As our college ultimate careers enter the final stretch, here are a few important things we’ve learned over the last four years:
1. Expecting your non-frisbee-playing roommates to be able to keep track of the four different teams you’re playing on is not fair and gets confusing for everyone involved.
2. At any ultimate field you find yourself on anywhere in the world, you will meet someone who knows someone that you play with. No matter where you are in the world, guaranteed.
3. Expecting adequate field space/practice time when it’s football season is silly. Even if it’s Ivy League football and your team is approximately one million times times better on the relative national scale.
4. Schoolwork is not as much a priority as you might once have thought.
5. Wind is the devil.
6. Any road trip that can be accomplished in less than 24 hours is not actually a long drive.
7. Telling your professor you are going to miss a midterm because you are flying to nationals is not a good idea. Say you’re going to a med school interview instead.
7a. If you are actually interviewing for med school, do not share with your advisor that whether or not a school has an ultimate program is an important factor in your decision.
8. If you are instead inordinately excited about graduating from college and escaping the world of academia for numerous years before you even begin to think about the possibility of returning to graduate school… a little part of you will still consider applying immediately so that you can play out your 5th year of eligibility.
9. ¾ length spandex are the best article of clothing ever.
10. Non-stick surgical gauze will stick to your turf burns. When you try to peel the gauze off, bits will get stuck in your wound and hard scrubbing may become necessary. Yes, this is as painful as it sounds.
11. If a girl is wearing a backwards hat on the field, she must be really good at frisbee. This is known as “The Backwards Hat Theory” and has been verified by numerous unbiased observers over the years.
12. If you like your roommates at all, you’ll stuff your wet cleats with newspapers and leave them outside the room.
13. Knee-length shorts are not aerodynamic or particularly flattering. Some trends are best left unquestioned.
14. Most people do not appreciate ultimate puns thrown (ha ha…) into everyday conversation.
15. Playing ultimate is just more fun than anything else.
We’ve learned important life-lesson-y things as well (the significance of team chemistry, how to deal with people who underestimate you/your sport, how much it hurts to lose in the game-to-go and how great it feels to win it) — but that’s a list for another day. For now, we’re off to an all-night hat tournament in Maine! Frisbee all night? Yes please. What a way to start the semester.
