By the principle of diffusion, my school’s being in the Final Four makes me a winner.
Still, though, I know very little about sports, and I probably never will. Other than playing little league soccer for one year, and ultimately breaking my ankle, I have never been involved in the athletic world.
Coming to the University of Michigan, I thought that I would become more of a sports fan. Unfortunately, though, I never made it to a single football game, and I have only made it to one basketball game. We won, don’t worry. Still, I bleed blue everywhere I go.
It was not until the final rounds of March Madness when watching the games sparked an interest in me. I watched as my social media platforms filled with pictures and videos of screaming fans, my family called and texted me to congratulate me on the Elite Eight, and my friends all gathered in one area to represent their school and showed their pride.
Watching the game, I learned a lot of things. One of them being that watching sports is possibly the most anxiety provoking activity that anyone can possibly engage in. At the same time, though, watching these games showed me not only the true meaning of team work and effort, but also the importance of remaining humble. While we are “the leaders and the best,” no one expected for us to get this far, yet here we are, playing in the Final Four and messing up a lot of people's brackets.
During this time, I have seen the importance of sports culture on Michigan's campus more than ever before - even during football season. Competition over claiming Final Four tickets is more important than final season being 2 weeks away, and students have booked last minute flights to San Antonio to watch the game instead of studying for these finals. This is the definition of work hard, play hard.
As a student, it is so important to be engaged in the things that mean the most to your school and your campus. Though I never will understand the art of sports, I now know the true happiness that it can bring an entire body of people, and for that, I will try my hardest to know how such a good team can be "bad at three pointers." Oh, and just another note to self, our team is the third seed, not the third seat. Better luck next time.
And as for the rest of the student body, alumni and extended family members, you can catch them packing into any local bar or restaurant approximately 5 hours before the game starts just to catch a seat.
Wherever you go, Go Blue, go basketball!
