Home(coming) Away from Home

As a kid, looking forward to college experiences is often what motivates someone to pursue college (among other obvious reasons.) Its exciting and foreign. It seems so far away. One college experience many people look forward to is their first college homecoming. It's a rite of passage and while I'm not sure how it is for other schools, here at SUU there are a plethora of activities all week long. From Forever Red to football games to tailgates to parades, there's no shortage of happenings on campus. It's an active week full of new experiences and new people and it's something many alumni and students anticipate all year. I knew it would be a fun time and I was excited to participate in all of the hustle and bustle on campus. The one thing I didn't anticipate having a shortage of is something all college students seem to need more of: Time.

As the week began it became increasingly aware that my dreams of nightly activities and social outings while well meaning, were unrealistic. With work, and school, and my introverted nature that requires a certain amount of alone time in a day, the amount of time I had left over to pursue such outings was less than I had previously anticipated. I found myself hearing about all the things going on and often having to weigh what was most important to me. And most of the time if it came down to going out the homecoming activities or doing homework, my decision wasn't hard.

All that being said, the activities able to attend lived up to all the hype. I made time for the "dive in movie" at the pool and Forever Red. Both felt like exactly what I expected from those college experiences you always see in the movies. Friends, fun, laughs, all that good stuff that is to be expected from those silly little things at college.

The dive in movie was less about the movie and more about just being in the pool, seeing how the echo in the room prevented anyone from hearing any part of the plot (the movie was Aquaman and I couldn't tell you anything about the plot.) For me and my friends, it was definitely more about laughing about nothing, trying not to tip over the floatie, and constantly asking what the heck was going on in regards to the movie. It just felt like a silly college experience that I will likely remember for a long time. Not to mention, from a completely shallow standpoint, I had an opportunity to wear my cute new swimsuit that I thought for some reason I would get a lot more use out of than I have. So all things considered, it was a fun time and I'm glad I got out to one thing like that.

Here is a low quality picture of the dive in movie, but despite my lack of good photo evidence, it was a good time.

While the movie in the pool was fun, Forever Red is something I know I'll look forward to every year. Something about being in a place with with so much excitement and collective effervescence makes me realize how much I love this new community I'm able to be a part of. Everyone there really has a love for the school and a love for this specific event, and for good reason. Running around, dancing, photo booths, cotton candy, bouncy houses, more dancing, and fun traditions all came together to make it a night I know will stay with me. As cheesy as it sounds, I grew closer to my friends and closer to my school. I feel so lucky to be in a place where there are so many opportunities for things like this.

Looking back at the week, I do have some regrets not attending all of the available opportunities, but such is the reality of a college student. It fulfilled a lot of the expectations I had as well as revealing a sad reality about division of time in college. I feel like for the situation I am in, I got the most out of my first college homecoming. And I look forward to many more at SUU.