Jessica Hiskey (left) and Jennifer Miller (right) were two of six honors college students selected to participate in a trip to the World Cup in Brazil. (Photo/Logan Kirkland)
As people from all around the globe obsessed over the 2014 FIFA World Cup for weeks, indulging in excitement and heartbreak, six Ole Miss students got to experience this phenomenon first hand on the world stage.
Friends Jessica Hiskey and Jennifer Miller were two of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College students selected in the application process to partake in this world experience.
Miller, a junior pharmacy major, said the honors college told her about this trip before she even came to the university, and just knowing this opportunity was even a possibility definitely made her excited to be part of Ole Miss.
After going through the application process Miller remembered when dean of the honors college Douglass Sullivan-Gonzalez called her to deliver the good news.
“I remember I was in my dorm room alone, and I was jumping up and down and screaming; it was embarrassing,” Miller said, laughing.
Hiskey, a junior chemistry major, said when she heard of her acceptance for the trip she could hardly contain her emotions.
“I was freaking out, jumping around the room,” Hiskey said. “It was just pure excitement.”
Hiskey and Miller both expressed excitement of getting to view World Cup games in a foreign country, but with their excitement came a lot of nerves.
Miller said while preparing for the trip her mother was constantly worrying about every detail and most importantly about their safety.
“That started to make me nervous,” Miller said.
Both Hiskey and Miller were not able to take Portuguese before their trip.
“I was also worried about safety,” Miller said. “I’ve never traveled out of the country either, so it was just going to be a whole new experience for me, but I was definitely excited.”
After shaking their nerves both students were eager to experience the atmosphere of the World Cup. In their original plans they were going to to go to three games in Salvador. Even though seeing the United States play was not a part of their plans they knew this would still be an opportunity of a lifetime.
“I was still super excited to just go to any of the games and be in the culture with all the different fans from all different countries,” Hiskey said.
Between what they had seen on television and what they had heard from different people the two did not know what to expect from Brazil. After experiencing the country themselves, they were able to make their own opinions.
“There was a lot of art, dancing and music going on in the streets all the time, which is completely different from here,” Miller said. “They have a huge personality.”
Hiskey said she was expecting Brazil to somewhat look like America. She said there were tons of people in the streets in stands selling jerseys, fruits and vegetables with celebrations going on.
“Apparently it’s not even just for the World Cup,” Hiskey said. “That’s how Salvador is.”
Miller said the people in Salvador were very friendly, and anyone that could speak a little bit of English would come up and speak to them.
“It seemed like they loved having people there for the World Cup,” Miller said.
Hiskey said her experience with the people in Salvador was definitely a memorable one. During a night out with their host both Miller and Hiskey admired the live music and people that filled the streets.
Miller said the hardest thing for her to deal with in their trip was the different food.
“It looked really good, but it wasn’t very good,” Miller said.
She said their host could not speak English, and they were cooked the same thing almost every night.
“You didn’t know how to be polite in Portuguese, and tell her you didn’t want it,” Miller chuckled. “So you had to eat it.
Though the two had not originally planned to attend any US games, they acquired tickets to the United States versus Germany game in what Miller said was one of the funnier moments in her experience.
Hiskey was in a Groupme message with other Americans who were in Brazil and a man offered to sell his tickets.
“An Indian guy from Ohio is the way he described himself,” Miller said. “ He walked up with a manilla envelope, handed us the tickets, and we handed him the money and that was it.”
They said even though it seemed like a bad idea it was definitely worth it.
The morning of the United States versus Germany game they looked outside and saw that it was raining a little bit, enjoyed their breakfast, then headed down to the lobby to arrange a taxi to take them to the stadium that was located about 30 minutes away.
The woman working at the desk said the cabs were not going to run due to flooding. Shocked, they frantically asked if there was any way for them to get a ride to the game and were informed there was a bus with two remaining open seats.
They paid for the bus at the desk and waited with three other USA fans as the bus finally pulled up.
“It was a bus full of Germans, and our two seats were in the back of the bus,” Hiskey said.
After a while on the bus they reached a point in the road where cars and taxis were being turned around because of the flooding and only buses and larger vans were allowed to continue.
“We saw people next to us in the street pushing cars, trying to push motorcycles through the flood waters,” Hiskey said. “We easily could have been stuck in there.”
Hiskey said she was scared but very glad they were with a group going to the game rather than just the two of them.
“If we had been in a regular cab, I don’t know what we would have done,” Hiskey said.
Miller and Hiskey got to see from an outsider’s perspective what the World Cup means to nations across the world.
“Everyone was so passionate about their country and so proud,” Miller said.
“It was just infectious,” Hiskey said “ I just wanted to start jumping around with them.”
For them seeing these different countries compete was amazing, but when they were able to watch the United States play Germany they were overwhelmed.
“It was incredible,” Miller said. “There were chants and cheers the whole game, and everyone was standing up and showing how proud they were of our country.”
Hiskey and Miller both play on the women’s soccer team and said being able to see their sport being played at such a high level was a very humbling experience.
Hiskey said there is a huge difference between watching games on TV and in person. She said watching warm ups you could see how fluid the movement of the ball was and it felt like you were a part of the game.
“It felt like we were about to play a game,” Hiskey said.
Miller said seeing soccer at the international level was an enticing experience.
“It was just awesome to see that you do the same thing here in Mississippi that people across the world are doing too,” Miller said.
After this international experience both students know they have learned some crucial skills, and have taken more than just memories back from their trip.
Miller said she is confident in her ability to travel and her ability to interact with people from different backgrounds.
“We were there basically on our own,” Miller said “We planned this whole trip by ourselves and we were safe and smart the whole time.”
Hiskey said this has increased her confidence in traveling, but what she has taken away from this experience is the maturity in her decision-making.
“It was a sense of independence, and knowing we can handle ourselves,” Hiskey said. “If we can do that then it should be easy to do anything here.”
