With football season here, students are gearing up for Thursday and Friday nights in the student section. For seniors, this means their last year with face paint, themed games and that crazy front row. However, for freshmen, and even some inexperienced sophomores, this is the beginning of a different season: one of possible faux pas.

There is one thing that all underclassmen must remember above all. Commit this to memory, say it to yourself a thousand times, tell your friends, put it in your Twitter bio, but do not forget this. If you value your life, DO NOT sit in the front row, or even close to it. If you look behind you and see upperclassmen looking like they might be considering mass murder, get up and move. It sounds harsh, but it’s just respectful. When you’re an upperclassmen, you won’t want freshmen in front of you. The current upperclassmen did their time in the back. They squinted to see what was going on and survived the inevitable wind when it gets cold. Good things come to those who wait, and in this case, you only have to wait a few years.

Get into the game. Dress up according to the themes. Join in when the student section starts chants. The student section is what you make of it. If you’re going to be there, go all out. The theme is ‘Merica? You should look like the Fourth of July just threw up on you. The team has a game 30 minutes away? Find a ride, ask your parents if they want to go, do what you have to do, just be there. The school is having a tailgate? Buy a ticket, or even if you don’t want to buy a ticket, just come. Be the one person in your group of friends that has extreme school spirit, even if you feel like an idiot at first, at least you’re having fun.

Be respectful. Even if the team is losing by a hundred (which they won’t be), do not leave early. You can deal with a little traffic in the parking lot. Stay and sing the fight song, win or lose. Unless it’s halftime or the game hasn’t began yet, you should never sit down. Stand the entire time. Your legs will hurt, you can deal with it. Just think of it as multi-tasking: getting a workout in while supporting your team. Let the upperclassmen take care of chants, they’ve got it down.

Listen to your elders and you should be fine. Be there, be loud and be supportive. There’s nowhere better to be Friday nights, than in the stands with your peers, covered in paint and glitter, making memories you will remember for the rest of your life.