Column: What it means to be a true Hoosier

What does it mean to be a Hoosier? There is no simple answer.

There are many correct answers that deal with the student body, student activities and a variety of other things, but I’ve always answered this question in the realm of IU athletics. During the past four years, I’ve discovered what it means to be a Hoosier.

When I arrived in Bloomington in August 2008, I don’t believe I had ever watched an IU sporting event.

I knew I wanted to attend a school with strong athletic traditions, and as far as I knew, IU was a school like that. What I experienced during the next four years proved this was entirely true. Being a Hoosier means having the pride and the passion to support different sports teams through good times and through bad times.

These past four years, being a Hoosier was always easy in Bloomington, but outside this city it takes on a whole new meaning.

The way people talk about IU athletics is something extraordinary. People comment on the type of fans we have — the ones that never give up.

Everyone asks what it’s like to be in Bloomington during big games. The words to describe that feeling do not do the environment justice.

No words can describe the pride I feel when I get to cheer on the Hoosiers.

Originally, IU athletics to me was basketball. That was what I cared about. Throughout the past four years, I developed an appreciation for several more teams.

That’s what it means to be a Hoosier. It means appreciating all that our athletics department has to offer.

The slogan “24 Sports, One Team” exists for a reason. We are one team. We are all Hoosiers. We all compete for a common goal of being one of the best athletics programs in the Big Ten and in the country.

Hoosiers don’t ignore the baseball games on a Thursday afternoon or a track and field event in the spring. Hoosiers go to these events and relish in the chance to see any of their teams compete.

Hoosiers defend their teams, no matter the circumstances.

It could have been very easy to turn our backs on the rebuilding process for the basketball team, but we didn’t. We stuck with the team, and we were rewarded this year.

That is what Hoosiers do.

Hoosiers are eternal optimists. We have to be. These past few years haven’t been easy for Hoosier fans, but we trust the right things are being done to get our programs where they need to be.

What it means to be a Hoosier is not a question I can answer for everyone. It has a different meaning for each and every person.

Being a Hoosier is something I am extremely proud of. It is something I will take with me long after I leave this campus as a student for the last time in a few short days.

I am a Hoosier, and I cannot thank this school enough for making me one.