College is obviously something that many look forward to their entire childhood. Often, many grow up in a household that has one common goal: to root for a certain college. Some root religiously for their college of choice to not just do good, but be the best in every aspect. But why? Let’s find out.
Anderson Guest is a senior and is looking into colleges at this point. So what is the thought process for college?
“Right now I’m rooting big for UT. I’d like to go to UT Austin but it’s a pretty hard college to get into so it’ll take some hard work to make it happen,” Guest said. “But I feel confident that it will all work out.”
Now how does one get into rooting for a college like UT, with so much hate toward it?
“In my opinion it’s the best college in Texas,” Guest said “They also have so many rivalries within college sports that every game is huge for them. It helps that they are pretty consistently good at a lot of sports so it’s a good watch every saturday.”
So, how does one navigate the experience of rooting for a college with many “haters?”
“You know, I like it,” Guest said “Rivalries are fun and trash talk comes with that. I have good friends that go for A&M or Texas Tech or TCU and I hear it constantly from them. Luckily I can send it the other way just as much as they give it. At this point, I’ve heard it all so [it’s] nothing new.”
Regardless of what college you’re going to, there has to be something that sticks out above the rest that you’re looking at.
“There’s a lot to look forward to in college, but I think I’m looking forward to meeting people who have loved this college for as long as I have,” Guest said “It makes it easy to meet people and feel connected when people share similar sentiments about many of the same things that I have so just having those like minded people helps a lot.”
Peter Bramlett is also a senior, but has a different approach to the whole college scouting idea.
“I dont have one college that I root for, but instead I keep an open mind,” Bramlett said “If you look around you can see all these people talking and boasting about their college in sort of an obnoxious way. I don’t want to be seen as obnoxious, and I know it’ll be hard to not defend or talk about a college of choice. It also allows me to keep my options open until the very end. I can study up on all these different colleges and make the best decision for me when I ultimately make the decision.”
In this case, however, there are still various criteria that might make a college an option, including location.
“If I had to pick it would be an in-state option,” Bramlett said “Something like UTSA or maybe [University of] North Texas. These are good options that I don’t think get a lot of recognition. Like I said, I feel like I’ve become desensitized to all the big name colleges and their names just don’t bring a sense of pride or excitement for me. No shade to anyone going to any of those colleges, but it’s just not for me.”
Regardless of one’s attitude towards famous colleges, it’s easy to see that college is an exciting time for students; it can really make them passionate about the subject, whether it’s for one college in particular or even just the overall experience!
