Valentine’s Day is commonly thought as a day specifically meant for people to profess their affection for their significant others. However, the day can also be taken more generally and celebrated simply as a day of love. There is no better time, being here at the University of Waterloo, to start celebrating love, than with the animals that have haunted and terrorized the campus for generations: the geese. Without further ado, here are five reasons to love the geese at Waterloo.
1. Bragging Rights
Sure, UBC may have a rose garden, but how many of their students can claim (without lying) to navigate their way around campus trying not to be attacked by demonic avian forces on a daily basis? Waterloo may not be known for its quaint buildings, wild parties, or school spirit, but we are all united by the will to survive. Darwin may have been onto something.
2. Rites of Passage
Many Dons have entertained/horrified incoming first-year students newly arrived to residence by telling them stories of the Waterloo geese. However, after one survives being chased by the aforementioned demonic avian forces during nesting season and living to tell the tale, one can say without doubt that one truly belongs at Canada’s most innovative university.
3. Gift Store Merchandise
The geese themselves may not be the most attractive animals to look at on the best of days, but plushies can make anything cute. This Valentine’s Day, come by the Waterloo gift store and buy your significant other(s) – or yourself – a University of Waterloo goose keychain.
4. Friends
Many long-lasting university friendships are made through extracurricular activities, late-night study sessions, collective emotional breakdowns, early-morning coffee runs, and, of course, running away from that lone goose who was having a bad morning and wished to relieve their pent-up frustration with the sweet taste of human flesh. As J.K. Rowling states after Harry, Ron, and Hermione survive fighting a troll in the dungeons, there are certain things people simply cannot help but become friends after experiencing it together.
5. Meme Culture
Need I say more?