Clemson. Orange. Purple
updated from 2015....Let's talk about the Orange in the headline. Mainly, the Orange and Purple.
I am a Clemson grad. I attended Clemson University for 4.5 of the best years of my life, and nothing since has compared to the all-encompassing experience I had while there.
And I'm not talking about only great, wonderful, positive experiences. All-encompassing experiences includes sadness, heartbreak, failure, and discouragement. And thank God that I did have that! If I didn't feel the pain, I couldn't appreciate the pleasure! I had the sadness of being far away from my family for the first time in my life. My freshman (and only) college boyfriend broke my heart. I failed my math class in most spectacular fashion. (That story includes multiple-page letters written to my professor and daily vomitings in the ladies bathroom. No, I was not pregnant.) And the tale of discouragement....Imagine being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer during the most FUN partying period of your college career.
This is the first college football season in about 5 years that I have been able to fully indulge in my Clemson love. I hadn't been to a Clemson alum gathering in Central FL since 2010. Since my divorce, I have been to nearly every alum gathering to watch the Clemson games, met some more local alums, and re-connect with a sorority sister.
And I think of the last 5 years. I think on how I was encouraged to not make our house a "college frat house." I think about how invitations from my college pals were frowned and passed on by others than me. I think about how guilty I felt when I used my Clemson bottle opener that sang "Tiger Rag" when the cap was popped. I think on how I felt I wasn't "allowed" to show my support and love for my college.
My support for a school that is fantastic for its higher educational offerings, its athletic program, its incredible, beautiful geographical location. My love for an emblem (the Clemson Tiger paw) that immediately incites happy memories, good feelings of fun, memories of:
sunning on Bowman, long nights spent at Cooper Library, sorority-fraternity mixers at TD's/Rumors/Ridgeways/the Y barn, orange Tiger paws on the roads leading to Clemson, the golden rain trees blossoming in early fall, buying custom-cranked ice cream at Ag Sales in the back of the Ag building before the Hendrix Center was built, the heart-biggening moment just as the Tigers run down the hill at every home football game, the cold night hours spent pomping floats on Bowman Field the week before Homecoming, pizza at Peppino's, pizza at Todaro's, $1.00 draft beer at TD's, Karaoke with Ed on Tuesdays at TD's, dance nights Thursday nights at TD's, deep conversations sitting in the booths at Nick's Tavern, buying Clemson gear at Judge Keller's (I bought a Clemson Tigers backpack from them in 2004, and still use it), buying CDs at Manifest Disc and Tapes, playing intramural sports on Bowman and the intramural fields, wandering about Cemetery Hill--reading the names of Clemson founders and honorees on cold, angular headstones, and realizing the name on my dorm hall is more than a name, but a legacy of someone who loved and believed in Clemson as much as I do.
There's too much to list in one entry. But I have been bathing/reveling/enjoying every single memory that comes up, because it has been so long that I feel I get to enjoy it.
I am a Clemson grad. I attended Clemson University for 4.5 of the best years of my life, and nothing since has compared to the all-encompassing experience I had while there.
And I'm not talking about only great, wonderful, positive experiences. All-encompassing experiences includes sadness, heartbreak, failure, and discouragement. And thank God that I did have that! If I didn't feel the pain, I couldn't appreciate the pleasure! I had the sadness of being far away from my family for the first time in my life. My freshman (and only) college boyfriend broke my heart. I failed my math class in most spectacular fashion. (That story includes multiple-page letters written to my professor and daily vomitings in the ladies bathroom. No, I was not pregnant.) And the tale of discouragement....Imagine being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer during the most FUN partying period of your college career.
This is the first college football season in about 5 years that I have been able to fully indulge in my Clemson love. I hadn't been to a Clemson alum gathering in Central FL since 2010. Since my divorce, I have been to nearly every alum gathering to watch the Clemson games, met some more local alums, and re-connect with a sorority sister.
And I think of the last 5 years. I think on how I was encouraged to not make our house a "college frat house." I think about how invitations from my college pals were frowned and passed on by others than me. I think about how guilty I felt when I used my Clemson bottle opener that sang "Tiger Rag" when the cap was popped. I think on how I felt I wasn't "allowed" to show my support and love for my college.
My support for a school that is fantastic for its higher educational offerings, its athletic program, its incredible, beautiful geographical location. My love for an emblem (the Clemson Tiger paw) that immediately incites happy memories, good feelings of fun, memories of:
sunning on Bowman, long nights spent at Cooper Library, sorority-fraternity mixers at TD's/Rumors/Ridgeways/the Y barn, orange Tiger paws on the roads leading to Clemson, the golden rain trees blossoming in early fall, buying custom-cranked ice cream at Ag Sales in the back of the Ag building before the Hendrix Center was built, the heart-biggening moment just as the Tigers run down the hill at every home football game, the cold night hours spent pomping floats on Bowman Field the week before Homecoming, pizza at Peppino's, pizza at Todaro's, $1.00 draft beer at TD's, Karaoke with Ed on Tuesdays at TD's, dance nights Thursday nights at TD's, deep conversations sitting in the booths at Nick's Tavern, buying Clemson gear at Judge Keller's (I bought a Clemson Tigers backpack from them in 2004, and still use it), buying CDs at Manifest Disc and Tapes, playing intramural sports on Bowman and the intramural fields, wandering about Cemetery Hill--reading the names of Clemson founders and honorees on cold, angular headstones, and realizing the name on my dorm hall is more than a name, but a legacy of someone who loved and believed in Clemson as much as I do.
There's too much to list in one entry. But I have been bathing/reveling/enjoying every single memory that comes up, because it has been so long that I feel I get to enjoy it.