We first met Max Hamilton last month in West Lafayette, where she was tailgating with family after the Nittany Lions’ win at Purdue. Max doesn’t miss a Penn State game, home or away, a level of dedication that has everything to do with maternal pride: Her son is standout wide receiver DaeSean.

Max is a former Marine whose dedication is matched by her energy and enthusiasm. In West Lafayette, she mentioned that her bucket list included one day sitting in the S-Zone during a game at Beaver Stadium. Well, we have friends in the S-Zone—namely, the Lion Ambassadors, the student alumni corps that shares our home in the the Hintz Family Alumni Center. It’s the LAMBs who organize the S-Zone for every home game. We told Max we’d see if we could put a word in.

Look closely — that’s Max in the pink circle just above the tunnel entrance.

It took a few weeks, but with a huge assist from our Alumni Association colleagues Ashley Martin and Chelsey Scott, the plan was hatched, and Max arrived at Beaver Stadium last Saturday ready to go. After meeting up with Lion Ambassador VP Katy Leslie and helping with pregame prep (namely, organizing and distributing all those blue and white T-shirts), Max made her way to the heart of the student section, and eventually took her place front and (almost) center.

Needless to say, she picked a pretty good day to sit in the noisiest part of Beaver Stadium, cheering on the Lions to a Big Ten East title-clinching blowout of Michigan State. And it looks like she loved every minute of it.

We have no doubt we’ll see Max in Indianapolis—much of her family is based in Chicago, and you can bet they’ll have the RV loaded up for the trip. We also won’t be surprised if she finds her way into the S-Zone next year, when DaeSean is expected back for his senior season—if nothing else, she’d love a chance to break out the white Timberland boots she ordered with a “White Out” in mind.

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