your friends to lift you into the Westcott Fountain on the night before your birthday at midnight.
While accidents do happen, FSU’s Division of Student Affairs launched a Save the Fountain campaign to promote safe practices when taking part in a fountain throw. Regardless of how you mark the occasion or how old you’re turning, birthdays are always the best at FSU because your friends are always nearby to celebrate.
Even though walking onto campus can feel like you’re suddenly entering a sea of chaos, canon events that every FSU student has experienced make the school rooted in its traditions. From rotting in bed with your roommate after the Tally flu to cheering on your friend as they swim in the Westcott Fountain on their 21st, canon events give our student body a campus culture that you can only find at FSU.
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