For those who know me outside of the pages of the Reveille, you know where I am during award season. I’m on my pink couch, phone in hand, ready to document my favorite moments during the show via my Instagram stories.

I like to provide updates to my followers and friends, especially since most of them aren’t tuning into the live show. They usually watch snippets and highlights on TikTok and other social media platforms long after the show airs, but that’s not enough for me.

Award shows are my equivalent to seasonal sports. The way many tune in to watch their favorite teams rack up points, I do the same, anticipating which ensemble cast takes home the gold. From the Emmys to the Golden Globes and everything in between, I’m there.

And just like sports, there’s always a final game. For sports fans everywhere, that’s known as the Super Bowl, but for lovers of television and film, it’s the Oscars.

From an early age, award shows were taken seriously in the Francis residence. Growing up with a patron of the arts for a mother who has experience working in television and film and my parents collectively encouraging me and my brother’s interest in the arts, we celebrated cinema to the fullest.

You must understand that my brother Jax and I hung up our soccer cleats early on and immersed ourselves into extracurriculars involving the performing arts. Singing and dancing were our fortes, making musical theatre our home away from home.

I would study the greats like Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand and Bob Fosse. My weekends consisted of watching classics such as Cabaret, Chicago, Singin ‘in the Rain, An American in Paris and Funny Girl, just to name a few.

If one random Tuesday Broadway comes knocking at my door, I will be ready.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking: “How did you take the journalism route?”

It was famously once said in the 2005 masterpiece, “Step Up,” that Emily Anderson “major[ed] in dance because she already knows how to sing.” I rest my case.

All jokes aside, my brother has gone on to be a brilliant (student) filmmaker studying media production arts at Emerson College. And I still dust off my chops, leotard, fishnets and top hat from time to time.

As the years went by, award season became more of an event for my family. We had ballots printed out of every major category at our Oscar parties, and whoever had the most correct predictions won the prizes at stake.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, known as an award show for actors by actors, has been my favorite of the season so far.

Actress Kristen Bell did a marvelous job hosting and reminded her peers and audience at home how iconic her body of work is. Bell opened up the show with a rendition of “Do you want to build a snowman” from her movie Frozen, changing the lyrics to “Do you want to be an actor” to fit the occasion.

The Veronica Mars alumna also paid homage to her performance in the drama series “Gossip Girl,” inviting her former co-star Leighton Meester, who played the show’s “It Girl,” Blair Waldorf, in on the fun. Hearing Bell recite her iconic lines, “Hey everyone, Gossip Girl here,” took me back to my 14-year-old self.

When watching award shows, I’m hit with a wave of nostalgia. These shows celebrate new and old cinema, leaving a viewer like me reminiscing on the past.

Actress and activist Jane Fonda won the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s ceremony, and as soon as the montage of clips from her legendary career started to roll, tears filled my eyes.

I grew up watching Fonda in films like “9 to 5,” “Monster in Law,” “Barefoot in the Park” and “Georgia Rule.” So, I couldn’t help but think about watching movies with my mom on Saturday mornings and how thankful I am for her introducing me to some of my favorite actresses and films.

Speaking of montages shown, one included a love letter to Los Angeles. Seeing “La La Land” featured in one of the many compilations transported me to the first time I saw the beloved film on a school night at the theatre. My life was forever changed after Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone tapped-danced their way through the street; I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

In between uploading posts about my favorite celebrity style moments of the night like the cast of “A Complete Unknown” starring Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro as well as Coleman Domingo and Keke Palmer who never miss on a red carpet, I was facetiming my family wishing we were all together instead of being miles apart.

Award shows remind us that television and film are more than just entertainment. They’re time markers, as my mom always says. I’m sure we can all associate special moments in our lives with film.

Individuals have been reminded of important messages through cinema, such as, there is light at the end of the tunnel, there are friends who stick with you, there’s family that will carry your burdens and there’s love that does in fact exist outside of the movies.

Sometimes, it just takes one line to stick with a person forever, a line so sweet like, “here’s to the fools who dream.”

I love watching and celebrating cinema and would not be the person I am today without it. Take this column as a reminder to watch films and television more frequently. Go to the theatre and maybe host your own Oscar Party, filled with ballots and all.

Whether you’re streaming from the comfort of your home or you’re in a dark theatre with only the smell of popcorn and strangers surrounding you, give cinema a chance; it may change your life like it did for me.

Ava Francis is a 21-year-old journalism major from New Orleans residing in Texas.