Stages of Grief While Scheduling

Thanksgiving break is upon us and with that brings the end of the semester scheduling rush.

My face after this semester

As of today, everybody has had their scheduling window, although there is still time to play around with yours if you're not happy (or if you have an 8am, RIP). If you're anything like me, you saw the date you were given to schedule and immediately committed to staying up until midnight to camp out on LionPath in order to get the classes you wanted.

LionPath: the lesser known 8th circle of Hell

In an effort to retrace the horror that is scheduling night, I give you the Five Stages of Grief While Scheduling.

Stage 1: Anticipation, 11PM EST

In this stage, you're lurking on Schedule Builder glaring at the 8AM's you could potentially need to take if the good time slots for your classes fill up too fast. You hold your coffee in your hand and wait, not trusting anybody around you who is also on their laptop

Stage 2: Frustration, 11:40PM EST

You start to frown as Schedule Builder is loading slower than a fly walking through molasses. You realize the coffee is not helping your skyrocketing blood pressure, but you drink it anyway. You hit the refresh button again

Stage 2a: EXTREME FRUSTRATION, 11:53PM EST

SCHEDULE BUILDER AND LIONPATH CAN BOTH GO CRAWL BACK INTO THE HOLE FROM WHENCE THEY CAME. NOTHING IS LOADING. ALL SITES ARE CRASHING. ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE.

Stage 2b: Calm before the storm, 11:57PM EST

Schedule Builder is beginning to be a bit more cooperative. You still want to scream but at least you aren't getting the error message anymore

Stage 3: AAAAAAAAAAH, 12:00AM EST

THE GATES ARE OPEN. YOU RUSH TO IMPORT YOUR SCHEDULE TO LIONPATH AND REGISTER, BUT SCHEDULE BUILDER CRASHES. IT'S LIKE THAT EPISODE OF SPONGEBOB WHERE GARY IS A RACING SNAIL.

COME ON SCHEDULE BUILDER, IT'S A RACE

YOU BEGIN TO SWEAT AS YOUR SCHEDULE FINALLY IMPORTS. YOU CRY REAL TEARS WHEN YOU SEE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN WAITLISTED.

Stage 4: Denial, 12:06AM EST

You frantically try to rearrange your schedule, losing hope as all the good slots are taken. In one last effort you return to Schedule Builder and it crashes again. You hold your head in your hands and

Stage 5: Acceptance of your fate, 12:23AM EST

You have exhausted all rearranging resources. You take a long last look at your schedule and think to yourself, "Self, it'll be okay, I scheduled a break time for a nap, we'll get through this semester together". You log out of LionPath saying a few choice words under your breath, close your laptop, and go to bed ready to roll out of bed tomorrow.

All in all, scheduling is not difficult, but with the increased load on the LionPath servers, it makes you (read me) want to tear your hair out when the website won't load.

For this reason I give the scheduling experience 3 tired college students out of 10. I think if there's one thing PSU IT should work on, it should be updating or just overhauling that god-forsaken site.

I hope you all had a better time scheduling than I did, got all the classes that you wanted, and NO 8 AM'S! Until next week!

Pictures in order of appearance

Will Kimeria

Penn State 

Gifsoup

Thanksgiving THON Hype!

Did you know we're only 4 days until 100 days til THON?!

Do you know why you should be excited about that?!

If not, boy do I have a post for you! This week I'll be chronicling the interesting history behind THON, and I'll also give you a little insight about what it's like to audition for it!

One of the first things you need to know is the real name for this event: The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon. It's quite a mouthful, and what with us all being lazy college students, over the years that name has been shortened and it is now affectionately referred to as THON.

Now you may ask, 'What exactly is THON?' and in order to answer that, I must take you back to the beginning.

This whole shebang began way back in 1973 by PSU's Interfraternity Council (IFC) as a dance competition with the idea to raise money for charity, and to give the students something to look forward to in the grind that comes with finally being in the month of February. I guess they went hard or went home in 1973, because they started right off the bat with a 30 hour marathon and raised over $2,000! That's a lot considering there were only 78 participants!

The event kept expanding exponentially with more dancers and more money coming in year after year, with a combined total of over $137 MILLION donated to the Four Diamonds fund in order to cure pediatric cancer.

THON is the largest student run philanthropic event, and is also the largest and longest dance marathon of its time clocking in at 46 hours. The dancers are extremely crazy and committed people because they pledge to stay awake and stay standing for the whole time!

