After reading the Buzzfeed of “40 Signs you went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison” and Princeton Review announcing the Top 20 Party Schools, we were a little nostalgic on our time at UW-Madison. Even though Madison slipped in the ranks, and unfortunately University of Iowa took the cake this year, UW-Madison will ALWAYS have a special place in our heart and be the best University in America.
We wanted to put together a list of our favorite parts of UW-Madison. This is not of Madison in general, just our school experience. Both of us did not have a “typical” college experience because we transferred to Madison as Juniors. But, we got the opportunity to experience lots of awesome things and love to reminisce!
Top Five Memories of UW-Madison
1. Badger Game Days. (Allie)
There really is no way to explain a Badger game. During the fall it seems like only one day really matters….Saturday game days. These events literally take over the campus area and everyone around Madison is decked out in the Badger gear. From the “Jump Around” 3rd quarter, to Bucky doing a pushup for every point, the game are fun even if you aren’t a Bucky fan! I think this video better explains just how awesome this experience is…
2. The flock of people walking/mopedding down University during school. (Allie)
If you are on campus anytime between 10 and 2 during the school year, you will see the flood of people that just take over all of the streets and roads of campus. If you are driving in a car, I am sure it is really annoying because it’s practically impossible to get anywhere. But, when you are a student and surrounded by literally thousands and thousands of kids that are all doing the same thing as you, it is pretty cool. The campus is around 40,000 people and during the prime hours of class a lot of them are walking down University Avenue. UW-Madison is the campus that has one of the largest number of mopeds. There are full parking lots dedicated just for mopeds! I was lucky enough to have one my Senior year and loved it!
3. Brother’s Wing Night. (Sara)
For me, nothing says college like getting drunk while waiting in line for three hours for 10 cent wings on Wednesday night. At the time, this was gourmet food on a budget. I’m sure if I ate them now I would think they are absolutely disgusting. Regardless, it was a college hump day tradtition! It was incredibly sad for me to see them tear down Brother’s in Madison in 2012… future generations of Sconnies will never get to live this Madison tradition that I enjoyed so much. Alas, Brother’s Wing Night will always hold a special place in my heart.
4. Shoutouts and Sudokus. (Sara)
This is pretty lame, but I’m ok with it. When I think about sitting in my college courses, my mind goes right to spending ample time every week mastering sudoku puzzles and reading the “Shoutouts” in The Badger Herald. “Shoutout to the blonde girl in the red tank top I met at Wando’s last night. We shared a fish bowl, swapped spit and I believe it was true love. I hope you call.” You always made fun of the shoutouts while secretly hoping you would be the target of one. Another great part about the UW-Madison newspapers was the daily Sudoku, which, I spent more time working on during my lectures than I did actually taking notes.
5. The Nitty Gritty Power Hour. (Sara)
I wasn’t going to put two UW-Madison, “bar-related” memories, but let’s get serious… that’s what UW is about. Students all did their own thing until 10 pm, but 10-11pm in Madison means one thing… Nitty Gritty Power Hour! For one hour and one hour only, students flock to The Nitty Gritty for their $1 mix drinks. (I believe it’s $1.25 now, but back in my day it was one dolla’.) Since you have to wait at the bar for at least 10-15 minutes before you can order your drink, you always order AT LEAST two mix drinks per person. My friends and I always ordered three each for good measure. Again, great way to ball on a budget!
Where are our fellow Badgers at?! What other favorite UW-Madison memories do you have?
-Allie & Sara
Simply Stitched Together 