Saturdays in Kenan
It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster as a Carolina fan in Kenan Stadium these past four years, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.
My earliest memory of Chapel Hill is going to a Carolina football game at the stadium in the woods. I remember walking through a crowded area…probably Tar Heel Town on the quad or maybe Franklin Street (I don’t have great memory, I was really little). But I do remember getting a Tar Heel shaped sticker to put on my cheek for the game. Little did I know I would one day live in the dorm with balconies actually overlooking the field and later work in Kenan football center.
Carolina is what we would call a basketball school, I’ll admit it. I mean, the football program is sponsored by Jordan so there are Jumpman symbols everywhere. For the 2016 and 2017 seasons, kickoffs were rarely ever after 12:30…in August…in North Carolina. That means it felt like the surface of the sun on the metal benches of the student section. I’ll be honest, I woke up to tailgate my first game freshman year and ended up leaving the heat in the first quarter. I’m not proud of it, obviously. I do have great tailgate memories with my friends and family. While the wins were few and student section scantly attended, I still tried to go to most games, but it was a little disheartening and I spent those years looking forward to nights in the Dean Dome.
My junior year I got a job as a student office assistant in the football recruiting department. I did administrative work during the week and on game days, we hosted recruits. I loved my role junior year, standing on the field as the players ran past me with 5 minutes to kickoff. While it meant giving up tailgating, (yes of course I miss it) pre-game recruiting turned into an amazing experience. This year almost everything changed because #MackisBack. This year has been a completely new and challenging experience. A lot of new staff and procedures joined game day. Overall, it’s been incredibly rewarding working for UNC Football and meeting recruits in Kenan.
I’ll keep working for the team during the spring semester, but I can’t believe I just watched my last game as a student in the student section of Kenan, the stadium in the woods. One of the best things about having our stadium right on campus is how often I get to be there. Kenan is almost always unlocked and the field is open. I used to be able to cut through the stadium to go to class. My sophomore year dorm actually overlooked a corner of the stadium. Lindsey and I spent a snow day on the field. I always said I would go there to run stairs, but never actually did. I’ll always carry my Kenan memories close to my heart: cheering on Trubisky and Switzer, tailgates with my family, when Julia came to visit for the Virginia Tech game during hurricane rain, our first night game, the Rameses mascot hugging me when I was in the first row for the Thanksgiving weekend game against NC State, almost almost almost beating Clemson…and so many more.
Yesterday I met my parents in the players’ lounge and we walked through Kenan Football Center and into the tunnel. As we walked through the tunnel and out onto the field I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed by the rain and majority empty stands. But as I was handed my white rose surrounded by baby’s breath with my parents on either side of me, I was incredibly happy. I am so proud to have worked for a sport I love at a school I love. When I heard “Melissa Rademaker, escorted by her parents Jamie and Lisa Rademaker,” I could not help but get emotional. Those 10 minutes on the field with my parents being thanked for my part was so amazing. The moment I stepped off the field into the stands, I started crying. The people sitting on either side of the stairs probably thought I was crazy but I didn’t care. I have loved all my time in Kenan.
In the end, I think one of my favorite things about Kenan is that the elevators in the offices play two songs over and over: “Carolina Can” by Chase Rice and “Carolina” by Eric Church. I just know that every time I hear Chase Rice sing “faded blue jeans on Franklin street, a He’s Not Buzz…” or Eric Church belt “Carolina calling me home..” it will remind me of some of the most amazing Saturdays spent in Kenan.