Excitement, nerves and anxiety sums it up

The day has finally come! I have been losing sleep over my built up excitement about leaving for the Super Bowl! Kait and I will be driving through the night arriving in Indianapolis around 8 a.m. and I could not be more thrilled. I'm taking a MegaBus to Pittsburgh in order to meet Kait to continue the drive to Indianapolis through the night. I've taken the MegaBus multiple times before never having a problem. Of course on the one day I really CANNOT miss this bus it is not there when I arrive 15 minutes before the departure time of 9:05 p.m. It is not there at 9:05 or 9:15 or 9:30. I'm not going to lie anxiety rushed through my body that the bus was not leaving tonight because of some technicality or unfortunate breakdown. However, about an hour later the bus pulled up to the WalMart parking lot safe and sound and I'm officially on my way to Super Bowl XLVI!

While I have absolutely NO idea what to expect I look forward to Kait and Becky filling me in as much as they can on how their experience went last year. Unlike me, these two awesome women did not have anyone to help prepare them for the experience of a lifetime and I truly value the answers to my MILLIONS of questions. From what our assignments will be to what I need to bring to pack the questions were endless. Probably one of the most helpful advice I have gotten thus far was to bring nice sneakers to wear with my suit (yes suit) on game day. (I definitely wouldn't have thought to bring that so thank you Kait!) The only other sporting event I have been to that was remotely similar to this was the 2011 All-Star Game with Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association. It was my first time working at such a high level of professional sports and it was unlike anything I have experienced before, until now. If it were not for my former Supervisor Nikki and the Penn State Athletics department I would not have been able to look forward to this journey that I will be embarking on during the next six days.

Follow me through Super Bowl XLVI sharing what it is like to work at one of the biggest sporting events of the year! From the atmosphere to the work assignments I am given and everything in between I will be blogging about every experience no matter how big or small! One of the things on my to do list (and if anyone knows me at all you know it has to do with food) is to head down to Monument Circle not only to see the giant Roman Numerals but to scope out the food truck scene at some point before I leave because supposedly there are a bunch to try!

Penn State, stay strong

Joe Paterno passed Beaver Stadium, also known as "The House Joe Built," for the last time this afternoon in his funeral procession while thousands of men, women, children and students gathered to support the Paterno family during this difficult time. It has been an extremely somber, sullen and cloudy couple of days here in State College, however the sun finally came out today just in time for Joe Pa's funeral procession. A tweet by "PSUintheNFL" tweeted "A rainbow appeared over the Spiritual Center moments before the procession began from where I was standing. Unbelievable." 

If one was to visit Penn State this week they would not see the normal University that I have grown to know and love. Instead, they would experience numerous silent students with a lot of raw emotions concealed by attending classes and work. (That is what Joe Pa would have wanted isn't it?) "Get back to your studies" he said when students gathered outside of his house the day after he was let go. It has been one heck of year for Penn Staters everywhere, but all it has shown me is that there is no closer community than the Penn State community. Who would have thought that 40,000+ students and 100,000+ alumni could feel so close and share such a strong bond? After traveling to every away football game this year including the TicketCity Bowl game it has truly shown me the strong ties that Penn Staters nationwide share. 

Today the CATA busses, the bus system that serves State College students, faculty and local community members, read "Paterno Proud" in honor of Joe Paterno's funeral procession. For those that do not know they usually just say the route they are like "Blue Loop," "White Loop," etc. 

Yesterday, an estimated 30,000 students passed through Joe Pa's viewing. For those who know campus the line reached from Forum wrapping around to the business building. For those who don't know campus the line was about 3/4 of a mile long. The scene was simple with white roses and one black and white photo next to his casket reflecting the way that Joe Pa lived his life. A picture of students waiting in line for the viewing is shown below.

When Joe Pa took one last ride through campus and past Beaver Stadium the streets were silent. The hearse was followed by his family riding in the Blue Buses that the team rides to Beaver Stadium before every game. Sue Paterno sat in Joe's seat. 

The day after Joe Paterno's death there were multiple tweets suggesting that he died of a broken heart. As Joe Paterno's biographer has said "He did not. Joe Paterno died of lung cancer and the complications it caused. He did not die a bitter or broken man." I agree. Joe Paterno lived an amazing life filled with the love and support from his family, players, fans and university. He has made a huge impact on so many lives judged clearly by the thousands of people that lined the streets for his viewing yesterday, the thousands that lined the streets today and the thousands that will be in attendance at Joe's memorial service tomorrow in the Bryce Jordan Center. While Penn State football tickets cost $300 and sell out in five minutes, Joe Pa's memorial service was free and sold out in 40 seconds. Heaven just signed the best coach out there and his legacy on earth will live on and be remembered forever. We are because you were. Thanks Coach, RIP Joe Pa. 

A journey to remember

In exactly one week I will be embarking on one of the most exciting experiences of any American sports fan, Super Bowl XLVI. I will be volunteering with the Super Bowl public relations staff and I am anxiously waiting to find out my assignments while getting thrown into working at the most fast-paced sporting event of the year!

While I have absolutely no idea what to expect during this journey I am so lucky to know another Penn State alum, Becky Murdy, who worked with the Public Relations staff last year and will be returning for another Super Bowl experience in Indianapolis! I must admit as soon as I found out about this extraordinary opportunity millions of thoughts and questions flooded my head. I was excited, happy, nervous and kind of freaking out (in a good way) all at the same time. While I was one of the last volunteers to find out about this amazing opportunity I began scrambling on who I would stay with because everyone was already roomed together! However, I haven't even gotten there yet and the people working with the Public Relations staff have been absolutely amazing and helpful in every way imaginable. Within 48 hours I was taken under the wings of recent Penn State alum Becky Murdy and the volunteers she worked with last year. I will be driving to Indianapolis with another Penn State alum, Kait Sawyer, who also worked last year! (Looks like Penn Staters are taking over the Super Bowl and the sports world!) Leave it to Penn State alumni to help each other out in times of need, thank you!

While it has been an extremely rough year for Penn Staters everywhere recent events have proven to me that there is really no closer community than the Penn State community. In a group of 40,000+ students and over 100,000+ alumni I have never felt closer to such an amazing group of people. We have stood by each other in the toughest year that Penn State has seen and will continue to do so in the future. If it wasn't for my experience here and my work with the Penn State Athletics Department I would not be where I am today.

So, what specifically is there to look forward to in the host city this year?

• Indianapolis is home to some of the biggest sporting events of the year including the Indy 500, Big Ten and Final Four tournaments. The Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament will be held here in March! (They're custom to hosting big sporting events and I do not anticipate anything less than extraordinary by this years' host committees) 
• The NFL Experience held during the 10 days prior to Super Bowl Sunday
• To all fans attending that lack tickets, media day will be open to the public for the first time in NFL history! 
• Tennis celebrities Pete Sampras and Todd Martin will participate in a charity tennis match named "Match for a Cure" 
• Musical events by singers such as LMFAO, O.A.R., Darius Rucker, Hunter Smith Band and Jon McLaughlin