What an incredible and spirited week it has been at UCLA!  In the final countdown before the big game with our crosstown rival, we prepared ourselves and made sure our entire campus community was feeling the spirit and enthusiasm it takes to give our team extra reassurance and strength to head over to the Rose Bowl and show them who’s boss.

This week’s Beat ‘SC Bonfire and Rally hosted by the Alumni Association was by far one of the greatest experiences I have had at UCLA yet.  One of the greatest UCLA traditions of all time, the day began with a car smash in Bruin Plaza, during which an old battered car adorned with kind words about our rival nobly gave the last moments of its life to a a band of enthusiastic students with a sledgehammer.  Then, the evening festivities were kicked off by the annual “Get the Red Out” t-shirt exchange, at which the first 700 students received a “Beat ‘SC” shirt by trading in any red item of clothing that would go towards a clothing drive.

Kicked off by student performances by Samahang Modern, Bruin Harmony, NSU Modern, Random Voices, and Kyodo Taiko, everyone was pumped up and ready for the rally which began at 6pm.  Appearances by the Spirit Squad, Marching Band, UCLA Olympians who had competed in the 2012 games in London and before, and the football team really brought home the feeling of what it means to be a Bruin.  Each Bruin’s wholehearted love for UCLA and everything it stands for, embodied in each t-shirt/face tattoo/8-clap, was really an incredible thing to see.  When the evening culminated in the lighting of the woodblock tower, I knew that no matter what happens on Saturday, I was already perfectly happy (although, of course, we are obviously going to win).