How to spot someone from Hamden at UConn
Where my H-Town Dragons at?
I, myself, come from the best town – Hamden, CT (aka H-Town). Once upon a time, I sported the green and yellow apparel in hopes of showing enough school spirit to help our team spirit rise. Which I know other ex-Dragons are guilty of as well. For anyone who knows anyone from Hamden, or just wants to point people out and say, “You’re from Hamden, ha,” here are your ways of narrowing down who’s from where.
How many Green Bowls did you win?
Almost one in the four years I was a Dragon. Ask anyone about the Green Bowl, the face-off of the year, which just so happened to fall on Thanksgiving Day. Hamden Green Dragons versus Notre Dame Green Knights (can you see why we lost?). I attended to watch my team try and win, but after college, the Green Bowl is used as an excuse to have a two year reunion with your buddies and girlfriends rather than wait ten years when you’re actually allowed back on school grounds as an adult.
Want to hang out in The Plaza?
When you didn’t have a car, this was where your after school activities with your friends happened. Only two hundred feet from Hamden High School, you could find your entire shopping center of mom clothes, hair salons and cheap lunches. And if you’re feeling really crazy, asking your UConn friends to make a Walmart trip is nothing compared to a Walmart trip in Hamden. And when you did finally have your car, this was where you parked and you didn’t have to worry about getting tickets. Hamden kids didn’t know tickets were real until UConn parking services got a hold of them.
Can you draw with chalk?
Yes, why yes I can. Hamden Dragons know what I’m talking about. The Chalk Festival was scheduled when summer was on its way and graduation was around the corner. It is a day dedicated to drawing whatever you please on a concrete block, and if you were lucky, you had the opportunity to draw your favorite cartoons. (We all know how picky those teachers were about silly cartoon drawings.) By the time the day was over, you were covered in chalk and had the ability to draw a cool stick figure in chalk. Ask a Hamden native about their chalk art, I’m sure they will have some stories to tell and be able to paint a pretty mural in the frat house basement.
How was prom?
Crazy. It was the first time I’d been exposed to lots of sweaty bodies in one dancing spot – but this one got extra sweaty. Hamden kids brought the chaos to our prom spot, and we found it more and more of a challenge to sabotage the venue year after year. After attending two proms and volunteering another, prom with Hamden kids would probably be the best way to indulge in the awesome diversity of the town. This is where a Hamden Dragon learns about a PG frat party before becoming a Husky and seeing a whole new world.
What’s ‘Lake Wintergreen?’
The second best place to go for an evening jog, fish or hike, Lake Wintergreen is where kids hang out, adults walk and anyone can fish. Every summer it is where people jump into the lake without a care in the world or sift through the water to spot a fish or two. It is a space to relax and even if you couldn’t make it to Sleeping Giant, you could still hang out at the lake for a little bit to calm your nerves.
How cool were your senior trips?
I don’t know about your high school, but my high school planned a Six Flags trip every year and my friends and I got stuck on the top of the Twister for an hour. We spent so many hours planning the annual Six Flags trip, we forgot about things going wrong. Six Flags was fun and all but as a graduating Husky, a trip across Europe sounds a little bit better.
Did you even like Hamden?
After four years of high school, and twelve years of shenanigans, Hamden was cool and still is cool. If you ask anyone about Hamden, you’ll hear about how diverse it is and how close-knit H-Town Dragons are. Even though graduation was a crazy hot day (it was almost 100 degrees, cool), I would relive that one day because being a Dragon was awesome and being a Husky has been even better. Plenty of people have their ups and downs in their own town. Ask a Dragon about their experiences in H-Town, it’ll be an epic story.