There's a lot more interesting info that I could give you, but if I've got you hooked, I strongly encourage you to visit the THON website if you want to learn more about this incredible event.

So far I haven't been exposed to many THON related undertakings, but last Sunday I had the opportunity to audition to perform on the main stage at the event! I'm a part of an all brass ensemble on campus called ROAR. It's a relatively new group, but we're ambitious and what better way to get exposure than playing to hype up 700+ tired dancer and all their supporters at the BJC?!

Anyway, auditions to perform happen in 15 minute chunks, which is pretty nerve wracking considering how much time and effort we spent putting into our performance. We chose to play an arrangement of a little diddy called Atchafalaya for the judges, which are really just a bunch of other students helping to organize this whole shebang. It was a really efficient and smoothly run operation; we went in, did our thing and introduced ourselves, and then went on our merry way.

THON is such an iconic piece of Penn State's culture, and even just having the opportunity to be a part of that still feels like such a privilege.

For that reason, I'd give this whole experience so far 10 smiling children out of 10.

WE ARE... RANKED

In case you aren't already sick of hearing about it, PENN STATE BEAT OHIO STATE 24-21 SATURDAY NIGHT.

WOOOOOOOOOO!

For those of you who left the game, didn't go, or just want to relive the experience one more time, this post is for you!

My gameday experience was pretty unique this week, considering I was coming to the game immediately after participating in a wedding, (no, I did not get married) so I can not attest to the tailgating insanity that led up to kick off, but I can tell you that from 6:15 pm to 6:45 pm, when yours truly was outside of Beaver Stadium trying to get to the Blue Band building, large mobs clad in white were making it more impossible than usual for traffic to get through.

I guess it being a home Whiteout game against one of our biggest rivals didn't do the traffic guards any favors.

Anyway, coming in to this match up I don't think any of us were realistically optimistic about our chances against the Buckeyes, but there still was a lot of hype for the rivalry, including the T-Rex challenge from Ohio State, to which our student section responded enthusiastically.

It's like that squad of velociraptors from Jurassic World

The Blue Band performed and welcomed the team on to the field with "a stupid amount of fireworks" -Josh Hackenberg, which I can assure you was just as awesome as it sounds.

I'm completely serious about the fireworks

The first half of the game was a little rough. The general consensus I heard was that everybody who left the game left during the third quarter. At that point we were into 30 degree temperatures, it was raining, and we were still trailing Ohio State.

A moment of silence for those poor souls who left...

Okay! The fourth quarter is when things really started cooking. We started gaining points and having drives, and all of this effort led to the fateful moment halfway through the last 4 minutes of the game where Marcus Allen blocked a field goal attempt which was then recovered by Grant Haley for THE MOTHER OF ALL LAST MINUTE TOUCHDOWNS AND SOLIDIFIED THIS GAME'S PLACE IN HISTORY AS A VICTORY AGAINST THE #2 RANKED TEAM.

Almost immediately after the last whistle blew, fans stormed the field and remained there for what felt like at least half an hour. Maybe even 45 minutes.

AND I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT

This was by far the most exciting and the loudest game I've ever been to, and I'm sure it's going to be one of those things that I'll still be talking about when I'm 80.

On the excitement scale of 1 to tearing down a lamppost, I'd give this game a 10/10.


Photo credits in order of appearance:
Pennsylvania State University
Penn State Football
Penn State Football
Personal photo

SPOOKY STATE

We all know that we go to one of the top academically ranked universities in the nation, but are you aware that Dear Old State is also INCREDIBLY HAUNTED?!

Begin watching at 1:25 for optimal spookiness

That's right! Every day you walk past not one, not two, but SIX haunted locations on the Penn State campus. So, in the spirit of Halloween, this week I'm going to give you the low-down on all the ghostly happenings here in Happy Valley.

The first location is Schwab Auditorium, which some of you may have just been in to see Rock of Ages last weekend. Surprise!

It just screams scary

Schwab is a theater and the main venue for Thespians, and if you know anything about theatre, it's no surprise that it's a theater that is haunted. What is surprising is that there are multiple ghosts said to frequent its 900 seats. They include Charles Schwab, who funded the building's construction and was said to have loved the productions put on in the building so much that his spirit remains to watch them. There are also reports of a janitor and a female presence, along with stories of seats flipping and staying down like someone is sitting in them when no one is there. On the spooky scale, I'd give it 3 skeletons out of 10 just because it's a theater, it'd be weird if it wasn't haunted.

Fun fact: the ghost(s)/paranormal presence in the theater is affectionately referred to as the "Schwaboo."

