Andy Burt had this wonderfully deadpan sense of humor that could catch you completely off guard. He quickly figured out that at JMU (where the hills are basically a cardio workout just looking at them), I had a bit of a soft spot. In other words, I was the sucker who’d end up pushing him up those slopes while he just enjoyed the ride.

He and Matt, of course, saw this as the perfect chance to mess with me. They knew I was a bit fiery and that it didn’t take much to push my buttons. Therefore, this became an ongoing ploy of theirs. I remember at least two times—once at JMU and once at UVA—where Andy would look at me with those innocent eyes and say,

“Jessica, can you push me? I’m feeling a bit tired.”

Naturally, I’d say yes, not realizing I was walking straight into their little trap. The moment we got near a crowd, Andy would dramatically fling himself out of his wheelchair and pretend to be injured. I would be mortified at first, and then it would quickly dawn on me that this was a joke.

That made me mad, so I started yelling at Andy to get back in the chair while he moaned for the audience’s benefit. Meanwhile, Matt would be somewhere in the crowd, giggling like a schoolgirl.

In today’s world, everyone would’ve had their phones out, recording the “crazy girl” who just dumped a guy out of his wheelchair. Let’s just say, I’m glad they pulled these stunts before everything went viral!