Traditions

     South Carolina is like any other university in having its own unique traditions.  Many of the traditions here are similar to the traditions at other universities, just unique to USC.  For example, at USC we have the Ring Ceremony held each year.  Upperclassmen who have acquired 60 hours of course credit are eligible to order their class ring and participate in the Ring Ceremony.  This tradition is similar to the Ring Dance at Virginia Tech.  At Virginia Tech instead of having a formal ceremony for the dispensing of class rings to their owners, they have a dance.  The student picks up his ring before the dance and wears it the dance.  The Ring Dance is essentially a cross between a ring ceremony and a high school prom. 
     Another tradition we have here at South Carolina is the annual Tiger Burn before the South Carolina-Clemson football game.  Many students gather on Greene street in the week before the game to get pumped up.  On top of other various activites they hold a "tiger burn."  The Tiger Burn is lighting a fake tiger similar to the Clemson mascot on fire in order to symbolize USC beating Clemson in the football game. 
     Many of the traditions held at USC do not tend to happen within the first couple months of a person's freshman year.  Most of the traditions are for upperclassmen or held later in the year during certain dates.  One tradition however that every freshman gets to participate in and that I was able to participate in was the First-Year Reading experience.  Every freshman is given a copy of the First-Year Reading at orientation and asked to complete it before move-in day.  The reading is typically used in English and University 101 classes so it is pretty much impossible to not read.  A few days after move-in day all the freshman get together at the Carolina Coliseum for a brief speech by the President and a chosen student.  After this gathering we are split up into our University 101 classes and moved to a different location on campus to discuss the book.  This year we had to read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  The book was about surviving in the wild and on very little and how our society has made it impossible to live off the land like our ancestors did.  It was a statement to the damage we have done to ourselves as humans to not be able to live off what is around us, but rely on modern technology to survive.  Overall I quite enjoyed the book and the discussion I had with my University 101 class.  After enjoying this tradition I cannot wait to participate in more in the coming weeks and years!