It’s true, college can be the best time of your life. You’re living in the middle of a cultural hub and surrounded by people who know how to have a good time and hate CSU. When it’s all over, here are the things that alumni miss the most:

1. Tailgating. Among the things that CU is good at, winning football games isn’t necessarily up there, but tailgating certainly is. Football games are an all-day event so by 8:30am on Saturday morning, the Hill is popping with music, mimosas, and people getting ready to grill. If you ask around, a lot of students don’t even have tickets to the actual game and just tailgate all day instead. It’s almost a sport within itself. For alumni who come back to visit for homecoming games and parents weekend activities, this sport of tailgating is what they’ve been missing. GO CU.
2. Finding your signature at the Sink. The tradition is for CU grads to storm the Sink Restaurant on the morning of graduation and sign their name on the ceiling. Alumni who visit love popping back into the Sink and hunting for their signature while weaving around tables of people trying to enjoy a meal. Don’t worry alumni, you have every right to be there. Shamelessly ask those people in the back booth to move while you reach up and examine the ceiling. No worries.
3. Visiting the old sorority or fraternity house. Greek life is big at CU, so for alumni who were in a sorority or fraternity, visiting the old stopping grounds is important. You put eighty-plus sorority girls in one house and there are bound to be some stories. Same for frat guys, pointing out why that hole in the wall is still there or what thing they threw off the balcony as a “roof test” one night. Oh, the memories …
4. Norlin Library. While some may have spent more time there than others, Norlin Library is the anchor of the CU campus. Whether you spent time in the study rooms cramming for finals, explored the stacks, or only just discovered that you could actually check out books from there in April of your senior year, it is a sacred place for many CU alumni.
5. Talking about Freshmen year dorms. Dorm life is the great equalizer of the college experience. Whether you met your best friends on your floor or have horror stories about your roommate from hell, the dorms were a gateway into the rest of your college experience. Every alum had a room key that got lost, and RA that was chill, and a bout of food poisoning from the dining hall. Live it. Love it.
6. Basically seeing anyone in CU Buff stuff. Ever. When you graduate, you’ll drive down the street and see a Buff flag flying over a house and immediately be overcome with nostalgia. You’ll pass someone in the park with a Buffs tee-shirt on and feel some solidarity with this total stranger. You’ll hear someone talk about Colorado State University and something deep inside you will boil up and you’ll suddenly get competitive. You’ll swell with pride when you see pictures of the Flatirons.

So really, this is for all the alumni out there. We had the privilege of attending a university where the scenery is unrivaled, the football team is a wild card, the textbook prices rob you blind, the classes will challenge you to actually learn something, and the people are always party-ready. Forever Buffs.

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