This past weekend I went to my first college football game. As a senior who had never been to a game before last Saturday, I was told by so many people that I had to attend at least one before I graduate in May. The game this past weekend was the only one I could fit into my schedule, so I got super lucky that it happened to be the last home game of the season. It was also lucky that the opposing team, Franklin Pierce, had lost every single game they played, so Stonehill had a pretty good chance of winning.
I had been looking forward to going to the football game for the entire week leading up to it. Not because I particularly like football, but because my mom and aunt were coming to campus to watch the game with me. I usually go home on the weekends, so it was nice that I was able to stay on campus, while still being able to see my family.
My mom, aunt, and I got to the game around 12:55 p.m. We were meeting two of my friends, who already had seats waiting for us. Considering it was the last home game of the season and senior day, I was expecting to see more people in the stands.
We climbed the metal bleachers to where my friends were sitting, and the game started soon after. I was in marching band in high school and we had to go to all the home and away games (unfortunate for us because our team was terrible), so I wasn’t completely clueless as to what was going on, watching the players running up and down the field.
As I was just wondering how long the game had been going on for, I heard the whistle blow.
“Is it halftime already?” I asked excitedly, watching the players walk to the sidelines.
“It’s…the end of the first quarter,” answered my friend.
Needless to say, I was bored. I remembered in high school thinking the games always went by so quickly, but looking back, that was probably because we had fun playing songs and performing at halftime. We weren’t just sitting around doing nothing.
Whatever the reason, by the end of the third quarter I was bouncing my leg, twisting and turning in my seat, and freezing (a sweatshirt and jacket was not sufficient, I should have triple layered). I wanted to leave, but I didn’t know if my mom or aunt felt the same way, so I held my tongue.
For a little while anyway. Halfway through the fourth quarter, I just couldn’t take it anymore.
“Do you wanna stay until the end?” I asked them.
“I don’t care, whatever you want to do,” my mom replied, my aunt agreeing with her by nodding her head.
So, with about eight minutes left in the game and Stonehill winning with a decent sized lead (Go Skyhawks!) we crawled out of the bleachers, the sound of people cheering slowly fading as we walked away from the stadium.
And that was my first and last Stonehill football game.
The point of this story is not to say that football is boring. The point is that people always make such a big deal about what you should and shouldn’t do in college, and I think it’s ridiculous.
You HAVE to go to a party, this is your chance!
It’s part of the college experience!
You won’t be in college forever, Emma!
In a way, they’re partly right. Yes, this is my college experience, but that’s just it. It’s MY experience. I get to decide what I do and don’t do. Just because someone loved partying in college doesn’t mean I should love it to. Everyone is different, and people should respect that. College is a place for people to find themselves and to make memories that they will enjoy, not create memories just because it’s what their “supposed” to do.
What I’m trying to say is, most people thought I was crazy for going four years without going to a football game, but I didn’t feel like I was missing out. After going to the game this past Saturday, I KNOW I wasn’t missing out. I don’t regret going, but I’m definitely not sad that I hadn’t gone to one before this.
At the end of the day, you know yourself better than anyone. Don’t let people talk you into doing things you know you won’t enjoy just because they think it’s something that you should do.