The fact that fall break this year landed during the same time as my high school’s homecoming weekend made this weekend/break a little more fun. But the more I think about it, coming back home for homecoming weekend as a high school alumna has some factors.

As I sit on a couch in my basement thinking about the weekend, here are a couple of things I noticed during my first-ever homecoming weekend as a high school alumna.

1. Saying I’m an alumna is just crazy enough.

I graduated back in June, I don’t go to school in this town anymore because I’m almost two hours away now. This is something I wasn’t thinking of originally but it’s there.

2. Being on the opposite side of a high school football game.

I did marching band all four years of high school and I’m doing college marching band now. But going to a Friday Night Lights game and not being out on the field at halftime or having a third-quarter break felt like a part was missing.

3. More so the less, being in the bleachers during the game.

I’ve always been with the marching band!

4. Actually paying to get into the football game.

Being in marching band I’ve been used to getting into the game with the band for free.

5. How empty Applebee’s is when a football game is still going on.

A couple of my friends who graduated last year and I decided to go to Applebee’s after the third quarter to beat the postgame traffic. Can I just say how empty the Applebee’s felt without any band members there? (Applebee’s was the hangout spot for band kids after a game.)

6. How young I am compared to everyone.

I may be a freshman again, but I’m a college freshman so I even thought the high school seniors were young.

7. How my friends who are younger than me are growing up.

One of my brother’s friends (a freshman in high school) went to the homecoming dance with a girl (the girl I found out later was one of my HS marching band friends)! I was just shocked to hear the word girl!

8. Oh, my god, my brother is actually a freshman in high school!

To go along with how my younger friends are growing up, my younger brother is in high school!

9. How much work has changed.

I visited where I used to work on Monday and it was a bad timing on my part because it was a busy day. But it was nice that my coworkers remembered me, even my old boss! All the hard work left an impact.

10. Did I have to leave home to go back to college?

Of course, there’s the inevitable have to go back to the reality of school. As much as I didn’t want to go back, I knew I’d be home for around Thanksgiving break.

11. In that time, my home was whole again.

I’m not in the comfort of my house 24/7 like I was growing up. I practically moved out even though I didn’t? But coming home just made the house I grew up in one piece again. As if it was missing something since August. And it was.

It was me.