Order’s up for Hamilton. Adam Hamilton ...
“When I think of my time at Illinois, all roads lead to Legends. This is where I had lunch with my older brother when he first moved in to PAR, hung out with my friends as a student every week and continue to visit every football season with my dad.
“Ah, I can almost hear them calling my order of chicken strips and a pitcher of Miller Lite now,” says the 2011 advertising alum, now the Chicago-based manager of global content and editorial planning for McDonald’s.
“The Chief statue, everyone decked head to toe in orange and blue, shouting ‘I-L-L’ excitedly with a guaranteed ‘I-N-I’ just as loud — this place emulates what Illinois is all about.
“It’s also the place of my proudest collegiate accomplishment: ‘riding the rail.’ Not once, but twice I completed this tremendous — and at times tumultuous — journey, drinking all of the beers Legends offers every Tuesday night during my senior year.
“I’m not embarrassed to say that I beam with nostalgia seeing my name engraved in bronze on that rustic oak wall.
“I graduated more than eight years ago, and my dad and I rarely miss a football game paired with a visit to Legends. Well, that’s not entirely true — sometimes we enjoy pre-gaming at Legends too much to actually make the game.
“When we stop by the wall, he always says he’s proud I went to Illinois.”
