Homecoming in college and high school are two completely different experiences. From the actual celebration of the game to the events during the week that lead up to the big day, it can be hard to believe that homecoming at these two levels is celebrating the same thing.
In high school, Spirit Week usually leads up to the big game on Friday. An entire week of preparation means costumes and festivities galore. With each grade having a spirit competition, all of the focus and energy at school is usually geared towards the additional event that comes with homecoming. In college, the week leading up to the big game day can seem like an event on its own.
There were special programs every weekday last week at UVA. These events including a blood drive, a 5k for Relay for Life, and other events that focused less on the football and more on the community of UVA coming together and giving to the community outside of the school.
There’s another part of homecoming that happens at both the college and high school level, but it seems much more central to homecoming as we think of it in high school. Celebrating school spirit with banners and/or floats is an important part of competing with other grades while in high school to show off your creativity and spirit for the team to have an exciting parade. In high school, students come up with spirit slogans. Student Council often coordinates who will work on what and spends many hours outside of the normal school day dedicated to making sure that things will run smoothly.
In college, your dorm building might make a banner hang on the outside of the building for the week, but instead of it being created for a parade, judges just come through and rate the banners on their appearance.
There’s one more main part of the happenings that differentiate high school homecoming from college homecoming—the alumni. In high school, there seems to be an odd social stigma that it is too soon for recent alumni to come back to the game and see everyone again. I disagree with this idea, but I understand how it can be hard to make it back home for a Friday night game if you are in school far away.
In college, a large range of alumni is in attendance for the game and around the school for the whole weekend. If they are recent grads, they are back again to see underclassmen friends and celebrate with them like they never left. If they have been out of school for awhile they might bring their families and kids and the atmosphere of game day is all the more exciting with so many people energized in a place that connects them all in a special way. All of these are some things to think about next year when homecoming rolls around again!
