The first University of New Hampshire football game I went to was a disaster. It felt like everyone knew someone but me, and I kept thinking to myself, “Football games are a UNH tradition. Why do I hate this?” Everyone knew everyone, and I felt extremely left out of all of the game-day festivities. I knew no one, did one lap around the field with my roommate I had just met the month prior, and immediately went home.
Come sophomore year where I had a solid group of friends, that is when I understood the tradition of going to football games at UNH. All of us walked there together to meet our other friends who had set up a tailgate for all of us to enjoy. I never realized my love for collegiate sports until my sophomore year of college and I wanted to attend every game. I went to almost all of the football, hockey and soccer games that year. I had thought that this was only my second football season, I have two more that I can enjoy.
When the pandemic began my sophomore year, I realized how many college traditions I had taken for granted. I was left wondering why I didn’t go to that soccer game that I had time to go to, or why I didn’t go to the club meeting that I did not know was going to be my last. I never knew if I would have the chance to experience these college experiences again, and it made me feel that I had truly ruined my college experience.
As a fully vaccinated college senior now, I realize that I need to not take any of my college experience for granted. I joined so many more clubs, I began reaching out to more people, and I started participating in every single UNH tradition that I can. I want to make every moment that I have left at this school special because I will never be able to do it again.