🏈 Football School? 9/14/25

Pumpkin Spice Season is upon us! While some people might get annoyed by the proliferation of pumpkin spice in every single food, object, and item, and how every year, it seems this flavor combo comes earlier and earlier, and I am here for it. For those of you who don’t know, I am a certified pumpkin spice girlie. Pumpkin spice popcorn, pumpkin spice ravioli, pumpkin spice hummus, you name it, and I am down to try it. However, if there is one thing I must have every year, it is the most eponymous of them all, the pumpkin spice latte. There’s no better way to start this most wonderful time of the year!

I actually stumbled upon this article about describing the origin of the pumpkin spice lattes. Back in 2003, the only place you could find pumpkin was as a puree or in a pie, so when the father of the PSL, Peter Dukes, offered up the idea of a pumpkin-flavored drink, Starbucks was originally a little skeptical. Also, a fun fact: it was almost called the Fall Harvest Latte.

Now that I have hopefully converted you to PSL girlies as well, let’s find out What’s Up With Will…

I’ve been spending some time around campus a little more, exploring everything that it has to offer.

In addition to the global museum I toured during orientation, SFSU has two additional exhibits.

Since SFSU has such a history of social activism, one of the focuses of the Special Archives Library is the history of labor unions and strikes in the Bay Area. Every so often, they open up a small gallery showcasing the wide variety of media that they own from pictures to written works, and videos. The current exhibit, Entitled “the stubborn 1000,”  focuses on the Watsonville Canneries Strike, a landmark labor struggle led primarily by Mexican-American women cannery workers, who went on strike for 18 months, ultimately securing better wages and benefits and inspired Latino entering politics. Shortly after the strike, the first Latinos were elected to the City Council and Mayors office, which many attribute to this strike.

Martin Wong was a 20th century artist who focused on social realism, exploring racial and ethnic identities. In 2001, his mother created the Martin Wong Foundation to support young artists through scholarships at four universities including SF State. The result of this is the Martin Wong Gallery, an exhibit hall showcasing works from SFSU’s fine arts students. It sounds like artwork rotates frequently, so I think it will be cool to see what students are creating here. Maybe someday I will see their works in one of the bigger galleries!

When looking for a grad program, I specifically looked for programs without a football team. I already have way too much stress from Georgia Tech’s team and I didn’t need any more. And while SFSU doesn’t have a football team, it does have a futbol team. Last week marked the start of the women’s soccer season, and since I get free access to sports games because of my student status, I decided to stop by the game vs Biola. We lost 1-2, but it’s cool that this is another free resource that we get.

SFSU also puts on free student events throughout the semester, from career fairs, resume workshops and even painting plant pots. And I didn’t even mention the arcade/pool hall. Anyone want to try their luck against me in pool? (Im not that good, and I’m not saying that to try and swindle you)

With this much to do, it feels like SFSU almost doesn’t want me to study…

In other news, I am starting to connect with my grad school cohort! I’ve enjoyed getting to know people via hanging out between classes (and we a couple of us organized a game of Magic: The Gathering), and discussions during class. Everyone is super nice. I am also getting along and learning so much from my mentor instructor!

I want to go back to an idea that I had a couple of months earlier, around baseball, concerning moments. When I wrote about this originally, I said, “the best thing is the moments that they [baseball games] create”. After looking at the book, Baseball: 100 Classic Moments In The History Of The Game, by Joseph Wallace, Neil A. Hamilton, and Marty Appel, the entire history of baseball is built on these moments. Throughout its 100-year history in America, it is the moments in baseball that define the impact that it can have on us. However, since going to games, I’ve found that while the big moments are momentous, the little ones have the power to be just as impactful.

In the foreword by baseball hall of famer Nolan Ryan, he writes that many of his favorite memories are not of games, but of him playing catch with his kids and the feelings that it evokes. It made me think about the memories that I have had this season. I’ve realized that when I think of baseball, I think about the cheers of pure joy from a win, being in awe of a couple of feats of athleticism, cat-walking down the corridors of Oracle Park with the most recent giveaway, and having a blast with friends. This is what Baseball is to me.

For the game I went to they played the Arizona Diamondbacks. The giveaway was a tote bag, that definitely breaks Oracle Park’s bag policy. Unfortunately, the Giants lost 3-5. This being said, it’s an exciting time for the team right now. We currently have the potential to be in the playoffs this year, as they are only a couple of losses away from getting the final wildcard spot.

As I mentioned last week, college football season is upon us. This was week 3, and it was the biggest test yet for my Alma mater, Georgia Tech. We played Clemson, which is currently ranked 12th in the nation. This was make or break for us and would be a good indicator for the rest of the season. Because of how important this game is and how the Clemson alumni quite literally rejected all GT alumni from joining their watch party, we decided to host our own. The only issue is that this game was scheduled at noon in Atlanta, which is not a problem for people on the East Coast, but for us West Coast peeps, it means that it starts at 9:00 AM. It took me back to my frat days when we would start tailgating games at the crack of dawn.

Despite its early start time, a good bit of people showed up. The game itself was intense, and after a last second 55-yard field goal, Georgia Tech beat Clemson 24-21! FOOTBALL SCHOOL!

We celebrated at the aptly named Victory Hall, where I had a *very strong* ginger bourbon cocktail. I definitely got my money’s worth, but I think I am getting to a point in my life where I’d prefer a balanced cocktail over a strong one. But if that’s what you want, then this place is a great spot.

We also stopped at the sushi restaurant Hakashi Japanese Bar and Grill. Our verdict was that the fish was great, but the rice was a tad dry. I am of the belief that the rice is more important than the actual fish, since it acts as a vessel and balances out the flavor, so less-than-stellar rice is a big letdown.

We had one more stop before we went back home. Empire Distribution, a San Francisco-based independent record label, has been launching the careers of major artists like Anderson .Paak and Kendrick Lamar for 15 years. In honor of its 15th birthday, Empire threw a free live concert in the Civic Center with several artists signed to the label. So we sat down on the lawn to watch both Red Leather and Inayah perform.

Have you ever wondered about the side of Youtube that it’s not recommending toanyone. I remember reading a stat one day that around 20 million videos are uploaded a day to Youtube, yet Youtube’s algorithm will never recommend the vast majority of them to you. I think its interesting to see this side of Youtube.