Homecoming lacks originality, inclusivity

Homecoming+lacks+originality%2C+inclusivity

Lasirra Hines, Blue M Editor-in-Chief

Homecoming, a time when people worry about who they are going to take or if they even plan to go. Next on the agenda is to create a grand gesture to ask; spend absurd amounts of time and money buying outfits, renting limos, dinner venues and corsages for their dates; and of course electing homecoming king and queen based on popularity. 

Homecoming hasn’t been something I particularly care for. The worst of it would probably be Spirit Week. Spirit Week is the week of Homecoming where students dress up according to the daily theme. I only ever participate in the pajama day one, rarely, and the twin day is only if I have someone to match with. The themes are unoriginal, basic and never change. Every Spirit Week I have had to endure has had the same themes every single year: Pajama Day, Twin Day, Class Color Day, School Colors, and most times some throwback theme or “Color” Out Day. Every year, without fail, these themes are present, no matter how many other themes could have been picked.

The amount of money people spend just for the dance is absurd and pointless. Buying a dress fit for one single occasion that will later be thrown in the back of a closet and never remembered is common and only hurts the person buying it. I have attended the dance, and I usually buy a dress that I can wear to other occasions or I reuse an old dress.

I’ve seen people arrive in limos. This is a high school dance and you want to spend upwards $425 to $950 on average for a limousine to take you around the place? A fancy ride for one night that is a school related event is just a waste. An excessive amount of money is spent for one night of a person’s high school career that they get to do four times. I would understand senior year; last Homecoming, they’d want to make it special. That seems reasonable. However, sophomores and juniors? For those who aren’t graduating early, spending upwards of $1000 just to end up at a dance with the same music with maybe a few crowd favorites doesn’t seem worth it.

The dance itself is lackluster, in both music and decoration. A callout to prom last year, the decoration was nowhere to be seen, except for a few fairy lights and a small booth. There is little to no effort put into these dances, even though they are advertised as this amazing event people should attend. The music is a hit or miss situation. Sometimes, they get a DJ that actually plays music students want to listen and dance to, and even let them request songs. On the other hand, they get DJs who skip songs, don’t play anything students thoroughly enjoy and don’t let students make requests. I know mainstream pop music is most common, but can we switch it up a bit? I don’t mean play “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, which is a classic, a personal favorite, but so overplayed. There are so many other songs by Queen that could be played, such as “Don’t Stop Me Now” and songs by other ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s bands. 

Homecoming isn’t worth all of the money students spend on it, nor is it something worth advertising the way it is if it is going to be a bore and not enjoyable for students. A great idea would be to put effort into the dance. If you have a theme, be on theme. Find decorations, have clubs help. Pride is a club that could help make decorations for the dance, considering they are in charge of it. 

Spirit Week is dull and needs to either be reconstructed or just gotten rid of. Find themes that aren’t boring and the same thing we do every year. Be creative, be original, do something that students will have fun with. In elementary school, we had a Spirit Week where one day we dressed up as our favorite book characters, which is ten times more fun than school colors.

This night is about the students, so why not allow the students to have a say in what music is played? I understand that they have to censor the songs, which isn’t logical in itself, seeing as plenty of high school students listen to those songs anyway, but that doesn’t mean you restrict students from requesting songs that will make the dance better. I would much rather dance to “Industry Baby” by Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow than four Ed Sheeran songs in one night.