There’s no doubt that tailgating is fun.

I mean, what can beat free drinks, burgers, hot dogs and hanging out with all of your friends?

However, Wake Forest and Southern tailgates in general, are very different from what I expected. I was so excited to go to my first college tailgate.

I laid out all my Wake Forest gear on my bed, trying to decide what to wear.

Then, all of a sudden, I saw four girls walk by in dresses and cowboy boots.

I thought to myself, that’s so weird, why are they so dressed up for a football game?

Then I saw more and more girls walk by in dresses and boys in button downs and pastel-colored shorts, and I thought it was so strange.

To my surprise, this is the normal attire for some Southern college tailgates.

Coming from the North, I was definitely not expecting to wear a dress to the football games. At my high school’s tailgates, everybody would be decked out in our school colors and clothes.

Even on a larger scale, most people usually wear the team’s colors or logo to NFL football games (or really any sport).

Fans get really into wearing the team colors and it brings people together, united against the opposing team.

This is a fun way to express support and love for your team while also looking cute.

Don’t get me wrong, I like dressing up for the games. Everybody looks good and it is definitely Instagram-worthy, but it’s just so different from I’m used to. When I told my friends from New York that we dress up for tailgates, they were all surprised. Most go to school in the North, so they’re used to dressing up in what I know as tailgating apparel.

I think dressing up in school colors to tailgates is a fun way to really connect with the team. By wearing the team’s color, instead of a dress, it shows obvious support for school.

I think that Wake Forest should have at least one spirit tailgate every season.

Not only would that let people wear all the Wake Forest apparel that they own, but it would also encourage more school spirit.

Because of that, I think people would go all out in old gold and black and it would be so much fun.

It unites the student body and promotes a sense of community. Plus, it would be way more comfy!