09/29/2026
I grew up in Athens with a family full of Bulldawgs: my Mom was a Majorette with the Redcoat Marching Band during the 1980 Championship (and was even featured on a 1979 ticket!) and still works with the auxiliaries to this day, my Dad ran track for Spec Towns (and came close to piercing him with his javelin on the first day of track practice!) My Meem worked at the Ticket Office for my entire childhood before she retired as 'Employee of the Year,' and my Grandad was faculty with the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources (which is why I lived the first 4 years of my life at White Hall Mansion.) I was in Sanford Stadium every home game Saturday, with many family friends, mascots, twirlers and students coming over for pre and post-game festivities at White Hall, and later at my Meem's house down the road after my Grandad retired from Warnell. I watched my first R-Rated movie on a Redcoat Band bus going to the Outback Bowl, I ate all of the soft pretzels in the Coach’s Box with my best friend (who just happened to be Vince and Barbara Dooley’s granddaughter), I tripped and christened the floor with food after my plate crashed from the catered buffet in the newly designed, funded and built Sky Box, and I twirled on the field for Band Day (and cried when the feature twirler asked me to scoot over), and I've gotten to enjoy the Athletic Thanksgiving dinner in all of its locations over the years. When I thought Sports Medicine was my calling, I shadowed Dr. Ferrara in the UGA football training room and David Po***ck gave me all of his M&M’s and David Greene told me not to pour the ice so fast in his ice bath. I honed my abilities to swerve through game day crowds with a grace that my friends I go to music festivals with now truly appreciate, and I was even named for the daughter of Georgia’s favorite journalistic legend, Loran Smith. Bulldawg Pride was instilled in me, and I was able to see it from backstage from day 1, which gave me an even greater appreciation for it. I was able to enjoy a full-circle experience when I worked as the Public Relations Director for the School of Music and was able to help amplify all the amazing things the Redcoat Marching Band does. Looking back, my favorite connection was being cartoonist Jack Davis’s pen pal, as he always told me I should “keep drawing and creating,” which I have.
The older I get, the further away I am from prioritizing being there in person for the chaos and excitement of gamedays, but the more I appreciate those moments of shared community with my family and all of our friends; pre-game fish fries, storytelling, groups coming and going, newly born fans in Georgia onesies, and stadium seat-mates asking, “Where is this Meem’s kitchen we’ve been hearing all about?”
As I embark on the goal I’ve wanted to pursue since I was on my first UGA Alumni Abroad trip with my family to Switzerland - to live and work in Europe - I wanted to create an ode to the experiences I came from. The spirit. The hustle. The community. Honoring “The 12th Man,” aka The Redcoat Marching Band (which was always my favorite part of gamedays!), and the shared history a lot of us can all connect through on each “Saturday in Athens.”
“Bulldawg Season” is currently up at Amici’s at the Falls and I will be there on Friday, October 2nd from 5-7, so Happy Homecoming! C’mon out to see the series and take (hopefully every painting) home with you before I move abroad in November! See you there. Go Dawgs!
