Hellooooo College Park!

This is a bit overdue, but I had a glorious weekend in College Park!  It was very odd to go back to my alma mater and not really know many people.  Last time I was there, I had only graduated a few months earlier and therefore still knew many of the people on campus and in the band.  It was also homecoming so many more people showed up.  This time was quite different…the people who were freshmen when I was a senior are now seniors themselves (crazy!), and it was a random game instead of homecoming so the spectators were few and far between.  I was able to see many people who I went to school with, so that was exciting…but let me tell you…I felt so old.  Something about being around eighteen year olds really makes you realize how far you’ve come.  My goodness.

Can we also note that I am not a fan of noon football games?  We left my house at about 6:45 in the morning to make it to campus in time for some tailgating…soooo early!!  Anyway, here’s the fun in pictures:

Maryland has these specially decorated Testudos all over campus…and this one is a Marching Testudo!  Love it.

I hit my knee on the corner…showing Testudo who’s boss!

Pre-game tailgate with my dorm neighbor from sophomore year!

Maryland flag in the end zone.  Fantastic.

The band all lined up for pre-game…I remember those days!

Spelling out “Maryland” on the field…I remember being in the “a”!

Pretty view of Byrd Stadium.

My band buddy from senior year is now drum major…here she is leading the band!  I like to think I shaped her into what she is today.  :)

Aw I love Testudo!

Crowd surfing mascot!

The Rocket Scientist and me and after the big win!

With one of the gigantic Testudos on campus…rub his nose for good luck!

Chris was my bus buddy senior year…we sat together during all the band trips, so when we hopped on the shuttle bus, I knew it was picture time!

At the bar with Julianne, my band buddy!  I’ve never felt so old in a bar before…

The game itself was quite exciting…We were expected to lose (boo!), but we managed to pull through and win.  Both teams spent about ten minutes going back and forth on our 30 yard line, which made for a nail biter in the end!  The Clemson field goal kicker missed two (yes, two!  I know what he’s doing this week…) field goal attempts that would have tied the game.  Luckily, we pulled through and won.  Woohoo!  I think the Rocket Scientist and I are good luck and we need to attend more games.  Obviously the solution here.

After the game, we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner (which is now open in College Park!  Oh how I wish they had one when I went to school there), which was quite tasty.  Then we headed out to the bars with my now of-age friends.  I can’t believe they’re seniors!!  Next year I won’t know anyone at all!  Very sad.  The bar was an interesting experiencing, as apparently the style these days is to wear dresses that aren’t quite dresses…in fact, I’m not sure what you would call them, but they certainly didn’t cover much.  Also, while I may not quite look the part of 25 (even though my birth certificate says so!), I definitely felt old among this crowd.  So young!

I always say that I would love to go back to college.  I love the college life…learning, going to class, projects, being involved in all the activities, etc.  I was never a huge partier or anything…I’m such a nerd.  :)  While I miss college, I realize now that I was done with it.  A part of me is sad saying that because walking around campus, I didn’t feel like it was “mine” anymore.  I’m no longer a student…other people call campus “home.”  I definitely miss the freedom and automatic group of 250 friends (go band!), but I suppose we all have to grow up sometime!