Coming into UCLA, I thought that I knew what it meant to be a Bruin. My mom and many of her relatives had come to UCLA. From the moment of my birth I was a faithful fan of the basketball and football programs.
But it wasn’t until the first football game I went to at the Rose Bowl, as a first-year band member, that I really realized what being a Bruin is all about.
Listening to the crowd roar as we ran onto the field for the pre-game, clap with the fight song, and chant U-C-L-A in unison provided me with sights and sounds I had never envisioned while watching the games on TV. The energy continued throughout the whole game, with the students and alumni feeding off the band and spirit squad and coming together to support their team.
The chills I felt lasted throughout the entire game, and I thought to myself, “So this is what it really feels like to be a Bruin.”
It’s those traditions and intangible energy on display at the UCLA sporting events that allow students, alumni and anyone who feels any passion about UCLA to come together as a community and be Bruins.
It is truly a unique experience. Where else can you find sane, rational people acting totally out of their minds without any reason to do so other than to show their collective pride? At professional sporting events, it takes a great play, or a cue on the scoreboard, to get the crowd cheering.
At a UCLA event, the spirit is there before the games even begin; with the fight song and 8-clap, one cannot help but feel the positive energy in the air. The ecstasy lasts throughout all of the games. During all the breaks in the action, there is always something the band, spirit squad or students on their own are doing to display their enthusiasm for their school and team. The exuberance you get by going to these games is truly second to none, particularly if you are a student.
A special part of the atmosphere at collegiate events is the student section. The students are constantly on their feet, shaking the floor and getting the rest of the crowd involved. I can’t help but think of the time when my dad brought my aunt from New York to the UCLA basketball game against Western Illinois late last year. My aunt is not much of a sports fan, and I doubt she knew anything about UCLA before she came into Pauley to watch the game.
Yet just 12 minutes into the first half during a commercial break, I looked up into the stands and found my aunt shouting and doing an 8-clap. Even at a relatively meaningless non-conference game at the beginning of the season, the student section’s enthusiasm for UCLA proved to be contagious.
Playing with the band at other UCLA sports events has also provided me with some of my favorite UCLA moments. While women’s basketball games and men’s tennis matches may not have that same electric atmosphere as the men’s basketball and football games, going to watch the “other sports” gives students a chance to watch championship-caliber teams at an extremely in-depth level. Going to these events gives students a newfound appreciation for UCLA and allows them to fully understand what being a Bruin really means.
As incoming freshmen at such a big school, it will be very easy to “do your own thing.” There are certainly many students here who never go to any of the games and never participate in any school activity.
But there is a reason students camp out in front of Pauley Pavilion the night before basketball games to get the best seats. There is a reason why so many alumni return to UCLA sporting events long after they have graduated. There is a reason why my mom’s sharpest memory of her time at UCLA is the one football game she attended against Oregon.
The atmosphere, traditions and pride on display at games are the ingredients that allow students to really feel what it means to be a Bruin, and in doing so create memories that last a lifetime.
E-mail Ben at bazar@media.ucla.edu if you have any special UCLA experiences that you’d like to share.