Still Having Fun on the Hill

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Robert

Back on the hill, and it feels so good. A month away from anything can really bring you to miss it. I decided I would use this blog to list everything that’s new in our little community. To begin with, it is FREEZING! Though it very well might have been this cold last Winter, it certainly didn’t catch my attention like it is this semester. What sucks, yes it is the only thing that I will ever say sucks about McDaniel, about being on top of a hill is that the wind cuts across campus and in between buildings without a hinge. The cold isn’t even bad, it’s really just that cold Westminster wind.

In other news, the sororities have all begun preparation for their rush week which is essentially a chance for girls who are interested in going Greek to meet the sisters from each of the four sororities on campus. Girls can’t pledge any sorority until they have visited all four. The school also gets to keep an eye on the pledge process to limit hazing and other unseemly conduct.

The renovation of the football stadium has finally been completed, and actually looks pretty sweet. I think a lot of students were bitter because the school funded such an expensive renovation while the dorms demand major renovations of their own. The fact is that the money for the project was donated from an external source, an alumni, who wanted to see a nice stadium where the reminiscent-of-high-school-bleachers that used to be there stood. I like the look of the stadium but I’m of the mindset that the school needs to encourage alumni to donate to the cause of dorm refurbishing over athletic facilities. Meanwhile I guess I can look forward to North Village or Gardens housing. Neither are 5 star resorts but they look and smell a whole lot nicer than ANW.

So there’s a quick synopsis on the ongoings of the hill. Still plenty to look forward to with the new library renovation and talk of some upgraded classrooms. One thing for sure is tha McDaniel is really growing and changing and in a rough economy like this one, that’s a nice thing to see.

Super Bowl bound!

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Annie Brown

After a well-played game against the New England Patriots, the Baltimore Ravens are going to the Super Bowl!

While the Ravens aren’t my favorite football team (that distinction goes to the Packers), I’m excited because life on campus (once the semester starts back up) is going to be a lot more exciting!

McDaniel College and the Ravens have always had a special connection. Through 2010, the Ravens held their annual summer training camp on campus, which made Westminster a hotspot for Ravens fans hoping to see their team in action. Disappointingly, the Ravens now have training camp at their own facility in Owings Mills, Maryland, but the Westminster community still feels closely connected to the team.

Since a lot of people on campus are from the Baltimore area and other parts of Maryland, McDaniel is full of Ravens fans. And as a result, I predict that the energy and excitement of the first week of the semester will be higher than it usually is because it will lead up to the Super Bowl!

Go Ravens!

A Trip to see the Eagles play the Redskins

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Jess Hague

One of the great things about McDaniel is that there are so many fantastic places to go, without having to go far. McDaniel is very close to places like Baltimore, Towson, and Gettysburg, but last weekend, I took advantage of the fact that McDaniel is so close to Washington DC. My friend invited me to go to the Washington Redskins game with her, since her family has season tickets. Of course I said yes, since it was the game they were playing against my home team, the Philadelphia Eagles.

As soon as I told my parents I was going to the Eagles/Redskins game, they were both very jealous. This game would be the first time I had ever gone to a professional football team’s game, so I was super excited. As soon as we got near the stadium, I was pulled into the atmosphere. There were fans tailgating in every parking lot, and even some tailgates where Eagles fans and Redskins fans were having fun together. Being an Eagles fan, I was little nervous for people’s reactions to my green jersey, but everything was always good-natured. While I was walking through the parking lot, getting into the stadium, or sitting in my seats, I was applauded by Eagles fans and playfully booed by Redskins fans. Of course, as the game went on and the Redskins started scoring more and more, while the Eagles continued to play horribly, all of the Eagles fans got less and less excited. Even though my team lost miserably, I still had a blast, because our seats were fantastic and everyone was having fun!

I think the best part of being at the game was the atmosphere. Since the entire NFC East hates the Dallas Cowboys, whenever their score popped up on the big screen, everyone in the stadium started to cheer since they were losing. Even though the fans didn’t agree on what team they were rooting for in the stadium, they agreed that they were rooting against the Dallas Cowboys. I’m very grateful that McDaniel is so close to places like DC, because if it wasn’t, I never would have had the opportunity to go see my team play football!

Tailgating: McDaniel Style

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Jess Hague

I woke up on Saturday and was very excited because I knew exactly what the day entailed: food, friends, family, and football. My parents decided that since I am a senior, they should take advantage of tailgating at McDaniel before I graduate. They have been here once before, but since it was over a break, there weren’t a lot of people on campus to stop by. This time was completely different, since a lot of people stopped by and hung around our tent for a while, including our President, Dr. Casey, and his wife, Robyn!

I knew my parents were coming prepared with lots of food, snacks, and drinks. However, I didn’t expect everything that they brought. My mom decided that she would bring her pink tent (she uses it for her business), so that everyone would be able to find us easily. We tailgated in style under the pink tent with chairs and blankets as well. They also brought a South Jersey staple: Philly soft pretzels! It was like having a taste of home, because nobody makes soft pretzels like people from Philly do! Also on our table overflowing with food: two different two-foot long hoagies, three bags of chips, and all of the necessary condiments. Not to mention, we had a cooler full of different drinks that we could enjoy throughout the game.

