This past weekend, I had the privilege of returning home to join all of my old high school friends in the tradition of Homecoming, and as Iowa State’s Homecoming is coming up here shortly, I intend to splay out the very basis of what this means.

The tradition of holding a homecoming first occurred in 1911 at a rival football game between Kansas and Missouri at the college level. Iowa State’s first ever Homecoming was in 1912. Homecoming is that process of welcoming back a school’s alumni for a specific sporting event, as well as playing the biggest game of the season. Why is this? Because this is the game we expect to win. This is the game we spend all year getting hyped up for, just because it holds that title of Homecoming. This we all know and have experienced throughout our lives, but what does Homecoming really mean to all of us now attending Iowa State?

Homecoming is a time of unity. It’s that moment when we can all get together to cheer our team on to victory. Sure this occurs several other times at other games and events that occur during the school year, but Homecoming is a special occasion. Homecoming is a time of celebration. It’s that sweet vengeance against a rival football team or the appreciation of our successes as a school.

Homecoming, at least at the high school level, is a time to dance the night away. It’s those slow dances and fast beats that we all remember so well. Homecoming is a time for Friday Night Football. It’s that game that all of us look forward to, and sit on the edges of our seats during. High school homecomings tend to be more shallow and superficial. They don’t require as much unity, celebration or victory. All we cared about was who was wearing the best dress and who had the cutest date to the dance.

However, there are many differences between a homecoming game at the high school and college level. At the college level, Homecoming gets becomes more genuine. It suddenly becomes all about the football game, all about that excitement, the pulse beneath the crowd as the first play is made on the field. We come together, from all different walks of life. It suddenly becomes about something much larger than just any one of us. It suddenly matters what we do as a whole. We band together, decorated in cardinal and gold. We cheer and scream our team on, whether they be winning or losing. It’s no longer about our individual success, but about the success of everyone of us combined.

Homecoming is our chance to mold into the group here at Iowa State, our chance to fully become one with the rest of our student body. There will be fun, free food, parties, celebration, excitement, fun with friends, and all sorts of activity during the week of Homecoming for each and every one of us Iowa Staters. After returning home for my own personal homecoming, I now see the importance in such a unifying experience. So with this, I sincerely hope each and every one of us enrolled here participates in the ex-CY-tement of Homecoming Week soon to be coming up.