This weekend I had the unique Hope College experience of attending The Pull. It’s one of those things where everyone tells you, “You don’t understand it until you’ve seen it.” I thought I got it; I thought I knew what awaited me as I grabbed my water bottle and took off for the bus with a few of my friends. After all, it’s tug-of-war, what’s not to get?
Just like they told me, there’s little way to put into words exactly what goes on at The Pull, so I took quite a few photos to share with you and guide you as I write.
A feeling of anxiety overcame me as we walked down a forest path, marked with red arrows on the ground and banners sporting words like “kill”, “psycho”, and of course “Even Year”. As we continued, a horn blew and the shouting commenced.
As we reached the river, the full scene was finally brought into view.
A full line of boys and their moralers were before me, along with an audience watching them. Their faces were tormented and my mind twisted as I closed my eyes, trying not to imagine the pain they were going through.
I’m a bit of a wuss, and I couldn’t stay to watch the whole thing…it honestly made my stomach turn. However, there’s a lot you can take away from seeing something like the pull. The moralers and the pullers, their team as a whole, experience a bonding that I can never describe or experience. All I can say is that watching them support each other gives me so much hope and reassurance. Our strength to persevere in times of hardship, our ability to bounce back, recover, and care for those around us is outstandingly evident in The Pull. While Even Year might not have come out on top, they went out there and they did it, which is something not a lot of people can say.
Have you ever been to the pull? What did you think?
Have a great week,
Brooke (@hopebrooke18)