You Know You Go To Clemson University When
With the recent title of National Champions, spotting a Clemson Tiger is now easier than ever! Read below to discover the signs you go to Clemson University!
1. Your closet is strictly purple and orange.
Although Clemson got the most unfortunate combination of colors, the students somehow make it work. Even though bright orange and deep purple may not always be the go to, you can be sure that everyone’s closet is stocked with the many shades of the colors. Peach? Yea that’s a shade of orange you’re fine. Salmon? Sure, why not. Lilac? You bet! However, you will NEVER get away with maroon so DON’T even try it.
2. The ‘most exciting 25 seconds of college football’ is engraved in your head.
Before coming to Clemson I’m sure you’ve heard about the most amazing 25 seconds of college football but until you’ve witnessed it you will never fully understand. The sheer number of fans that fill the stands is truly incredible. What’s more impressive though is when the players come running down the hill into Death Valley with fans screaming and cheering the entire 25 seconds. Honestly, every time I’m in the stands and I watch the best team run down the hill I’m always so surprised how none of them manage to fall, I mean its seriously the perfect recipe for disaster but somehow they all manage to make it on the field in one piece.
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3. You have a love hate relationship with Schilletter.
Even if you don’t go to Clemson I’m sure you’ve heard we don’t have the best food however that being said its really not as awful as we all think. Sure, there are limited options, limited healthy choices, very little variety and heck sometimes there isn’t even any food but who’s keeping track?? Although when you live in the horseshoe and Schilletter is the only option within 100 feet you learn to love it. You soon realize that the soup isn’t half bad and can always be a plan b, and if all else fails there’s always toast that can be slathered with peanut butter and if you didn’t already have stir fry 7 times that week that’s always a solid option too. The pineapple is also always abundant which I am personally very grateful for, my mom would be super happy knowing I haven’t neglected all fruits when I came to college.
4. Making the trek down to Spill the Beans has become a weekly ritual.
Never in my life have I ever been to an ice cream place that’s as cool as spill the beans. Yes the 55’ Exchange in Hendrix has good ice cream but Spill the Beans has GREAT ice cream. Here is how it works, its all soft serve and you can either get chocolate or vanilla or fro-yo (lets be real no one gets fro-yo). Then you pick mix-ins which range from peanut butter to coffee to brownies, literally anything you want and then the most magical thing happens they mix it all together in an awesome mixing machine. It swirls the ice cream and your mix in together into one delicious homogeneous concoction. Pro-tip: the best combination is vanilla with coffee and caramel, can’t beat it.
5. Parking services makes your skin crawl even if you don’t have a car.
Clemson parking is the absolute worst and there’s no way around that. You will always find parking services driving by in their little marked vehicles on the prowl for their next victim. You just have to pray its not you. They take parking way to seriously if you go over the meter by 1 minute you’re done and a tickets already on your windshield. Even if you’re in your car sitting they will still write you a ticket, no one is safe from parking services NO ONE.
6. Saturday mornings in the fall is the equivalent of Christmas morning.
I can honestly say that every Saturday morning in the fall I always woke up with a smile on my face because it was GAME DAY! Everyone in your building is also awake because if there’s one thing that can bring us all together it’s a game day in Death Valley. There’s nothing better than putting your orange or purple on and trying to make it look like a fashionable outfit before going to a frat or your parents lot to tailgate. Ahhh tailgates is there anything better???
7. You experience game day dehydration.
Whether you’re drunk or not game day dehydration is real and it has no mercy. Maybe you just forgot to drink water or the ‘water’ you were drinking wasn’t actually water but either way wherever you are in Death Valley. The sun will find you and fry you like a pancake. Of course Memorial Stadium sells water but who is actually going to get up from their seats and leave the game for a bottle of water? No one. So you suffer through and promise yourself that you’’ll drink water next time, however that promise never holds true.
8. The only sunsets you see are purple and orange.
Forget all the other sunsets you’ve ever seen in your life because nothing compares to Clemson’s sunsets. Every night you’ll find yourself racing to the perfect spot to get the best picture. In my case, I am fortunate enough to live on the 10th floor of Byrnes and have a perfect view of the spirited sunset over Death Valley.
9. Your Snapchat story contains a weekly snap of the reflection pond.
The reflection pond is one of the main focal points on campus and it’s a place that all tours are taken to. Most students will pass the reflection pond at least once a day and I’m sure about 60% of those people take a picture with the Clemson geotag and post it to their story. If you’re lucky Clem might even turn the fountains on, but that only ever happens when there’s potential students touring the school, thx Clem.
10. You wear shorts and t-shirts in February
Now I’m not from The South so I don’t know if it’s an oddly warm year or if it’s normal for South Carolina to be 73 degrees in February, either way I’m totally fine with it. Never would I have ever pictured myself going to a darty in a skirt and croptop in February but trust me it happened. Although since being at Clemson my perception of cold weather has changed. I used to be able to trudge through 17 degree weather without a second thought but now I actually shiver when its 60 degrees and I know I’m definitely not the only one.