The whole experience was such a blast. Not only was it a gorgeous day outside, but it was a lot of fun to hang out with my friends and family while watching the Green Terror play. We ended up getting a spot next to another family from New Jersey and my dad made friends with all of the people around us. There was even a puppy to play with at the tent next to ours! The entire time was full of laughs, good food, and of course, entertainment from the football game. While it was an exciting game, it was not a pretty ending. McDaniel had done very well throughout the entire game and Dickenson tied the game at the very end of the 4th quarter and then ended up winning during overtime. Regardless of the score of the game, tailgating at McDaniel is still a fantastic experience that everyone should take part in during their four years here. Go Green Terror!

Home football game

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Amber Slater

I’m not always able to watch our home football games because of cross country meets, but we had this weekend off from running! While the weather was awesome and would have been great for a run, I instead was able to tailgate with my friends for the entire game.

Here at McDaniel we’ve been recognized by the Weather Channel as one of the top seven tailgating school in the nation due our bowl-like stadium. You can check out the article I wrote about it last year for the Free Press here! A grassy hill surrounds the field, which is sunken into the ground. For every game, different organizations set up tents and students move from one to the next, hanging out and watching the game.

People even take the pains of bringing couches to the game! That’s me all the way on the right enjoying the game with some friends in the Phi Kappa Sigma tent.

Even though we lost in overtime today, the game was lively and exciting, and I’m really proud of the team’s effort. It was a day of great weather, great friends, and a great game, and I can’t wait for our Homecoming game in a few weeks!

Midterms and All that Jazz

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Gini

Hello again! This weekend I went home, but I would have preferred to stay on campus just because of the amount of homework I have to get done on Sunday. On Friday, I went to visit family in Philadelphia and on Saturday, all day, I went to a Maryland (College Park) football game. Now, don’t misunderstand, I full heartedly support our McDaniel Football team and actually wore a McDaniel shirt under my hoodie, but going to the homecoming game at Maryland is a tradition for us for three years. I ate so much food! I will be going to the gym a lot when I get back. Today is also a Ravens’ game and I thinker there is an Orioles’ game too.

So the week coming up is Midterm week, for most students (some professors assign midterms the week before and maybe the week after). I have a midterm Thursday night for my Mediterranean Traditions class and thankfully our professor gave us a Study Guide. When a professor gives you a study guide, you should definitely make sure that you study everything on it. They are the most useful things that a professor can give you for a test. I usually will write down the answers or details on notebook paper and then transfer it onto a word document, which helps to solidify the information twice. Then I will print the word document and study that and try to recite the information without the help of the answer sheet. I know I already probably mentioned this, but I thought it might be good to bring it up again because it is not only useful with any test, but it is really helpful for the midterm and final exams.

I did say that I was going to try to be involved in ACC, but unfortunately most of their meetings are on Friday nights when I go home. I do not plan on going home this often after we move, but I do go home for family and other traditions that we have. I told my parents already that I’m going to stay at school for the next weekend and spend most of my time in the library doing homework. I had this idea at the beginning of the semester to get all my homework done for the week on the weekend so I wouldn’t have to worry about it during the week, but then life happened and that didn’t really work out. It’s nice to idealize, but sometimes you have to work out a new plan when things happen.

This week, I will also be attending a lecture for a German speaker at John’s Hopkins University on Thursday, depending on whether or not we can find someone with a car. I can’t drive yet, but I don’t really feel a huge need to get one because I’ve ridden buses and the light rail when I was in high school. I also think walking is healthy, so I don’t mind walking to Safeway or Baugher’s or Heinz Bakery. Anyways, I will definitely be writing about that later in the week and I hope you enjoyed this post!

My Fun Family Weekend

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Annie Brown

It’s been a pretty good week so far, but I can’t help but think back to how awesome this past weekend was for me. On Friday night, I went to the Family Weekend pep rally and watched six episodes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus with my friends.

My parents came on Saturday for Family Weekend, an annual weekend for family and friends to visit campus and have a good time.

The first half of my day with my parents was centered largely around the fact that I was getting inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta, a national honor society for first year students, in the afternoon. As a result, my time with them when they first got here was a little limited, but we were still able to squeeze in a trip to Panera Bread for lunch and a trip to Baugher’s, a local orchard store and restaurant in walking distance from campus, for some desserts to last me through the week.

The induction ceremony lasted around an hour, so we were able to go catch some of the football game. Because it rained though, we only stayed for half of the third quarter.

I had my parents take me to Target on 140 for some snacks and needed items before going to dinner at Full Moon Pub and Grill in nearby Reisterstown—my parents’ excellent choice of restaurant. Full Moon has some of the best cream of crab soup I’ve ever tasted. It’s not too sour, not too spicy, and full of chunky crab meat. I highly recommend it! (The chocolate cake was also pretty good!)

After dinner, we went to Westminster’s Town Mall to hang out some more and do some recreational shopping, before they brought me back to McDaniel to hang out some more before returning home.

After they left, I had one of the most memorable evenings with my friends and suitemates ever. One of my suite mate’s parents brought pizza for all of us, which was very kind and wonderful. Once they left, things got very fun. (Somehow, we managed to sing Christmas carols for at least 20 minutes.)

As you might imagine, on Sunday, I had to catch up on my homework since Saturday was devoted to Family Weekend. But it was still a good day, since I got a lot done and was in the company of my friends. And I have to tell you, the best part about the day after a visit from family is the leftovers!

I’d have to say that this was one of the best weekends I’ve had on campus for a long time. I was surrounded by great fun, great family, great friends, and great food! As I work through this week, thinking about this past weekend and the fun weekends to come is something that’s keeping me smiling!

Stories from the Hill

Tag Archives: Football