By Carleigh Holt
HottyToddy.com Intern
Hi, fellow Ole Miss family! My name is Carleigh Holt. I’m a senior at Ole Miss studying IMC with a specialization in Visual Design and a minor in General Business. I’ll be writing a weekly column about my experiences at Ole Miss from the perspective of a being a transfer student entering my final year of classes while embarking upon my inaugural year on campus due to taking online classes as a junior.
Because this is actually my first real year on campus, I feel like a freshman in many ways. I will explore some of these feelings and write about why I came to Ole Miss and how COVID has affected my college experience, and I will offer perspectives on seeing everyday life as a student. Some articles may even feature my experiences standing on the sidelines of games with my Sports Illustrated internship.
I will offer my views on experiencing Ole Miss traditions for the first time, complete with sappy senior feelings. As a transfer student from Northeast Mississippi Community College, I got to experience Ole Miss a little bit during my junior year, but after only seven weeks in Oxford COVID guidelines sent us dorm students home.
I always say, “Yeah, I had just finished decorating my dorm room before Spring Break just to come back and pack it all back up a couple of weeks later.” Many other students and I are in the same boat: We didn’t get the full academic experience by just being online and having Zoom classes last year.
Finally, after a year of not tailgating and no Ole Miss traditions to experience, I can join a crowd in cheering “Hotty Toddy!”
Recently, I discovered how serious people are about finding the perfect tailgate spot and how SEC football is practically a religion in the South. I watched as a huge crowd of Ole Miss fans and security guards swarmed the Grove at 7 p.m on Friday before Saturday’s first home game.
I hope this column will help new students as well as those who feel like they missed out on many opportunities last year because they weren’t on campus. Hotty Toddy!
Article with pictures of people running to the Grove to get tailgating spots by Carleigh Holt:
https://www.si.com/college/olemiss/football/look-the-grove-returns–to-life-for–ole-miss-home-opener-vs-austin-peay
Photo by: Ross Hodges