How Much Penn State Stuff is Too Much Penn State Stuff?

It’s too easy to have way too much Penn State gear. From the face tattoos for game day to the t-shirts that are almost impossible to resist getting in every neon color (guilty), you will come to a day when you’re reppin’ your school in every way possible. But how much is too much?

Senior Daphne Smallwood says that she used to have a lot of stuff freshman year when free stuff was literally thrown at her (remember that random Frisbee from residence life?). But over time, she’s grown out of her blue and white, lion-emblazoned ways to embrace a different style.

“I don’t have a lot of Penn State stuff now,” Smallwood says. “But that’s because stuff has gotten too small or too old and it was just time to get rid of it.”

If you’re like me and wear head-to-toe lion garb, it may seem overwhelming to get rid of a lot of the Penn State stuff now. But there are clear signs that you have way too much.

1. You can wear one Penn State related thing (whether it’s a hair bow or sweatpants) every day and not have to do laundry for a month.

2. If you don’t incorporate blue, white or Penn State into your outfit somehow, you feel lost.

“It’s one thing to wear blue and white for games and stuff,” Smallwood says. “But once it takes over your life, that’s when there’s a problem.”

3. Your bedroom looks like it came straight from the Penn State section in Walmart; from your bedspread, to your sheets, to your curtains, to the rug, to the toothbrush holder. You know that section – you can see it from a mile away on arrival day.

“Once it gets to the point where it’s on your lampshade or your undergarments or on your toothbrush, it’s weird because no one is really ever going to see that,” Smallwood says. “It’s taking it to the personal parts of your life.”

Bleeding blue is a part of Penn State life, and Penn State pride is what makes the atmosphere here almost impossible to ignore. Even after we graduate, we will all represent the blue and white wherever we go (especially when we’re alums and make that pilgrimage back to Beaver Stadium for those football Saturday). But a big part of Penn State is finding your identity within the community, not on your clothing.

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