Why I Love Gatecall

If you’ve ever met me at a Helenes event, odds are it was at Gatecall. Gatecall quickly became my favorite event in Helenes, and my sophomore year it was the reason why my spirit credits exceeded the total spirit credits accumulated by our very own Director of Athletics. My enthusiasm for this event has very little, however, to do with loving football. In fact, going into my first football season as a Helene, I knew very little about football besides how much I loved the Super Bowl halftime shows and that the goal was to score touchdowns.

Gatecall is the time when I feel the power of the Trojan Family more than any other time. The hours upon hours spent roasting in the sun, sweating through layers of sunscreen, and standing on sore legs is a beautiful form of suffering, because it is actually when I feel most alive. Similar to the tunnel vision I get when at a concert, surfing, or making art, there is nothing else that really enters my mind at Gatecall beyond the magic of the present moment. On these special Saturdays, I find myself far from stress and anxiety about schoolwork and focused entirely on the energy that fills the Coliseum. I love hearing the screams of my closest friends around me and throwing my body over the railing every time we Tusk. I love watching Megan Tsern scream the words to “The Kids Aren’t Alright” and Angie Hernandez bouncing around in a cowboy hat. I love that we all pretend to know the rules to a sport and scream louder than the rows around us. I even love the outrageous music that DJ Malski blasts, especially when he throws in some Taylor Swift. Above all, I love that my brother and I have been able to experience the special magic of Gatecall together. When I look back on my highlights of college, I’ll think of the golden hour evenings watching football when I could glimpse down the row and see my best friend in the world, living his best life with me. We have an exciting season ahead, and you can count on that fact that I will be at every single Gatecall making the most of my last season as a USC student.

Fight on, and Helenes love and all mine!

Evie Kay