In my last piece I reflected on my freshman year at Tarleton and the various life lessons I learned. This time around, I want to address upperclassmen, particularly my fellow seniors. In order to do that, however, we must once again visit the ghost of freshman year past.

Think back on your first semester at Tarleton, class of 2015. Do you remember it? Skirting around the grass even if it meant taking the long way around, waiting until dawn to grab a Poo sign (I never got mine, sadly), proudly sporting purple every single Thursday… these were traditions that were instilled in us. They weren’t an optional feature of going to school here – they were practically a requirement. The student body of Tarleton State University held tradition in the utmost regard.

Now, however, evidence of that regard is difficult to find. Underclassmen tread on the lawn like it’s concrete. Where there was once an abundance of purple cloth each week, most students don’t even register that Purple Thursday exists. Last year, the Purple Poo were forced to stop leaving signs at the park because students were cornering our masked friends and stealing them. Last week I watched three girls walk across the school seal without flinching.

Everywhere I look, I see traditions being disrespected. “Don’t they realize what they’re doing?” I ask myself. “Don’t they know that stepping on the seal is the biggest taboo at Tarleton? That Purple Thursday is a day for campus unity, meant to remind us of the family we’re a part of? That the TTS and TTP are the oldest spirit organization at Tarleton, with a code of anonymity that is so rigid and dedicated that they would rather risk their lives than reveal their identities?”

And the answer is, no. They don’t know. Because we, the upperclassmen at Tarleton State, have not taught them these things the way we were taught. Certainly, Duck Camp leaders and TTMs pour endless hours of work into sharing Tarleton traditions with newcomers, but they can only do so much. When a freshman comes into the first week of school and finds upperclassmen disregarding traditions, what else are they to do but follow suit?

So I implore you, upperclassmen – help me bring our traditions back. Stay off the grass. Treat our spirit organizations with dignity and love. And for the sake of all that is holy, wear a freaking purple shirt on Thursdays. I know you all have one – I got four purple shirts just for being a junior last year.

And seniors, this should be especially important to you. Our remaining time here is dwindling away – do you really want to come back in two years and find that everything that made Tarleton unique and different is gone? Because that is the direction we’re heading in, if we don’t make a change. Let’s leave an impact, like the seniors of our day did for us.

Finally, to the freshmen at Tarleton – I know I gave you a heap of advice last time, but allow me to leave you just one more. You have the ability to decide what kind of school you want to attend. There are literally thousands of you, and in a few years we’ll all be gone and this place will be yours. Don’t waste that opportunity.

Let’s make Tarleton legendary right now.