s the clock strikes 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoons in the fall, the energy in our 300-square-foot common room changes. Our two televisions, side by side, blare the NFL on CBS or Fox theme songs as the intensity in the room increases. With a single screen split into four games, each of us is glued to a different quadrant, yelling at the TV, the referees, our quarterbacks, and each other as many of our other friends pass in and out of the room throughout the course of the day.

From listening to Tom Hamilton call baseball games on the radio in my bedroom to watching my Browns achieve unprecedented futility every year (including an 0-16 season), or yelling at the top of my lungs as the Cavs completed a historic comeback to win the 2016 NBA championship, my love of sports has been fostered since a very young age.

Two things are clear: sports bring people together, and they fill us with an unrivaled sense of joy and spirit.

I knew I wanted to keep sports a big part of my life and actively pursue opportunities beyond being an avid fan after leaving home. Then, the opportunity to cover Harvard’s football team presented itself. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but post-practice interviews on the sidelines of an empty Harvard Stadium on Wednesday evenings with Jo Lemann quickly instilled in me a mission to tell the incredible stories of the football team beyond the individual stats and scorelines.

At Dartmouth, Jo and I nearly witnessed a successful game-winning Hail Mary. In Providence, a snap that sailed over the kicker’s head altered the season. Typing furiously as our fingers froze, we saw an undefeated Harvard team fall to Yale for a fourth consecutive year, ending its bid for a perfect regular season. As we wrote in cramped press boxes across late nights on weekends, alongside telling the personal stories of improbable coaching and player journeys, I knew I wanted more. When the opportunity to lead the Sports Board with Jo was in front of me, there was no question that I would take it.

Every day, the news is often filled with dismaying headlines, and I wanted the sports section to be a place where people could find hope. Across our tenure as Sports Chairs, we published 360 stories. Each piece had profound personal meaning for both our writers and the teams. We reported on the designs of hockey helmets, the formation of an NWSL team, Olympians balancing their lives as students and professional athletes, and so much more in an attempt to display the power and importance of sports in our lives.

Most importantly, the relationships this building has given me will last a lifetime. From crashing on the couches with Jo during commencement to roaming around the building at all hours of the day, I’ve realized that the best thing about a place like Harvard is the chance to learn from and understand people with different perspectives and backgrounds, and there’s no better place to do that than The Crimson.

As I helped deliver newspapers across Cambridge last fall, countless people talked about their affinity for the paper, mentioning the immense impact that our stories have had on their lives. Without a doubt, being able to call The Crimson and the Sports Board a real home is one of the greatest privileges of my life.

—Staff writer Praveen Kumar can be reached at [email protected].