The next location is right nearby, and that is Old Botany.

Aww look it has a face on the roof!

Old Botany is right across the road from Schwab, and interestingly enough, these buildings are connected. On the Pollock Road side of Schwab, believe it or not, a former president of the university is buried.

I'll give you one guess for what his name was

The story goes that after George Atherton died, his family and the university wanted to give him a personal burial and pay respect to the fact that he basically brought proto-PSU back from ruin, so he was buried on campus, not in a cemetery, but right outside a frequently used building because why not. Now, his wife Frances keeps an eye on him and his grave from the windows of Old Botany. So, if you happen to be passing through on Pollock Road in the wee hours of the morning, go say hi to President Atherton, and maybe give little ol' Frances a wave while you're at it.

The next two spooky sites are residence halls in North and East. They're both more of an urban legend, but apparently there is a Spanish ghost in the North dorms that really likes to watch Telemundo and will flip any TV channel to it, and in one of the towers in East there is the ghost of an axe-murderer and a general feeling of dread on the upper floors.

Although, who doesn't get a feeling of dread just being in East?

Our next ghost is not bound to one physical location, he prefers to gallop around campus. For those of you that remember Old Coaly from my previous post on Old Main, awesome! Feel free to skip down a few lines! For those of you who have no idea who this beloved mule is, I'll give you the abridged version: Old Coaly was one of the workhorses that helped construct Old Main by dragging limestone from a quarry to be hewn into blocks to construct the building, and he quickly became a sensation on campus, and was very nearly the school's mascot. He was known for his hard work and dashing good looks (just kidding), and his bones were preserved after his death. They can actually still be seen in the HUB today, so if you were ever wondering why a horse skeleton was in the HUB, now you know!

Can you imagine that? The Penn State Old Coalys? Ha!

Anyway, anywhere that his bones go, Old Coaly seems to follow. People report hearing the sound of his shuffling hooves and the occasional bray or whinny. 

The final and perhaps most infamously haunted location on campus are the Pattee stacks.

I'm already creeped out

Stacks 50 and 51 in the library witnessed the still-unsolved murder of grad student Betsy Aardsma way back in 1969. She was in the library early at around 4 in the morning, being a good student, when she was stabbed in the heart by an unknown assailant, and died from blood entering her lungs. The perpetrator was never caught

Now the stacks area of the library is already pretty shady, it's very cramped and dimly lit with low ceilings. Add being a homicide scene on top of that, and you get one pretty creepy atmosphere. I visited the stacks today and can attest that a bad feeling is had by all who go to the basement floor. So, the next time you decide to spend a late night in the library, try not to think about this post. (Sorry).

Penn State is a pretty spooky place, although most of the ghosts seem to be of a more benevolent nature. In the end, on the creepiness scale, I'd give our campus 9 ghastly ghouls out of 10.

Photo of the Pattee Stacks courtesy of Wikipedia

All others courtesy of Penn State

Welcome to the Dorm

Like most students on campus, I too am in the midst of the midterm blues. Unfortunately because of this I did not have the time this week to go on one of our regularly scheduled adventures, so instead  I'd like to deviate a little from our routine and take a second talk about a daily adventure that most of us have already experienced, that is: dorm life.

Living on a floor with 40 or so other people is just a sitcom waiting to happen, and like a sitcom, there seems to be a certain set of characters found across the board no matter what building you live in, the first of the cast of personas being the Hermit.

Bless your soul and good luck finding alone time in your room if your roommate is the floor Hermit. This person never seems to be away from the building, Their constant presence makes you wonder if they ever even go to class, and will drive you bonkers as a roommate especially if you are the type of person who wants to come home to an empty room every once in a while. The Hermit never leaves, is almost always the roommate that will yell at you for not wearing headphones or for being too loud, and is the most likely culprit for when your snacks go missing.

The second persona is the Laundry Jerk. This person is out to ruin your day and will throw your clothes on the ground (or the table) the second your machine is done, leaving no margin of error for you to come rotate your clothes on anything less than a military-strict schedule. The Laundry Jerk is not to be confused with the Laundry Sloth who seems to have no concept of the fact that the machines run on a timer, and that other people need to use them as well. The Laundry Sloth is that guy who forgets that they were doing laundry, and leaves their clothes in the dryer for 20 minutes after the cycle has stopped and basically slows down and ruins laundry day for everybody else. The Laundry Jerk and the Laundry Sloth are of course arch-enemies.

