Uniform

One of my greatest worries as an incoming freshman at Penn State was a trivial one: learning to dress myself every morning – a laughable concept to most, but legitimate to me. For twelve years of my life, I wore a uniform to school every day, with the exception of the greatly anticipated dress down days sponsored by Student Council and Campus Ministry. My morning routine was simple: make my bed, eat breakfast, wash my face and brush my teeth, braid my hair, and throw on my golf polo, tights, kilt, and sneakers. It was simple, effortless.

We have the option of wearing blue or white polos, but everyone wears the kilt.

At my private, Catholic, all-girls high school (the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in Villanova, PA), our uniform wasn’t just an outfit you threw on every morning. Yes, we had the option of wearing a blue or white polo, tights or socks, fleece or Under Armour. The one clothing article that remained constant was the kilt. It was a symbol of unity, connecting not only the current student body, but also all the alumni who had passed through the school gates generations before. Graduates of the Academy of Notre Dame have an emotional attachment to their kilts; they often bring them to college because woven into the fabric are all the fond memories related to their time at the school.

I hung my kilt on my bulletin board to remind myself of the fond memories I had at my high school.

In a sense, learning to dress myself each day for class was not the primary worry as an incoming Nittany Lion. Rather, it was the fear that nothing would connect the Class of 2016 like our kilts united my high school class. I didn’t think anything would be able to have the same effect as the kilt. However, I was pleasantly surprised as I entered the doors of Rec Hall the first Sunday I was here for Be a Part from the Start: the Blue Band was putting its heart and soul into the music as the Class of 2016 filed in, waving their blue and white pom-poms to the beat of the cheers. The bleachers were soon a sea of blue and white, strangers who were soon united by the words of the Alma Mater:

“May no act of ours bring shame
To one heart that loves thy name,
May our lives but swell thy fame,
Dear old State, dear old State.”

I may not have a physical representation of my class that I wrap around my hips every morning, but I still have an unbreakable bond with Penn State’s Class of 2016.

This entry was posted in Passion and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Uniform

  1. kah51 says:

    Wow! I would sooo hate wearing a unifrom to school… mostly because i lovee wearing my sweatpants on lazy days haha. I had a sorta of culture shock when I saw that you can wear pretty much anything here; there are no strict regulations. Seeing girls midsections or shorts so short that they should classify as underwear… I, on the other hand, like to just wear a regular tee-shirt and capris or whatever. There are soo many different styles that people have, so if i were you i wouldn’t worry what people think because they are probly thinking about the why someone would want to be half naked in class haha.

  2. Andrew Saba says:

    I also went to a grade school and high school where a uniform was required. At first I hated it, but then I learned to love it. I completely agree with you – it was so easy to get up in the morning and just throw on your uniform each day. Nobody really cared how you looked because they were all wearing the same thing. I also agree that it gives students a common identity; a reason to come together. Even though there are no uniforms here at Penn State, this community is just as close as my much smaller grade school and high school. This community showed it can stick together through adversity throughout the events of this summer. There are no uniforms required here because there is no need for them. Clearly, we all share a common identity.

Leave a Reply