With the last few minutes of the game standing between the Irish and a huge win over their oldest rival Michigan, I was about to chew a hole in my Notre Dame keychain and kept pinching myself. Merely an hour earlier, my friend had turned to me and said that if we won that game, we were going to rush the field. Apparently, many other people had had that same notion, and with 20 seconds left in the game, the sea of green started cascading down in a rush of people, purses and eventual bleacher shards. At one point during the descent, there had amassed such a crowd that my body was no longer touching the ground.
The intensity was exhilarating until I got to the wall, where the surge from behind was so strong that I could not get my legs up and over. Earnestly afraid of being crushed, I glanced up and saw a man in a yellow jacket standing down on the field, apparently very concerned about what he was witnessing. Our eyes met. I mouthed the word "help," and he stretched his arms towards me. Grateful, I simply leaned over, threw my arms around him and slid over the wall in what must have been the epitome of grace. Good thing I wasn't wearing a skirt.
Not only to that one usher but to all of them, I wish to extend a big thank you. I was certain that you were going to try to stop the inevitable. Instead, you helped a few flimsy students in their quest for the football field. My friends even told me that they had heard ushers asking people during the fourth quarter not to hurt each other while rushing the field. Saturday, the ushers showed some real wisdom and kindness for a student body that probably never shows gratitude. So once again, to the nameless selfless people in the yellow jackets who love Notre Dame too much to leave it, thank you. You deserve another big hug.
Clare Charbonnet
sophomore
Cavanaugh Hall
Sept. 12