THE Ohio State University as I remember it

I love summer. I enjoy sunshine and boating and ice cream trucks. I would love for it to be light outside from 6a-8p year round! But my very favorite season of the year is college football. To me college football(yes, I consider it an actual season) outranks spring, summer, fall or winter. 

At the beginning of every college football season, I get the opportunity to go back to my home state of Ohio and cheer on THE Ohio State University Buckeye Football team. Like for real. I actually get to go on the field and cheer with my college teammates, those who went before and those who have passed thru after. We make a unique group of people, us alumni cheerleaders. We were privileged enough to get the amazing perspective of being a part of 'something'. I describe it that way because there aren't enough words to fully encompass what exactly it was. In short, it was a true once in a lifetime experience. And every year I get a bit more nostalgic about having had this honor. So this blog is a tribute to the things I remember and the things I can't recall(for one reason or another), but mostly to the people who helped make these memories happen. Because each one of these memories is tied to a someone. And each of those crazy, unique 'someone's' shaped me into who I am today. 

I started college in the fall of 1999 after a hilarious summer that involved my first real taste of independence. Armed with a terrible chin cut bob with bangs, I began an unbelievable journey into semi-adulthood(I'm still working on growing up). Over the next 5 years, I met countless people, friends and enemies, and started developing a sense of self. Here are some of the things I think of when reminiscing..... 

Crying to my dad not to leave when he moved me into campus, it was essentially the same scene from my first day of kindergarten without him having to carry me into the building.  Stradley 4. My Doogie Howser buck-id photo. Swollen eyes at my first cheer camp. Being the JV pom & meg party supplier. Using my buck-id for EVERYTHING! Sloopy's every night, but especially ski-nt Wednesdays. DJ Purple Hayes. My debit card being eaten by the ATM because I was overdrawn. Turkey-cheese panini plain with fries. Nancy's. Being an honorary worker at Cluck U Chicken. Attending my first OSU football game. The Bing-Fairy. Getting to know babe and forming a BEST friendship. Kegs and Eggs. Getting hurt at the first basketball game my parents came to see me cheer. Catfish Biff's. 1st college boyfriend and the 12th ave riot. South Oval concerts. Tumbling out at tryouts after making varsity. 

Being a head instructor for AmeriCheer. P-South welcome cheer party(where my story with M2 begins). Swollen foot/ankle causing me to miss my first few football games. 18th ave apt behind Wendy's. Being inducted into Varsity. The experience of cheering my first football game; grassy knoll, pre-game, the national anthem and Carmen Ohio. The huge heart and personality of Orlas King the Neutron Man'. Nancy's. Becoming a part of the holiday cheer group. Having S on campus. The oval at springtime. Beekman's bagels & no.1 Chinese. French 3 times 3. 

Becoming AmeriCheer Head of Staff.  Make-up night with the girls. September 11th, a tearful meeting, a cancelled game. Summit homecoming party. The Pedro family. Nancy's. A cold Outback bowl game. Jackson the cat. Junior 10. Younkin study tables & CVS. TBDBITL big 10 tourney party. Four kegs finals. The big announcement. Florida spring break. Chicago pageant dancing. A silent house. 

Tulane, snow storms and walking to Nancy's. 21. Hendock's. Patterson Ave pom & meg. House full of freshman. Zebra walls inspired by Trading Spaces. Night game full-up with Pat. Cutting Hot Brutus' hair. Meeting Caleb. Watching Caleb. Nick's Diner. THE national campionship game. ASL. Dramatic basketball tourneys. A baseball filled summer. 

Living above north campus video. And then there were 2. Academics and picking a major. Midges unite. Last college camp. King's Island basket. Broken hearts and new beginnings. Senior skinny. Patterson Ave pom & meg 2.0. Texas Roadhouse. Ledo's. The Blue Dube with uncle Dave. Alcatraz closing. THE game up north. College nationals & 2-2-1 stag causing black eyes and broken wrists. 10-tv internship. Stovetop stuffing, the OC.  Bar stops after working out. JComm classes. Senior crawl. Bahamas vacation from hell. Banquet speech. The realization of the looming real world. Nancy's. 

" I like the animals, I love the people" - Duncan, in We Bought A Zoo