Homecoming was a concept I never understood in high school. I was as uninvolved as you possibly could be. All I ever did was go to class and then go home on the first bus that I could take. I went to one dance (a very awkward sophomore formal), and to no more than five football games. Hey, I even came to Cairn University an entire year early to ditch my last year of high school. No joke. I literally left high school in June after completing my junior year, came to Cairn the following fall, finished a full freshman year, and then went to Pennsbury’s graduation a month after that. I didn’t even go to prom (at Pennsbury, that is no small thing).

Essentially, high school homecoming was nothing special for me: a football game with some carnival type activities before it. And for a large school like Pennsbury, it was mainly a good place to get drunk or smoke weed in the back parking lot. I do not think I ever went to one.

As alum of Pennsbury High School, I have no desire to go back and relive memories that I made, because I really did not make any. But Homecoming this year at Cairn made me reflect on what I will do once I am an alumnus here. As a junior, I am already halfway done my time on this campus. I only have 3 full semesters ahead of me before I receive my diploma and move out into the world. What a scary and yet exhilarating thought.

While at Homecoming on Saturday, I was continually reminded that my relationship with this school does not stop when I step off the graduation stage. I looked around all day to find individuals who had long since graduated, yet came back with their new babies and spouses to reconnect with their past peers. This is a concept that I never really got back in high school, and I do not think I would ever go to Pennsbury’s Homecoming to reconnect with anyone, but I was easily convinced by the warm conversations around me that Cairn’s Homecoming will be marked on my calendar each year as I grow old.

I went from an uninvolved high schooler to an engaged college student. In the two short years that I have been a part of this campus, I have found my deepest friendships, began writing for the student newspaper, and I even joined the softball team despite never picking up a bat before. I do not think that my personal growth is to be credited for this change, but the environment that I am now in. Cairn University does that to you: there is nowhere to hide and no reason to want to. I truly love everything about this school. Even though I am not looking forward to the days that I have to leave here, I am looking forward to the days when I will come back.

(especially if this free Chick-fil-A dinner thing continues)