Since the start of my journey at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona, I have raised my "Lopes Up" high. However, I have never beared the title "HAVOC". As I enter my senior year, I have become nostalgic of many things, and at points, regretful of some. One of those few regrets that I have spent time pondering on was never being a "HAVOC".

For those of you not aware of what I am talking about, GCU has an elite student section that is known nationwide. They are loud, crazy, and everything GCU. It distracts away teams and fuels the home Lopes. These are the HAVOCs.

While Grand Canyon's basketball team has transitioned within the last four years from Division II to Division I, so has the HAVOCs section. By paying a minimal membership fee, students get access to nearly every home game, game day swag, and the title: HAVOC. There are guidelines however to you holding the sacred name, including the number of games attended in a season and participating in the majority of the games. Now this participation is where it get's cray: These kids are insane. With purple paint poured on their faces and bodies, the HAVOCs yell, cheer, tease, and just go crazy...THE ENTIRE GAME. Like I said, these are devoted students. But, since I have never been able to officially call myself a HAVOC, am I still a devoted student to GCU?

I don't spend every Thursday, Friday, or Saturday nights in November through March decked out in all my free GCU t-shirts with purple paint smeared on my face. I may make three or four games in the season, and sadly may not even stay the entire time. I do throw my "Lopes Up" when I'm told to and I get excited whenever I hear the start of any GCU commercial that comes on. I do proudly wear my purple scrubs into my clinical rotations because I know that embroidered on those scrubs is "Grand Canyon University College of Nursing". I proudly answer people when asked where I go to school. I gladly attend a school that supports my worldviews. And I look forward to the nearby day where I can wear a Grand Canyon University Alumni shirt and walk across that stage to grab my degree.

But do I still bleed purple even if I'm not a HAVOC?

Yes. I will forever bleed purple for GCU.

There is nothing that can take away the experience I have had here. GCU has made me so proud to be a Christian, nurse, daughter, and student. Grand Canyon University cultivates an environment for their students, not just HAVOCs, to be proud of who they are, where they come from, and what they do. I believe there is no other school out there that can compare to GCU and the pride they instill in their students.

I am proud to be a Lope. I am proud to bleed purple. I am proud to attend Grand Canyon University.

Lopes up!