I have been dreading this Saturday since the first day I stepped foot on Penn State’s campus. November 18 is not only the day Penn State plays Nebraska, but it also marks the last home game of the 2017 season and the last time this senior class will stand in the student section. To understand what this day means to me, and to many of my fellow seniors, we need to rewind a bit.

During my first week of college, I crowd surfed at Old Main in a campus-wide rally to celebrate the early return of Penn State’s bowl eligibility. Three years later, I’ve seen that team play in the Rose Bowl and climb to #10 in the nation. The transformation from freshman year to now is one I can describe only as magical, and I know I speak for a lot of people when I say it’s a journey I feel incredibly lucky to have witnessed.

This Saturday, we will say goodbye to a handful of seniors who made this program special. We will bid farewell to Gate A, shakers, chicken baskets, and touchdown celebrations. We will stand for the last time in the best student section in the country, filled with 21,000 strangers that feel more like best friends.

To ask what this last game will mean to seniors is like asking for Peter Pan to describe Neverland — it’s unexplainable. Unfortunately, it’s the first major milestone on the march to graduation and impending alumni status.

While many people have already decided to skip the Nebraska game for the comfort of a home-cooked meal and an early Thanksgiving break, I ask you to think twice. It’s cliché to say, but before you know it, you will be in my position and wishing you could relive every last moment.

In typical State College fashion, mother nature will not make this goodbye a pretty one. But I know when the alma mater plays and I’m linking arms, there is no place I, along with the rest of the senior class, would rather be.