The third installment in a year-long series chronicling two brothers’ freshman years.
Both Jason and David Brodsky-Porges headed for Fenway Park at the conclusion of Monday night’s Red Sox game, looking to celebrate with the friends they have found while attending school in Boston.
“I went to Fenway and was hoping there was going to be some action, but nothing happened,” said Jason, an undecided major.
The fraternal twins, although dedicated fans of their hometown baseball team, the Seattle Mariners, said it was easy to get sucked into Red Sox Nation, especially during this time of the year.
“It’s a lot of fun to be caught up in the middle of all the excitement,” said David, a communications major. “I was kind of disappointed when the Yankees kept winning for the first couple of games [of the series], I wanted to see what the city would do if the Red Sox won.”
The amount of students who celebrated passionately over one Red Sox victory was surprising, David said.
“People were pouring out of Stetson East [after their first win], and it wasn’t even as exciting as Monday night,” David said Tuesday. “They just won one game, they’re still down two games but everyone is going crazy.”
Even though this is the first year Jason has witnessed a Red Sox/Yankees playoff series, he said he already recognizes how passionately Bostonians love their team — and hate the Yankees.
“There’s this feeling in the air that if you’re a Yankees fan then you’re going to die,” he said.
Both brothers said if the Red Sox can pull off a Game 7 win against the Yankees, they’d convert from the Mariners to the Sox.
“If they force a Game 7, I will forever be a Red Sox fan,” David said. “If they somehow pull it off I will convert right then.”
The baseball series unfortunately falls during midterm exams for both brothers, who said classes are starting to really take effect.
“Classes are in full swing now, it’s kind of hard to make sure I’m all caught up, and I have to do homework every night now,” David said. “I have to make sure I’m all caught up by the time finals go around.”
All-nighters, a college tradition for many, have also been taking their toll, Jason said, as he prepared for his calculus midterm.
“I recently had my first all-nighter at college,” Jason said. “I was pretty tired after that.”
Both have been keeping up with their work-study jobs, David at the library and Jason at Residential Mail Services, although Jason said finding a balance can be tough.
“I’m not working as much as I should,” Jason said. “I have 400 bucks I’m living off of. I think I’m living pretty cheap so far, and I’d rather study than work for now. But when my money runs out, I’ll probably have to work a little more.”
Both twins said they have been enjoying Boston, although they do like to stay around Northeastern, they said.
“I’d like to explore more, but so far I’ve been sticking around campus more, with my work and my friends,” Jason said.
Boston is a big city, David said, and although he likes exploring, Northeastern’s campus is where he is most comfortable.
“The city is too intimidating to jump into right now,” he said. “I’ve spent more time on campus than around the city lately, everything I know so far about Boston is on campus. But there’s a really good music scene that I haven’t gotten into yet, and it’s nice that it’s all so close.”
The adjustment to college is nearly complete for both brothers, who said they have each developed groups of friends at Northeastern.
“It’s a different experience, and it’s a little weird at first, and I’m trying to figure out who all my friends are,” David said. “It’s weird to have all your friends from home and then all of a sudden come to a new city and have to find all these new people. But it’s exciting.”
