In the spirit of writing something relevant to what is going on right now, let’s talk about this week’s big event–Homecoming.

My love of Homecoming week started in junior high. I went to a Catholic school and we wore uniforms, so everyone was wearing the same thing every single day. Homecoming week in junior high gave us a chance to wear something other than our uniforms for an entire week. It was so crazy; I remember my first year of it and not being able to make a decision on what to wear because I never actually had to really pick out an outfit for school. These weren’t exactly normal outfits either–Pajama Day, Rockstar Day, 80s Day, Spirit Day etc. made for interesting outfit choices around the school.

Then came high school. That was when things really started to get fun. Of course, we spent the week dressing as crazy as possible every day and going to every soccer and volleyball game. We had bonfires, royalty, pep rallies and parades. Then Saturday night was the big football game and Homecoming dance. As I’ve mentioned previously, I was the manager of the football team in high school. We only lost three games in the four years I was there, and none of them were Homecoming games!

Homecoming was always crazy fun in high school, and I expected nothing less of college.

I was so excited for Homecoming week during my first year of school in Hawaii. I was thinking, “bigger school, bigger celebration.” I was so disappointed when the week finally came around. I learned it really was a “homecoming” celebration for all the alumni. There were a couple of small events that happened during the week, but nothing too exciting.

Last year at UND, I wasn’t expecting much of anything, to be honest but I was surprised. Sure, it’s nothing at all like it was in high school, but UND tried to get the students involved as much as possible. They put on events for the students, and they push you to get to the games and show your school spirit. Last year, I helped build a float and I got to ride on it during the parade.

This year, I’m excited for all the events and all the games.

So get out this week, and show some UND pride!