On the banks of the Red Cedar is a school that’s known to all, and most commonly among its students for a handful of reasons only unique to Michigan State’s campus. Michigan State is famous for its incredible sense of school spirit and Spartan pride, which is understandable with a No. 5-ranked football team, a nationally famous basketball team, and of course, its beloved campus mascot, Sparty. But aside from these anticipated campus specialties, there are certain things only students who have attended Michigan State have experienced and recognize as a campus right-of-passage. Here are 15 signs that you attended or currently attend Michigan State University:
1. You have bought football season tickets as a freshman, only to realize post-tailgate that making it through an entire game is nearly impossible.
2. You have made an oh-so necessary stop at Conrad’s for some late night grub, i.e. the famous Number 1 and maybe some mac n’ cheese bites, because why else would you go to Conrad’s?
3. Thursdays are you favorite day of the week as you enjoy Burgerama at The Riv (once you turn 21, of course). Rama is known for its great deals on burgers and pitchers… it is essentially everything you could want out of your Thursday in between your morning and late afternoon classes.
4. You have wandered from house to house on tailgate days, and even at such an enormous school, you always run into seemingly everyone you know and then somehow end up dancing on a table in the middle of a fraternity front lawn.
5. You have experienced the stagger-home-deal at Cottage Inn. This delicious, and much needed, $5 walk-in pizza after midnight has satisfied your every need, especially since $5 Hot-N-Ready’s from Little Caesar’s are just too far to walk to. Besides, at Cottage Inn, you are very much determined to get one of George's trivia questions right in hopes of winning some free breadsticks.
6. You have attended the Izzone campout eager and excited to some day earn a spot in Lower Bowl. And even if you’re in the Upper Bowl, you love experiencing the Izzone and do not care how high up you are since it’s just as loud and exciting.
7. You have pulled a typical freshman move, even as an upperclassman, and whipped out your Spartan App because you still don’t know the difference between the Natural Sciences and Natural Resources buildings. You also walk more than 5 miles on a daily basis just to your classes because you chose to attend a school with almost 100 miles of sidewalk on its campus.
8. And even with all of that walking, you unfortunately have not able to shake that extra JJ’s weight.
9. You're constantly being taken back by how beautiful campus is in the fall and find yourself having a serious sentimental moment about how you go to the greatest school of all time on your walk to class.
10. You are never fazed when you see -10º on your weather app in the winter and trudging through 8 inches of snow in a long, down parka is more than normal on a typical January day.
11. Hammocking, studying, feeding the ducks or even surfing down the Red Cedar is contagious as soon as it turns 30º and feels like summer.
12. St. Patrick’s Day. Enough said. Any school with this much spirit who’s school colors also happen to be green is guaranteed to make St. Patty’s a campus holiday.
13. Karaoke nights Friday-Sunday at Crunchy’s are way too much fun. You never know when you might get discovered for your hidden talents.
14. Passing by or even camping our yourself in front of the Spartan Statue is on every Spartan's buck list, especially during the week leading up to the Michigan Game.
15. Sparty on. Need I say more?
