Football season has officially commenced.

Avid football fanatics have been waiting for this day to come since Super Bowl 49. Surprisingly, football and student life goes hand in hand, even for those of us who are not die hard fans.

For the past two weeks especially, students have been representing their favorite teams at school. You may see some students sporting the Cowboys, 49ers, Raiders, Steelers or even Colts apparel. But what we tend not to notice is the little community football season creates amongst students.

Most of the time, students just pass one another while walking to class or while they are trying to find a seat in a classroom. But during football season, students are talking with one another and interacting.

Talking about football is actually creating conversations and friendships with total strangers. Because so many students are interested in sports (particularly football), it is creating a face-to-face interaction with someone they may least expect to talk to. It is great to get to know someone and start up a conversation because of the love of a certain topic.

What is even more exciting is when you see women join these conversations. Football isn’t just about frat boys talking with one another, but it shows that women know just as much when it comes to the sport. So it’s not where only guys are able to talk about football, but women are jumping into the conversations in class. With the love of a sport, so many students are able to make new friendships and bond over their favorite team or their favorite player.

Yes, there may be the handful of people who like to demean certain teams or players, but for the most part, people are just wanting to share their love of the game with you.

Whether you are passing someone while going to class, or sitting on a bench talking about the sport, a connection can be made with a simple gesture. Someone could just point to your shirt and give you a thumbs up or simply say, “Hey, I like the Bears too.”

Football has created its own little community for students because it is a way they can take their minds off of the stressful load they already have. It is a way to ease their mind, or maybe put their efforts to relieve stress into something else (like yelling at the TV when the game is on). You never know; Whether you like the same team or not, many of us have a connection to one another because of the love for the game.

And with the start of the first game of the season starting yesterday, I think most of us can say, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” all over again.