Aggie

Below is my long, cheesy ode to Utah State. I wrote it for my English class last summer. Don't worry, I won't make you read it, but it's there if you want. I'll even give you a short bulleted summary so you don't miss out on this important information :)

• I LOVE Utah State.
• It is very possible that I have been brainwashed to love Utah State this much.
• It is certain that I have been brainwashed to hate BYU. (Props to my brother, James, who was also brainwashed but is still choosing BYU anyways.)
• I recognize that I am brainwashed, and yet I still LOVE Utah State. And still hate BYU. 

Since the founding of The Agricultural College of Utah in 1888, now known as Utah State University, many students have passed through this campus, but not without making their own mark (Hail the Utah Aggies).

I have a long history of Aggies in my family. My mother went to Utah State. Her parents went to Utah State. My grandma’s parents went to Utah State. My grandpa’s father went to Utah State. Aggie Blue runs through my veins, and because of this, I always knew that I would be an Aggie at Utah State University.

My Great-Grandpa Smith, G. Carolos Smith Jr., went to Utah State on a football scholarship until his brother died. He had to quit school and move back to his home in Holladay to work on the farm to help support his family. He always wished that he had his degree so he was adamant that his children all graduated. Sure enough, my Papa, Carlos Smith III, went to Utah State on a tennis scholarship, met his wife there, and earned his degree. 

Show me a true blooded

Aggie from Utah,

Who doesn't love the spot . . .

Where the sagebrush grows! (The Scotsman).

My Papa is the definition of a True Blooded Aggie. In addition to his schooling at Utah State, many years later he became the Director of Alumni.  He commuted to Logan from Salt Lake City every day for ten years to his job at the Alumni House. I’m pretty sure that he taught me the phrase “Go Aggies” within my first year of talking. He also has an amazing talent of bringing up Utah State into every topic of conversation. In my junior high and high school years when I visited Utah, I would sometimes drive up to Logan with him when he went to work. He would take me to lunch at the Hub on campus and as I watched the many Aggies interacting and passing by, he would tell me stories about his experiences as a college student at Utah State. “I first saw your grandmother right here at this student center. When my friend introduced me to her she was reading a book and all she did was nod her head at me and then kept on reading her book!” I heard that story and others so many times, but they never seemed to get old. 

Why is it so good? Well, Aggie Ice Cream has a 12% butterfat content. It's aged slightly longer and contains less air than most commercial brands. People loved it so much, more flavors were created. Now, Aggie Ice Cream has 26 flavors and is known around the world. (Aggie Ice Cream).

Every summer since I can remember, I visited my Great Grandma Libbie Maughan in Logan. She was my Grandma’s mother. She grew up in Cache Valley, graduated from Utah State with her husband, Lemoine, and worked for 38 years at Utah State Extension Service. Everyone on campus knew her and loved her. After her retirement she worked part time in the Biology Department and was still working there when my mom went to Utah State for school.

Visiting Grandma Libbie was always a treat. Every time I came out of Sardine Canyon, I searched for my two favorite landmarks of Cache Valley. Across the valley of farms and green pastures, I spotted the glowing castle-like structure, the Logan Temple, and the big blue “A” just behind it, Old Main. We drove up 400 North past the USU campus and pulled into the driveway of her small red brick house. My cute Grandma Libbie, without fail, would be sitting in her white chair in the driveway, waiting for us to arrive.  We would wear Grandma Libbie out with all of our Logan traditions: picking up Papa at the Alumni House, stopping at Fredrico’s for pizza, floating toy boats down the creek at Central Park, and cooling off with lemon custard Aggie ice cream. When it was time to leave, Grandma Libbie would give me a big hug. She would stand by our car and watch and wave to us until we turned the corner. I would watch her until she was out of sight. That image was always special to me because I knew that eventually, that would be my last image of my dear Grandma Libbie. She died my sophomore year of high school. 

Closing seconds of BYU game…when 10,270 crazy USU basketball fans sent the undefeated, all-mighty Cougars from Brigham Young home with the harshest “Winning-Team Losing-Team” chant. The fans came early, stayed the whole game and were rewarded with one of the biggest wins of the year. “Winning-Team Losing-Team” is something that is highly anticipated toward the end of the second half, and you could literally feel the message of, “Go home Dave Rose!” ringing through the air (Statesman sport staff pick out plays, players, teams of the year).

When I was a senior at Gilbert High School in Arizona, I wanted to go to Utah State, but forced myself to be opened minded and explore other options. I went to a recruiting trip at BYU. When a BYU recruiter had us create an account on their website, I did the only defiant thing I could think of – I set my password to “goaggies.” That night, they took us to a BYU volleyball game. “Go Cougars!” Everyone shouted. I made an attempt to cheer but nothing came to my mouth. I literally could not humble myself enough to make one tiny Cougar chant. This was the first time that I considered the possibility that I was a “brainwashed Aggie” as well as a “true blooded Aggie.” Either way, I was an Aggie through and through. My Papa made sure to end my trip on a positive note, so he picked me up from Provo and drove me all the way up to Logan for an Aggie football game.

I came to Utah State in the Fall of 2007 on an Ambassador scholarship. As an Ambassador, I help recruit incoming students by giving campus tours, visiting high schools, and putting on high school leadership programs. I love it because I am able to talk to people with passion about USU. I love the people here. I appreciate the professors I have had. Cache Valley is absolutely beautiful. I love the crazy basketball games, sledding down Old Main Hill, Homecoming week, and the fun college town atmosphere. I enjoy selling Utah State to other people because it means so much to me. I have had such great experiences here that I want others to have that as well. 

The Block A has stood as a traditional monument to aggie spirit. Campus tradition dictates that only those who kiss while sitting on the Block A, under a full moon, can be "true aggies." (True Aggie). 

I got home from my honeymoon last Sunday. I married an Aggie. He is on a track scholarship and we joke that this has increased my “Aggie status” in my Papa’s eyes. We are living in the same red brick house that I drove to every summer, my dear Grandma Libbie’s house. I know that she is pleased. When we entered the valley as we drove out of Sardine Canyon last Sunday night, I searched for my Cache Valley “landmarks,” like always.  But they had more significance to me now. The Logan Temple is now a personal landmark as, a little over a week ago inside those temple walls, my husband and I knelt together and made eternal promises to each other and to God. Likewise, the glowing blue “A” on top of Old Main feels like a personal landmark as this place has been so good to me. I smiled to myself and reflected on how different my life would have been if Utah State had not been a part of my life. My heart was full of gratitude for Utah State University and all the Aggies in my life. For most, an Aggie is just a school mascot. For me, it defines who I am.

 Utah State, hey!

Aggies all the way!

Go Aggies! Go Aggies!

Hey! Hey! Hey! (Fight Song). 

And that is all. Except for my long, cheesy ode to USU Ambassadors. Oh, wait, that has already been written! See below. (But really, you don't have to. It's a little inside jokey.)

Go Aggies!!!!

What's left of the 2007 USU Ambassador girls

My most favorite people to recruit in AZ with.

With my cute cousins at a football game, sophomore year

Crossing the boarder on a recruiting trip to Tuscon, freshman year

Spencer's only home track meet.

Aggie Ice Cream with Hannah, sophomore year

Chucking Easter Eggs down Old Main Hill

2007 USU Ambassadors, freshman year

Homecoming Street Painting, sophomore year

Confession: Spencer has not yet become a True Aggie. But it's his own fault because he's traveled basically every True Aggie night since we started dating.