Beginning Fall of 2016, I began regularly visiting West Lafayette, Indiana – home of Purdue University. I started visiting this beautiful college town as a way to see all of my friends who attended the university. After countless nights on friends’ couches, attending fraternity “spontos”, and making lifelong friends, I quickly fell in love with West Lafayette’s charm and Purdue Pride. In fact, I loved visiting West Lafayette so much that I decided to move there permanently in January 2018.

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But after two football seasons and three years of visiting / living in West Lafayette, I had not been to a single Purdue football game! I had attended football tailgates and many Purdue basketball games over the years but never an actual football game. And by my third Purdue football season, I was determined to find a friend to go to a game with me. On September 7th, a friend of mine and I finally attended my first official Purdue football game at Ross-Ade Stadium: Purdue vs. Vanderbilt. With kickoff starting at noon, it was a particularly hot afternoon in West Lafayette with little to no clouds in the sky, but I would not let the heat and possibility of sunburn on my fair skin ruin my very first Purdue football game.

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The game was so exciting! From the enthusiasm of the crowd, to the entertaining media breaks, and a win for Purdue, the game was perfect! Purdue’s football team defeated Vanderbilt with a score of 42-24, a win I was hoping for. A win for Purdue’s football team left all of West Lafayette (every street, every restaurant, and more) celebrating with Purdue Pride. After the football game, it is hard to decide what my favorite part was: seeing the inside of the beautiful Ross-Aid Stadium, the scorching heat making for an even more sweet victory, or the Purdue Pride of the crowd cheering on the team. What I can definitely say now, is that I have finally been to my very first Purdue football game and will definitely be going to more in the many Purdue football seasons to come. Boiler up!