The third and final member of our merry cast of dorm stereotypes is Patient Zero. Patient Zero is always sick; they were the one that introduced the Penn State Plague to your floor back in the fourth week of classes, and they're the one that you can now recognize anywhere on campus from the distinct sound of their hacking cough. Patient Zero has made you consider the benefits of a hospital face mask and the value of hand sanitizer, and has also been threatened to be placed under quarantine by your floor should they not stop coughing on everything in the bathroom.

All these personalities and more make for a colorful living in any dorm, and certainly no day is ever quite the same. I think most would agree with me in saying that living in a dorm is an interesting experience, one that I'd rate 5 floor bonding events out of 10.

We'll get back to our regular adventures next week my friends; good luck with any midterms you have left, and enjoy the bye weekend!

A Comprehensive Review of Dining Commons

We're halfway through the semester and I have finally had the chance to eat in every dining hall on campus! I'm trying my best to sound excited about this but at this point all I really want is a home-cooked meal! We'll make the best of this never-ending cafeteria style food, and by the end of this post, you'll know where the best dining cookies on campus can be found (spoiler alert: it's West).

Let's start with the dining hall of yours truly, Findlay Commons in East.

Findlay has recently been renovated and they went with the pleasing color scheme of puke green and purple! I have to tell you, I pass through this building every morning on my way to class and it never gets any easier on the eyes.

Aesthetics aside, Findlay has a pretty good selection of food including a deli, salad, pasta, and pizza bar upstairs, a little faux-Starbucks coffee bar downstairs called Edge, and my lord and savior, the Flipps MTO kiosk.

Flipps has two settings, breakfast and not-breakfast. The not-breakfast includes a wide selection of burgers that are pretty good, along with fries and chicken strips. But what I'm concerned with is the breakfast menu. You can get breakfast sandwiches with a combination of eggs, bacon, or sausage on a croissant or English muffin, French toast sticks, so many different omelets, and, most importantly, A TRAY OF TATER TOTS. Freshman fifteen, here I come.

Moving on, I have a lot to say about Pollock Commons.

First of all, don't let this picture fool you, Pollock is busier than Times Square on New Year's Eve during lunch hour. Unless you're willing to sit with a total stranger, good luck finding a seat.

Because of that, the food that everybody wants, aka cookies, pizza, and French fries, is always being restocked, so if you're in a rush, maybe skip over going to Pollock.

That being said, I do like eating there. Although the food is repetitive, it is usually well made and there are lots of options. Also, there is a superhero room that is literally covered wall to wall with superhero paraphernalia that I love to eat in. If you're ever at Pollock at 6:30 or so on a Monday, you will probably find me there.

Next up is Warnock Commons in North.

This is by far the smallest the smallest dining commons. In the three times that I've eaten there, I've only seen two line options and a small salad/fruit bar. What Warnock does have going for it though, (besides being one letter away from being a Warlock) is that food is generally healthier than the burgers and fries served at Pollock every day, and that the cookies are held underneath a heat lamp, therefore making it better than Pollock. There's also never been a wait every time I've been there.

Let's move on to South. I actually wasn't sure what the name of their dining commons was, but after a quick Google search I can report that it is indeed Redifer Commons.

It's never very busy, presumably because South is near College Ave, and given the option who wouldn't choose to eat off campus? I also have not eaten here very often because it's a bit of a hike coming from East, but in the few times I've been, there has always been some type of Mexican style food like fajitas or beans and rice which I appreciate. Like North, their cookies are also held underneath a heat lamp which I doubly appreciate. All in all, South has a solid dining commons, and I would say for my taste, it has the best food only because I love me some spicy dishes. But, we do have one more dining hall to review...

Finally, if you've stuck with me for this long, we have West food district.

The most important thing you need to know is that WEST KEEPS THEIR COOKIES IN A COOKIE INCUBATOR. This ensures maximum freshness, an out of the oven taste, and makes West the best commons on campus.

As for their other food, it is also phenomenal, and if it weren't for my infatuation with spicy food, I would say West has the best selection on campus and the best food to boot.

In the end, on campus dining is pretty great if your only option for food is on campus. And remember, West is Best.

Lumping all of our dining commons together into one big superscore, I'd give the general quality of food 7 incubated cookies out of 10.

Pictures courtesy of

Penn State Flickr

Penn State Food Services

A Lesson on Old Main

Old Main is arguably the most recognizable landmark at Penn State. Its bells chime across campus, and a fun fact about them is that if you happen to hear them on the weekend, instead of playing the Westminster Quarters like every other bell tower, Old Main spices it up and plays 'Hail to the Lion'.

