Tenting season is upon the Blue Devils and—although black tenters have survived the most grueling week—blue and white tenting leave a few more weeks before the big game. To help survive tenting season as the workload of the semester kicks in, here’s:
Jessica’s Tenting Survival Guide!
1. Don’t underestimate the power of fuzzy socks. While already a fun thing to wear around the dorm, fuzzy socks can keep your toes nice and toasty even when the rest of your body is freezing outside during a 3 AM tent check.
2. Vitamin C it up. Although a lot of vitamin C powders taste like rotten orange juice, it’s worth powering up your immune system while tenting. You’ll be living in super cold temperatures while snuggled up with eleven other kids, so it’s best to protect yourself from the petri dish that is a tent before it’s too late. Quenchers sells EmergenC anyways right next to K-Ville, so there’s no excuse not to try and hold off a sore throat as much as possible.
3. Wear slip-on shoes. Nothing is more annoying than trying to get your foot into a laced shoe while attempting to balance and avoid the wet ground, especially for a nighttime tent check. Do your whole group a favor by having easy shoes, so you can get to the line monitors faster and beat the line.
4. Bring a portable charger. While your computer and phone may seem like they have a lot of battery left at the start of the night, the charge seems to disappear when you actually need it on the way to class.
5. Be aware of those who fart in their sleep.
6. Yell at everyone in the tent to get a move on during night tent checks. The sooner you get to the line monitor, the less time you have to wait for them to scan other groups’ Duke cards while you wait and freeze your butt off.
7. Bring snacks to the tent so everyone loves you and forgets you’re sassy during night tent checks. It’s hard to beat cookies as a segway to bonding, especially when they’re on food points.
8. Have other people bring you food. If you’re in for a long haul day shift, prearrange for a friend to bring you food in the middle—especially if your shift is around lunch or dinnertime. If you rope a friend into doing it ahead of time, they’ll be less likely to forget, and can plan around going to K-Ville anyways by going to the gym or something. If you don’t want to ask a friend to bring you food, bring along a protein bar or another filling snack at the start of your shift. Tenting makes you cold and tired; don’t let it make you hungry too.
9. Be nice to yourself. Tenting is hard. Having to get up and rush out of a tent multiple times in a night does something special to your soul. On the days you have off, treat yourself to a nap—or sleep in on one of the nights you’re not in the tent. As Duke students it’s sometimes hard to allow ourselves breaks, but tenting season makes them a necessity. Keep yourself healthy and rested so you can give it all you’ve got when you actually get to the game!
10. Don’t forget why you’re there. While it may seem like a drag to have to go sit in a cold tent for hours on end, we’re pretty darn lucky our school has the spirit it does. Cameron is one of the most special places in all of college sports, and the Crazies are some of the most enthusiastic fans out there. To be a part of it is such a privilege that, even with all the exhaustion and freezing of tenting, there’s no place I’d rather be than in K-Ville.