I never much liked the color purple. Toward gold, I had a similar attitude; they were valued parts of the rainbow but I’d never considered them a favorite of mine when asked.
Of course, if you were to look at my dyed purple and gold hair right now, you wouldn’t think that I was telling the truth about that.
Then again, if you were to tell me I’d be standing on giant platforms screaming at the top of my lungs in the dining hall of my college and then playing a game of basketball with people who have no idea how to play sports within the first month of my Freshman year in college,
I wouldn’t think you were telling the truth about that either.
But the truth is that I am a member of the Oddline team and I wouldn’t want to be ANYWHERE else in the world than standing next to my Oddline sisters.
And that’s all because of the five amazing women who taught this little Oddie (me!) all she knows and loves about the best tradition on Wells College Campus. All five of them over the course of these past three weeks have inspired me and motivated me in different ways, and they deserve to be appreciated, acknowledged, and adored.
Talia is constantly reminding me that being energetic and happy is perfectly fine, it doesn’t matter that I’m an adult. It doesn’t matter that everyone around me wants me to be quieter. Tailia taught me that if I’m passionate about something to scream and shout and tell the world I am, because there is no “too loud” when I’m in love with something I do. She also taught me that being small doesn’t mean you don’t have to be seen or heard, it just means you may have to do a few wall sits and scream songs out while doing them.
Gabby has always met me with a smile, no matter if it’s early in the morning at the Grind, passing each other in the hallway, or doing sprints during practice, she is always happy to see anyone. She has this sense of approachability of anything us oddies could throw at her, and she never complains or protests about any of our odd ideas and are willing to try them every time. She taught me that a simple smile could be just what you need to make it through a rough day- that and how to paint my nails purple and gold like a BEAST.
Jenna has the best whistle. She also is the coach who every time she looks at me in the eye and tells me she knows we can do this- I get chills because we can tell how much she believes in us from her stare alone. She is non-stop fighting to make sure that all of us Odd babies and her oddline sisters are doing well and is an amazing person to just sit down and talk to. Her use of the word “Y’all” makes me so happy because it shows that even if you sound slightly different, your voice and actions matter. And yo- that whistle, it’s sooooo cool!
Amy is hilarious and I don’t think she knows how funny she is, because even the smallest things that she does make me burst out laughing. Her words and actions, that bird squawk in particular, also give me time to take a much-needed breath and relax amongst all the stress and loudness surrounding the oddline practices- and I need to get by, so it’s always appreciated. As a fellow baseball cap enthusiast, I must also say her yellow and purple tye-dyed hat will be stolen by me one day because it looks so damn cool, just like her.
Kaylen is the song mama that truly convinced me that Oddline is what I need to find my okay in college. It’s kind of strange how similar we are, but I’m so happy we are because every ounce of her soul she puts into her undivided love to the Oddline team, and if I’m her mini- that means that I do that too, and it’s inspirational. She is one of the biggest inspirations that I have on this campus and her enthusiasm towards Oddline is a driving force that makes me say that one day I, too, will be an Oddline song mama. Thank you for being the original croc queen, I hope in the next few years I can carry on your legacy.
I never much liked the color purple, the color gold has always been indifferent to me, purple and gold are just colors after all. But now that I’m an oddliner, purple and gold mean sisterhood.
And sisterhood is forever.