While we're on the topic, I'll give you a quick history lesson on Old Main, and if you're not in to that kind of thing, skip down a paragraph or two.

Old Main was completed way back when in 1863 and was constructed of limestone that was mined from the land right in front of it, which is so metal. That's like going into a forest, picking up sticks, and building a 4 story log cabin. One of my favorite stories about its construction is that one of the mules that helped carry the limestone to the building site was affectionately called 'Old Coaly'. He was such a good worker that Penn State actually bought him after the construction was over, and kept him around campus to do odds and ends jobs. Old Coaly was so popular with the students and staff that following his death, his bones were preserved and can still be seen in the HUB today!

Respect your elders

Anyway, the original building survived until the 1920's when it was deemed structurally unsound, razed to the ground, and rebuilt from its own limestone ashes into the building it is today.

In addition to being a beautiful piece of Penn State history, Old Main also has a huge lawn that is a pretty sweet impromptu hang out spot. This week I met up with a small group of friends and played a round of pick up soccer on the lawn. In the two hours we spent there, I saw a hula hooping contest, a dance practice, some guys throwing around a football, and, most importantly, A DOG.

If you're looking for something casual to do on a week night that you won't regret the next morning, go check out Old Main! Every time I've passed by there since playing soccer, I've noticed something going on. There have been random activities like Frisbee, even croquet one time, and those playing have always been super friendly and inviting. It's an awesome way to make new friends and more often than not, there is a dog there just waiting to be petted.

Old Main's lawn is like a build your own experience, I'd even go so far as to say it's an experience just waiting to happen, and for that I give it 7 preserved horse bones out of 10.

Pictures courtesy of Penn State

Yours Truly Visits the IM Building

The IM Building is a gift from above. Out of a crippling fear of the freshman 15 and a desire to not be wasting the money I spent on a gym membership, I paid this beautiful building a lengthy visit this week.

For those of you who have not been, for the most part it has a sleek and aesthetically pleasing interior, but my favorite part is that there is a huge inexplicable fan parked in the ceiling, gently circulating above the ellipticals and free weights.

What is your purpose, Big Fan?

If you're someone like me who is moderately athletic, but is not a gym rat, it's a little intimidating at first. Some pro tips: don't forget to bring your PSU ID with you because that is how you swipe in and gain entrance to the gym. Also, if you don't know where the locker rooms are or how to use a certain equipment, just wait, watch somebody, and then act like you know what you're doing. But anyway, the facility is very well maintained and all the gym-goers I saw were as friendly as you'd expect a sweaty person lifting double their body weight on a leg press to be.

I myself have never really been fond of lifting weights, although I would like to take a second to appreciate all the options the building provides for those that do. They have a nice set up so if you're ever in the mood to pump some iron, the IM building's got your back.

Stacks on stacks on stacks... of weights

It also has a sweet running track that is elevated and circles around the various parts of the gym. In my time there running (okay let's be real, lightly jogging) around the track, I watched bits of a basketball game, a guy walking around the track on his hands, a swing dancing class, some old dudes playing racquetball (which I totally want to play next time, continually whipping a ball against the wall seems like it would do wonders for stress management), and a dedicated girl who was still practicing volleyball by herself when I left.

Even though I've never been a person who habitually goes to the gym, something about the atmosphere of the building was motivating. I found myself just walking laps around the track trying to justify staying instead of going home and doing the homework I knew I was avoiding. I guess what I'm trying to say is even if you are someone who hates gyms and gym culture, give it a shot. It has an inclusive energy and there's really nothing to lose in just visiting to see it for yourself.

Something else that I thought was cute was the name of the building itself. The IM Building. I know it stands for Intramural Building, but bear with me here for this bad pun:

IM Building... I AM Building

It's endearing to think that the building is calling itself a building, but it also reminds me of the Penn State motto: WE ARE. Get it? WE ARE... IM... I AM. Get it??? There's something there, I'm not even completely sure where I'm going with it, but it's there.

Anyway, the IM Building was a very positive experience for me. I would totally recommend giving it a visit and seeing for yourself if you have the time.

If I had to rate this wonderful building (and you know I will), I would give it 9 handstanding musclemen out of 10

Pictures courtesy of Penn State

An Age Old Rivalry

First off, I promise that this blog is not going to become a running record of the 2016 Penn State football season. But, to be fair, when two major rivals play for the first time in 16 years you just have to write about it.

