I wore Florida State merch around UF’s campus for a full week

The social experiment…

Day 1: We’re not in Gainesville anymore

I put on my FSU hat and walked out of my dorm. I have never felt so many eyes on me, imagine being that one person who calls out Rick Scott in Starbucks. Everyone just looks at you in disbelief.

Five minutes after leaving my dorm a guy passed me and said “Hey, something’s wrong with your head!” At that point I knew this was the start of something wild.

I got to dance and one of my friends asked me if I was feeling ok, he said I looked sickly and pointed to my hat.

Day 2: It’s Tallanasty for a reason I guess

I showed up to my first class wearing my FSU hat as usual, and sporting a nice fleece sweatshirt as well. The fear was building inside of me because this teacher is notorious for calling out students. I sat in the back corner hoping to blend in. It worked most of the class until he started walking up and down the rows, then he spotted me. I looked away to avoid eye contact, but he came right up to me and said “Why are you here? Go back to hillbilly town!” We all immediately burst into laughter.

Day 3: “Bless you child”

I woke up hungry this morning so I stopped by my favorite spot on campus to grab a snack. I walk in, grab a cereal bar, and head to the cash register where my favorite employee is waiting. She is the friendliest woman on campus, even if you’ve never been there before she will make you feel like an old friend.

I walked up to her and she said, “Oooo child you are brave. Wearin’ a Seminole hat in Gator country, now why would you do that?” I replied, “I’m only here because I didn’t get accepted to FSU. UF was my backup.” She said, “Oh boy, you can’t be serious?” “Of course I am!” I said, and she started cracking up. As I’m leaving she shouted, “Bless you child.”

Day 4: “GO NOLES”

I got this crazy idea to shout out “Go FSU!” to anyone who is wearing burgundy on campus. Why not share the humiliation? A man wearing a burgundy polo passed me on a bicycle, so I shouted “Go Noles” at him. He stared at me for so long he almost crashed.

Later that day I called out my friend in class for wearing burgundy socks. I said “Go FSU” and nodded my head at her, and she looked at me confused so I said, “I see you’re an FSU fan too!” and looked down at her socks. “No!” she said, but it was too late, the whole class already accepted her as one of us, it’s all over for her.

Day 5: The worst part is when you forget you’re wearing it

You know that one security guy at Marston library, the one who sits waiting to catch people bringing food in?

Well I walked in and he gives me this look — a new kind of look. Not one of disgust, but one of shock like he’s scared of what’s about to happen to me. I intensely stare him down as I walk past the door and when I pull out my ID he gives me this surprised look like he didn’t think I would have a Gator1.

I took the elevator to the basement and a girl gave me a stank face as I walked in, not unexpected. Then I caught someone Snapchatting me, of course he quickly pretended to be taking a selfie when I caught him, but we all know the truth.

The whole time I sat there, I felt like people were watching me, like someone would call UFPD on me.

Day 6: Orange and blue, meet garnet and gold 

This was an important day, the final day of my social experiment. I knew I had to end on a high note, so I decided to go to the Orange and Blue game in FSU gear.

I started the day off by looking up how to do the Nole thing. You know, the arm movement that sort of looks like the Nazi-Salute?

It was an hour before the game and I was still not mentally prepared for the amount of embarrassment I was about to endure. I was on my usual shift at the news and people were warning me not to go when they learned of my plan, so I was very scared at this point.

I walked past security into the stadium and I closed my eyes for a moment to prepare myself, and someone shouted “Why are you here? This a Nole-free zone!” Fortunately by this point I had been through much worse, so it didn’t get me down. Feeling pretty confident at this point, I took a seat in the third row.

Something I ought to mention is that the Orange and Blue game is UF vs UF. So I not only looked out of place, but I looked like an idiot.

The whole game I received obnoxious looks from every single person surrounding me, including Albert the Alligator.

Strangely enough, however, it wasn’t college students who gave me the most wrath. There were two young boys sitting to my right, decked out in Gator gear, and they just wouldn’t let me be! I felt like I was back in middle school being bullied. I know it sounds crazy that these little boys could manage to intimidate me more than anyone the entire week, but they were scary.

These two tried absolutely everything to get me to take off my hat. One of the savages even tried to snatch it right off my head. I was so worked up, I had to take a moment and remind myself that I was a decade older than them. I told myself to pull it together. Fortunately, I managed to make it through the rest of the game unscathed. They even left me alone for a minute, thats when I snapped this picture of them.

I made it out alive. As I exited the stadium, I took my hat off in relief. I have to say, there is nothing more gratifying than having to be a Nole for a week and then being able to take off the hat and upgrade instantly to being a Gator.

I have to say this experiment was oddly gratifying. It made me realize how thankful I am to be a Gator and not a Nole, after all they have such a tough life. I can’t wait to visit FSU next and sport all of my Gator gear. Although at this point, I might as well transfer to FSU, it will be much easier than explaining this to my confused friends.