Editor’s note: Sources were given fake names to keep their identities and information anonymous. This story is a recurring relationship column, focusing on the lives of students.
“Romeo” started dating “Juliet” the summer before their senior year of high school. For college decisions, going to UT is a tradition in Juliet’s family, making her decision easy. For Romeo, as valedictorian, he felt stumped when choosing a school — in the end, he chose Texas A&M.
“It was definitely a little bit hard knowing that we were going to be apart,” Juliet said. “In high school, we (had) almost all our classes together. We were together all the time. Coming to college, we weren’t used to the distance, so we did end up breaking up our freshman year of college – almost a month into school – … because the distance was just too much.”
The following spring semester, the two got back together and have been dating ever since. When Juliet visited Romeo in College Station wearing a UT shirt in public, her interactions with students made the rivalry evident, according to Juliet.
“One of the first times I came to A&M, I remember wearing a UT shirt because I didn’t believe people when they said (it was) bad, (and) A&M does not want anything to do with UT,” Juliet said. “I remember going to get coffee with one of my friends … and some random girls started taking pictures of me and laughing. I was like, ‘What?’ I remember telling my boyfriend about it, and he was like, ‘Yeah, I mean, it’s very common here. People don’t like (UT merch).’”
Now, the two attend each other’s games — notably the rivalry football games. Juliet said some of the A&M traditions are hard for her to watch, like the “saw ‘em off’ chant.
“It’s definitely an interesting feeling seeing a UT football game and being in the student section for UT and then being in a student section for A&M,” Juliet said. “When they do the “saw ‘em off’ and all that stuff, that’s hard and sad. Obviously, I don’t partake in it because that’s such a diss to my school. It definitely is interesting to be able to see how they are so big on hate for UT compared to UT for A&M. I feel like it’s not as big of a thing.”
In these situations, it can be difficult to deal with jokes and teasing tossed around student sections, YikYak and social media accounts. However, to overcome this, they should understand that the rivalry stems from years of the schools being pitted against one another and not hatred towards the relationship. Jokes can be lighthearted, and reaching a mutual understanding can help the relationship sail more smoothly.
“Obviously, it’s so easy for us to make comments to each other and just poke jabs at each other if A&M loses, or if UT doesn’t do as well in a sport or something,” Juliet said. “Being able to understand that it’s just the school support that’s leading you to say little comments or make fun of the other school (is important). It’s not so much a personal thing of how they feel about you as an individual. That really helped (us) trying to figure that out and maneuver around that.”
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