One of the things I love about Carolina is the all-encompassing acceptance that comes with being a Tar Heel. Walking through this campus, even alone, I feel like I belong. Even looking dead into the eyes of the pit preacher today, I felt accepted.
Being a Tar Heel is so much more than going to school in Chapel Hill. It's so much more than getting into the best journalism school in the country. It's so much more than buying a blue shirt. It's shouting "TAR," knowing that somewhere, no matter where you are and no matter the time of day, you'll hear "HEE-EELS" in response. It's reading the kvetching board, hoping yours got published or that someone kvetched about you. It's singing "Hark the Sound," arm in arm, with the most pride possible whether we win or lose. It's the chills you get when you hear Eve Carson's immortal "I love UNC." It's knowing, without a doubt, that you go to the best school in the world. Being a Tar Heel is about being a family and nothing shows that better than the shirts that are being sold this year with the phrase "Together, we are Carolina."
But the most important part of being a Tar Heel, the one that defines us as students, the one that gets us more pumped up than getting into the B-school, making an A on a test or staying awake during a 75-minute lecture, is exemplified on the shirts we've all been seeing this week that say "GO TO HELL DUKE."
That's right. Submitting an application to UNC-Chapel Hill is signing a contract saying "I promise to hate Duke with all of my heart and soul." Scoffing and/or gagging when the word "Duke" is mentioned or when anyone even refers to Durham is just part of being a Tar Heel.
One thing I realized tonight after the heartwrenching loss to our unfortunate-faced neighbors is that there is a difference between a fan and a Tar Heel. I was never a sports fan growing up. Even so, I wore NC State red up until the day I got my acceptance letter from UNC. That day was the beginning of my transformation into becoming a Tar Heel. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that coming to Carolina has made me a sports fan, though this would be the place to be if I was one. I still don't really care about basketball games, stats or players. I couldn't tell you a single thing about another ACC team or even what other teams make up the ACC. But tonight and (most) other game nights, I put on my Carolina blue and I pull for a Tar Heel win. Why? Because I love my school. At the end of a game, a Carolina fan will continue on in his or her roles in life and, especially after a loss, ignore the team in which he or she had put so much faith. The difference here is that I'm not a fan. Sure, my heart dropped a little when d00k hit that shot at the last second, but I walked away from this prouder than ever to be a Tar Heel. The fact is, I get to wake up tomorrow not only at the greatest school in the world, but as a part of the greatest community in the world: the Tar Heels.
