Student Blog: Playing Quidditch in College

I am not a very big Harry Potter fan. I have never read the books, and only watched bits and pieces of the movies. However, I joined the Quidditch team at my college. I somewhat knew that "muggle quidditch" existed, but never planned on joining it until the organization fair that my college hosted during the first week of school. I just signed up because people always said "sign up for as many clubs as possible" to make new friends.

When people first asked me how we play Quidditch, my answer was basically "I don't know." The only way I can describe it is organized chaos. With four balls being thrown around at different times, it took me most of the semester to somewhat understand what is happening. At first, I went to club meetings as a way to have time outside of my dorm room, but having Quidditch practice quickly became the highlight of my days. Not only does it serve as a way to take my mind off of classes, but it also introduces me to people that I probably would not have met without the sport. Despite practices sometimes being in the rain, or freezing weather, I always look forward to practice. I'll admit that at first, I felt a little embarrassed running around a field with a PVC pipe (as our broom) between my legs. But now I don't care what people who pass by think, because I am having fun with what I am doing.

As I said, I joined quidditch really to make new friends. One of my biggest fears coming to college was trying to make friends. I am generally a quiet person, and it takes a while for me to come out of my shell and talk to people. However, this didn't happen with quidditch. Pretty early on I was able to talk to other new players and make close friends with people on the team. Even though I am not a Harry Potter fan, I have found people who have similar book interests as me, and I am able to bond with them as we fangirl over our favorite characters. I honestly think that without Quidditch, I would not have been able to find friends like these.

I don't think many people can say that they play a sport that is based on something from a novel, and it gives me something interesting I can tell new people that I meet outside of the quidditch club. Honestly, I never expected to love Quidditch as much as I do. I feel my happiest when I am at practice. It gives me a way to distract myself from classes or other things that are bringing me stress.