I arrived to the stadium three hours early to wait in a long trembling line. My face was flushed with excitement and the spirit of Auburn poured off of everyone in the enormous crowd of orange and blue. The tiger walk paraded through the street, followed by a slow trickle of people simply participating in the parade to get through the enormous ocean of people more quickly.

The gates finally opened and people rushed inside the small openings. When I finally got to the front, I could only look in disbelief at the vast expanse of a crowd all eagerly waiting to get inside. Walking up the bleachers seemed to take hours as people stopped off and enthusiastically greeted their friends and family. We sat together in a small group and watched the football players practice. From our seats, the enormous players on the Auburn football team looked like little specks, just miniature people throwing a ball that looked to be the size of an almond. We could see the small sliver of red that stood out; an island in the foaming ocean of Auburn football fans. The band filed onto the field, their instruments shining with Auburn pride, each section obviously following a set of standards set by the section leader. Seeing the leaders brought me back to my final march on the high school football field and the amazing feeling of leading my group. The football players ran off the field and the band assumed their formation and began to play a thundering national anthem.

The sun began to set, casting an orange light on the legendary football game. I should have known then that it was going to be an amazing experience. The band led cheer after cheer and the stands roared the words that announced their Tiger pride loudly for all to hear. Time flew, and the orange light faded into a black velvet blanket, the stars hidden by the overwhelming brightness of the stadium lights. The halftime show was over before anyone had enough time to realize what was happening, and the game resumed. The score board pierced the cheering with its loud announcement of an Alabama touchdown over and over again, hardly leaving time for a recovery. The fourth quarter snuck up on everyone, nails were being bitten and the calm sea of orange and blue came alive with the agitated sound of shakers all moving together.

The final few seconds were on the clock; the entire football game had come down to this. A crushing silence of eighty-eight thousand people pounded in my ears as if I had sunk to the bottom of the tumbling sea. Alabama made their final play and the crowd swelled together in waves, as people visibly held their breath in anticipation of the final outcome of the football game. The final few moments ticked past, and the clock shrieked that the game was over. The small island of angry Alabama fans began to buzz, a slice of chaos in a placid ocean that mirrored disbelief. The football players were like schools of fish, swarming together in brilliant displays of emotion and tension. An eternity seemed to pass by as the officials deliberated the final play of the game.

A single second appeared on the clock and all the Auburn fans got to their feet. Goosebumps appeared on my arms, each its own tiny island on my skin. The crowd of spectators made an enormous noise, every hand had a shaker held high, every eye filled with Auburn pride. Then, all at once, the silence crashed down on us again. The Alabama kicker missed the field goal and the football landed safely in the arms of Chris Davis. Eighty-eight thousand people were on their feet and cheering for the one person who mattered in that moment. In a feat against unbelievable odds, Auburn won the Iron Bowl. The ocean of people poured onto the football field for the first time in eleven years. Happiness flowed down my cheeks in streaming tears of excitement as I rushed down to the field to join all the people celebrating such an amazing victory.

In that moment, I realized what it means to have Auburn spirit. Feeling the emotion from eighty-eight thousand voices all cheering for the same thing, for the same purpose, was something I am never going to forget. It all came down to the simple realization: I am so proud to be an Auburn Tiger, War Eagle.