Much of Michaela Kopczewski’s family went to Ohio State — including every adult above, who also met while also in school. Courtesy of Michaela Kopczewski.
Though many students might say they bleed scarlet and gray, few actually have Ohio State in their bloodline.
Even fewer owe their own life to Eddie George running a record 314 yards at the Ohio State versus Illinois game in 1995.
For Emma Edwardson, a fourth-year in atmospheric sciences, this moment is the one her father chose to propose — in the deck seats above the 40-yard line — only continuing the long line of Buckeyes falling from their family tree.
Edwardson is in the fourth generation of Buckeyes in her family, and one of the many students who grew up singing “Carmen Ohio.” With over 600,000 living Ohio State alumni around the world and 142 classes of graduates so far, it’s no surprise that the university runs deep for some.
“I joke with all my friends all the time that I exist because of the ’Shoe,” Edwardson said. “People say that the students and alumni base really is like a Buckeye family, and I truly believe that. [It’s] a thing that I see literally and figuratively happen all around me.”
Edwardson’s great-grandfather played for Ohio State in the same stadium her parents got engaged in 45 years earlier and fell in love with her great-grandmother while earning his degree.
Years down the line, one set of grandparents became Buckeyes, and eventually, her parents made their way onto campus, too. Despite coming from Powell, Ohio, and growing up in children’s sized Ohio State cheerleader costumes, the school wasn’t always Edwardson’s top pick.
With COVID-19 underway as she graduated from high school, though, somewhere closer to home began to seem like the right choice for Edwardson.
“[My parents] were like, ‘Do what’s best for you. However, [Ohio State] is pretty awesome,’” Edwardson said. “Honestly, it truly is the best decision for me overall, because I just have made so many friends here who I consider to be family. I really found my place here.”
Lexi Strickland, a third-year in political science and Japanese, is one generation short of Edwardson, but still carries the same Ohio State connection. Despite living in Nevada for much of her life, having parents and grandparents as Buckeyes would often bring things back to Ohio.
“I’d grown up with that looming presence of Ohio — it was always in my life,” Strickland said. “I’d always come here for Christmas, and we’d be up here for some or to see family sometimes. There’s actually baby pictures of me at Ohio State.”
For her, the weight of the family from the university is also linked with her walks from class to class.
“There’s sort of a surrealness, especially when I’m in Arps because my mom and my grandma both [majored in] education here — that was the building they said they spent a lot of time in,” Strickland said. “It always feels like, ‘Wow, this is where my mom was when she was my age and this is where my grandma was when she was my age.’”
“Maybe in 30 years, my kid will be here when they’re my age, and that’s something really trippy to think about, but it’s something that kind of makes me really happy,” Strickland continued.
This sentiment rings true for Edwardson, but also for Michaela Kopczewski, a fourth-year in sociology, who represents the fifth generation of Buckeyes for her family. Growing up in the Columbus area, Ohio State was never far away, from her mother trying to make the first words, “Go, go Buckeyes” to frequent informal campus tours.
“It’s so strange to walk around someplace that I grew up in, and I know all the buildings, what’s in the buildings and what they’re used for and the history behind them, but still see it through brand new eyes,” Kopczewski said. “Even though my parents, my grandparents, my aunts and uncles — everybody went here — I’m still having my own experience. I feel like this is my home.”
Kopczewski has two more semesters on campus, but will don a similar gap and gown over 100 years after her great great grandfather — part of the class of 1915 — also did. Still, connections to all the family members who traversed the same campus are not uncommon.
“When I lived in Norton my sophomore year, I lived one floor above where my aunt and uncle met because they lived in Norton,” Kopczewski said. “I’m so close to something that meant so much to my family members and so obviously, it meant a lot to me.”
Though each legacy Buckeye has different plans for staying connected to the university and ideas of where to go after graduation, their dot numbers and family Buckeye gear will serve as reminders of the family who came before them and for some, those who they’re hoping will come after.
For Edwardson, the end of this experience comes in the spring and she will tearfully say goodbye — at least for now.
“With it being my senior year and the extensive background that I have coming from this university, it makes it extra bittersweet to graduate because [Ohio State] just has been so familiar to me for my whole life,” Edwardson said. “I don’t know if I’ll be here for grad school yet, but if I’m not, I’m really, really gonna miss it.”