The rivalry I'm talking about is of course between PSU (Go State!) and the University of Pittsburgh (Boo!). After consulting Wikipedia, I found that the first game between the two was way back in 1893. For those of you keeping track, that is 123 years ago!

As you can imagine, this rivalry has had plenty of time to fester. However, in those 123 years, our teams have only played each other 97 times. Out of these games, there have been 4 ties, (including two 0-0 ties in 1920 and 1921 because apparently nobody knew how to play football) and out of the remaining 93 games Penn State has won 50. Take that Pittsburgh!

The reason why we haven't played one another every year is because in the 90's our schools drifted apart like high school friendships after joining different football conferences. Penn State entered the Big Ten and Pittsburgh joined the Big East.

I was aware of the scope and history of this rivalry going into the game. In the week prior, I had also picked up on the fact that most Penn State fans were not particularly fond of Pitt, but considering that my twin sister goes to school there, I did not personally despise the college, which brings me to my next point.

My reason for excitement for this football game was not just a personal investment in a century old conflict (of course I wanted Penn State to win!). I was also concerned with the fact that I was going to see my twin sister for the first time in 4 weeks! For those of you without a twin, which I'm assuming is most people reading this post, it is an extreme adjustment to go from sharing every aspect of your life with someone to occasionally Skyping when your free times miraculously align.

I finally got to see Gabby in the stadium before the game started, and after the game following Penn State's heartbreaking 3 point loss to Pitt.

Even though our schools are rivals and she talked some trash, we both know that blood is thicker than water.

I guess if there is a lesson to learn or an experience to be related through this post, it's that relationships in college are what you make of them. If you truly care about someone in your life, they will always be a part of yours.

Finally, it's time for everybody's favorite part: the rating scale!

Losing to your college's rival team: 3 footballs out of 10
Reuniting with a family member after a long time apart: 10 warm fuzzy feelings out of 10

Photo credits in order of appearance:

Andy Moursund

Olivia Dowd

Beaver Stadium AKA You and Your 107,281 Best Friends

Hey everybody and welcome to the show! This week I had the opportunity to go to PSU's opening home football game where our very own Nittany Lions squared off against the Kent State Flashes!

Flashes are birds?

Kent State must have realized that they were doomed from the moment they saw the sheer amount of tailgaters surrounding the stadium. I never realized how big of a deal tailgating was until I saw the intramural fields across the road from East Campus already packed with people and flying flags by 9 AM. The game wasn't even scheduled to kick off until 3:30, so if you have ever wondered how committed Penn State fans are, on a scale from 1 to One Direction fans, Penn Staters are the fans still going to 1D concerts after Zayn left.

Anyway, when the time finally came to get ready for the game, all I could feel was an overwhelming sense excitement. I am lucky enough to be a part of the Blue Band, so my gameday experience does differ a bit from that of other fans. I also get a more behind the scenes look into Beaver Stadium. Every home football game the band parades down University Drive and enters the stadium via tunnel on the South side, and after passing by an enormous crowd of people, I found myself standing in the bowels of the stadium.

Mind you, this was my very first time ever being inside Beaver. This stadium has a carrying capacity of 107,282 people which is an insane amount of people when you think about it. To put it in perspective, a full Beaver Stadium has more people in it than the entire country of Aruba. MORE PEOPLE THAN AN ENTIRE COUNTRY. Aruba's population count as of 2015 was right around 104,000 recorded citizens. And there I was, in the tunnel, looking out at a wall of white shirts filling the Northern section of the stadium. It was more than a little intimidating.

On this particular Saturday, Beaver was not filled to capacity but still pulled in an impressive crowd of around 95,000 people. The game kicked off at 3:30 following a rousing pregame performance by the Penn State Blue Band, and I could bore you with a play by play analysis of the game, but all you really need to know is that we won 33-13, and that Joey Julius had THE most brutal block of all time on an important ball return by Kent State.

Joey Julius' impression of a brick wall

Although football is an important aspect of going to Beaver Stadium, what I was more impressed by was the atmosphere. There's nothing like being packed in like sardines with thousands of other people who are all synchronously invested in the game. Even now I can't describe the feeling.

The only bad things that I can think of are just minor inconveniences such as pricy foods and a redefining of personal boundaries. You get nice and cozy with the people sitting next to you by the end of the game.

In the end, I give the Penn State Gameday Experience 9 footballs out of 10. I think that even if you don't particularly like football, it is definitely worth it to make your way to a home football game if only for the view and atmosphere inside the stadium. 

Image courtesy of Kent State University
Video courtesy of Big Ten Network