CENTENNIAL HIGH SCHOOL– High school life is full of firsts- like school dances. Whether through movies, books, or word of mouth, there’s a general idea of what high school dances are like. Personal takes are part of this, so I want to share my own for good, bad, and everything else. Here is my rundown of my experience of my first time going to Homecoming this year and what I thought about it. 

I arrived at about 7:45 p.m. and met my friends outside the cafeteria bathroom. We took pictures in the bathroom after the rest of my friends came. There was not much dancing at the start, but we stood around and talked. After that, we got shaved ice from the Tropical Shaved Kona Ice stands and spent alternate amounts of time standing outside or in the adjoining section next to the auditorium. We went to the cafeteria and danced a bit to some great songs before heading to the photo shoot to take some photos. We spent the rest of the time taking pictures, talking, or bobbing to the music. During my time there, I noticed some things I liked and disliked. 

I think a positive thing was the decorations for both before and after. Before Homecoming, there were decorations for many hallways since there was a hallway competition. I loved the look of the B-hall that held the Fine Arts classrooms the most! Paper lanterns in the Centennial colors were attached to the ceiling in the hallway that led to the cafeteria. They added decorations for the actual dance in the back section of the school where it´d be. 

 For the theme of Walk Through Memory Lane, photos of the past 20 years were on the walls when you entered. It was fun to find the younger versions of teachers in the pictures.  To the right of the auditorium´s doors was a section with yearbooks on tables from past years with some decorations that included a ticket with the theme and numbers counting down from five, a menu poster, and a black backdrop with gold streamers creating a frame. Outside golden fairy lights were hanging from the trees at the sides of the section containing the crushed ice stands. Student Council did a fantastic job displaying the theme, and the decorations were pretty. 

Another mostly positive thing was the music. There was a DJ in the cafeteria that supplied the music. I recognized songs from Tiktok and old songs I used to listen to. Some songs weren’t that good for dancing, or maybe I didn’t like the songs. A few had inappropriate words, but the rest were filtered for a student dance. 

There were some things I would’ve liked to see at Homecoming. It would have been nicer if they had some other party food than just shaved ice. It was tasty and filling enough for a couple of hours, but I would´ve preferred to eat something else too. Any type of snack food like chips would´ve been great. Also, I wish they had added some more activities to do. I had friends to talk with, but the dance got boring after a while. The only things to do were to get shaved ice, dance, take photos, or chat. Two people played cards, but they must´ve brought the cards themselves. 

Overall, it was a great experience- I don’t regret going. I think I´ll go next year since it was so much fun! Even though there were some things I was disappointed with, I don’t think they detracted from Homecoming too much. The theme was pretty creative and nostalgic. It was a nice contribution to the school’s 20th anniversary- especially the gallery on the walls next to the auditorium doors.