Growing up in the Philadelphia area, I have always been a huge sports fan. I’m not talking about someone who watches games once in a while, I watch EVERY game. So, almost two years ago, when I decided to come to a small liberal arts school, where sports weren’t a huge deal, I shocked quite a few people in my graduating class. I distinctly remember someone saying to me, “Wow I would’ve thought you would go to Penn State because you love sports so much.” (For those of you who don’t know, sports, especially football is basically a religion at Penn State.) Of course I brushed this off, but a little part of me was curious to see how my love for sports would change, if at all, going to a school where sports was not a big deal.
Flash forward a few months and it was the start to college football. Whenever I would watch college football, I never had a team that I would support. I decided that I would just support the football team of the college that I go to. Well…about that. Whenever I would see snapchats of high school friends going to football games, I would feel a little jealous and really question my decision of coming to Bryn Mawr.
Student Activities Eagles vs. Jets-9/27/2015. The Eagles (finally) won!
But, throughout my first year, and now, I keep my head up and continue to watch my Phillies/Eagles/Flyers/Sixers/Union on my laptop in my room when I can, and take advantage of Student Activities selling cheap tickets for the Phillies and the Eagles ($10!).
Student Activities trip to the Phillies game September 2014. A walkoff win by the way.
I had to really keep up with the sports to know how each team was doing, because I couldn’t really ask “how did the Phillies do last night?” to anyone on campus, they would give me an odd look. But by keeping up and because I didn’t feel the “sports community,” I started a blog. A sports blog called “Sports Like a Girl.” And it has changed me.
I don’t mean to sound cliché, but by writing this blog, I feel kind of important- Jose Bautista* follows me on twitter. If you were to ask me in my senior year of high school if I would have ever written a sports blog, I would call you crazy. But because of Bryn Mawr and not having that big sports scene, and knowing that my peers would encourage me rather than snicker at me, I wrote this blog, and I love my blog. And since Bryn Mawr is not focused on sports, I believe my love for sports has grown. Yes I DO wish I could support a college football team, but it’s okay. And of course I’ll support my Bryn Mawr Owls!
If you are interested in checking out my sports blog, here is the link: https://phillysportslikeagirl.wordpress.com/
*Jose Bautista is an outfielder for the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team.