Celebrated in both high school and college, homecoming is an age-old tradition full of school spirit and pride. The differences in honoring this tradition, though, vary from place to place.
Depending on where students come from, college can break the mold that high school made for Homecoming or give those who have never got the chance to partake in the festivities a new, exciting experience.
At Northwestern State University of Louisiana, the week before is centered around events and activities leading up to the big homecoming football game. Instead of a different theme each day, an overall theme rules over the week; this year’s theme was Y2K, also known as the 2000s. Students are still welcome to dress accordingly and switch up their look, but the focus falls on the events, allowing students to enjoy the week between their busy schedules.
One of the main differences between high school and college homecoming is the week before. High schools often refer to this as ‘spirit week,’ a week full of fun when students get to dress up with different themes each day; it all leads to the Friday football game and formal dance on Saturday.
Emma Collins, a freshman majoring in theatre, reminisced about how spirit week went at her high school.
“It was indescribable, to say the least. The seniors created the themes separately for each day,” Collins said. “Coming to NSU where it’s more planned out and the week has one solid theme is more beneficial time and stress-wise. However, sometimes the thrill is more fun than just one theme.”
Though college and high school can differ when it comes to homecoming, one of many things they have in common is the sense of community they seem to instill in everyone; even students who have never experienced homecoming.
Lucie Fortin, an international student from France majoring in English, gave her perspective on the adjustment and the cultural differences.
“I would say it’s interesting how invested people are here. Back in France, there’s little to no events happening on campus most of the time, so it’s very lovely to have homecoming here,” Fortin said.
College homecoming relies on the football game that brings back alumni to celebrate and catch up. While there is no dance for students to attend afterward, it is a time meant to expose current students to former students and build school pride through pep rallies and tailgating events.
Torin Merchant, a freshman music education major, said one of her favorite parts of high school would be the energy the homecoming game brought.
“We had pep rallies for every home game, but our homecoming game pep rally was way different than the rest.” Merchant said. “Then, of course, that night would be the game. Our stadium was split into a home side and an away side, so everyone in town would be on the bigger side of the stadium being loud and celebrating our team.”
Making the switch from a high school to a college homecoming can be striking for a student. Some students are used to huge celebrations and spirit weeks, while others have no experience at all when it comes to Homecoming. At the end of the day, homecoming is fun for all no matter how people used to celebrate.
