A GUIDE TO SCORING FRONT-ROW SEATS: PASSION, PATIENCE, AND POSITIVITY

I’m by no means a professional, so take this advice with a grain of salt. However, I do consider myself well equipped with enough experience to be qualified to give this information. So, how does one teenage girl manage to score front-row seats to a college football game, concert, or festival? It’s actually pretty simple: have passion. 

Well, the first step is to buy a ticket. We don’t sneak in around these parts. Second, get there early, before the gates or doors open. Third, embody that beast inside you. Yes, the BEAST, you have to be selfish for this part. Have everything ready: ticket, ID, purse, your social security number. Ok, I’m joking about your social security, but really, don’t let there be any excuse for you to be held up by an employee. Fourth, whether you run, speed-walk, or whatever the event requires, do it with intent—match the vibe of the moment. The fifth and final step is to get there and wait. 

Passion.

I know it seems pretty obvious, but how do you expect to have the motivation to wait in a line for 5 hours if there isn’t a great deal of dedication behind those efforts? I am a big ‘experience’ girl. I would 100% prefer to spend money and time on an overall experience than on something materialistic. That’s just my thing, but that’s why I believe it is so important to have a spark for this sort of thing. 

You need to have at least an inkling of passion and drive to have the patience it takes to achieve the front-row experience. 

Patience.

I can tell you right now, when you’re waiting around in the Texas heat at noon, under the blazing sun, do not expect to be comfortable. Do not expect any shade, any breeze, and to have any energy. It is no easy feat waiting under the scorching Texas sun, but it is always worth it. 

Positivity.

It takes another level of sophistication and motivation to stay positive when more and more people start showing up and shoving you or try squeezing themselves into corners with no room, while simultaneously being a victim of heat exhaustion, uncomfortable foot pain, or all of the above. Honestly, I have not been the best at this most times. It genuinely infuriates me, but I stay composed. Only that, you wait 3 hours sitting in the stands at DKR, where temperatures reach just about 100 degrees each game day, and then 30 minutes before the game begins, you are standing ankle to ankle with the person standing next to you, no wiggle room, no space to pick up your arms and participate in ‘Texas Fight’ comfortably. It’s easy to think negatively. But I refuse to let it ruin my experience. 

Imagine this, you are standing in DKR, the only thing keeping you from standing on that turf is a rail, and about 7 ft, you can hear every instrument from the piccolo to the sousaphone fighting their way through the ‘Eyes of Texas‘, the roar of every student in the student section fills the stadium, you get to banter back and forth with the most amazing cheerleaders, you come out on live television (yes, every single one of my family members sent me a text about how they saw me while they were watching the game), you receive professional photos taken of you at each game by the plethora of photographers ready to capture any and every photo opportunity, you get the chance to take pictures with ‘Hook em’’, and Coach Sark passes by the student section before each game. It’s reality, but it feels like a dream. 

It’s easy to focus on the challenges of fighting for front-row seats, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Also, just don’t complain so much. We tend as humans to make everything about ourselves. It’s genuinely never that serious anyway. You only live once- live it passionately, patiently, and positively!