Is Lake Forest High School’s Homecoming Overrated, Underrated, or Properly Rated?

Huddled masses of freshmen through seniors, packed too-tightly like sardines into blue-plastic bleachers; football players audaciously squeezed into highlighter-pink spandex and muscle tanks; blinding stadium lights, illuminating blue and gold pom-poms strewn across fresh-painted turf; the scent of burgers sizzling on the grill, the distinct ring of the coach’s whistle; sharp high-heels and flowy pastel dresses, bow-ties and spiffy socks, bed-sheet togas, and just about everything in between. The sum of these, an unmistakable event– this is homecoming.

It’s safe to assume we have all– with the exception of the current freshmen– partaken in this week-long event of festivities, in some way, shape, or form. Unavoidable are the group-chats in which all things dress-options and poster puns are bounced back and forth. The occasional thoughts of homecoming-askings and slow dances would flit across the minds of our middle-school selves, excitedly anticipating our identities as high schoolers awaiting us. After all, homecoming was supposed to be an integral aspect of our high school experience, an absolute must. Right?

What many had deduced to be a Hallmark of high school, a high-spirited event with 99.99% school-wide participation, had fallen short of inflated expectations. In the same way that freshmen are continually disappointed to discover that the reality of high school cafeterias falls nowhere close to the example set at East High in High School Musical, many are shocked to find that homecoming isn’t exactly the fantasy that Hollywood tries to convince us it is.

As a freshman, the precedent for my homecoming experience had been set by a plethora of classic high school films; from Back to the Future, Sixteen Candles, Grease, and It’s a Wonderful Life, my standard for high school dances (at the time, there was little distinction in my mind between homecoming and prom) far surpassed any height I could reach even on my tippy-toes– which, admittedly, isn’t very high. The point I’m attempting to draw here is, simply stated, that I had unrealistically high expectations for my first homecoming experience.

Accentuating the naive judgement of my freshman-year self was my half-expectation for there to be a sea-weed filled whale replica hanging from the gym’s ceiling, like in Disney Channel’s Read It and Weep. My heart sank when Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” wasn’t played as the slow dance, an expectation set after having watched Napoleon Dynamite. No terra-cotta warrior sighting like in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior? Yet another crushing letdown.

All in all, it quickly became clear to me that homecoming at Lake Forest High School would be nothing near how I’d envisioned it– whether the vision I conjured had been realistic or not.

Setting aside all of my imaginative visions of Homecoming, I’d still expected to see “Vote ___ for Homecoming Queen!” posters plastered around the school’s stairwells. I’d assumed that participation in Spirit Week was mandatory, and that any individual that failed to meet the daily dress theme would be branded an outcast. I thought we’d all assemble outside of the school to cheer wildly while parade floats rolled past, that fights in the commons would erupt over who would take that one person to the dance, that the student section at the Homecoming football game would stomp in their cheering with enough force to make the metal bleachers quiver.

These presumptions were inaccurate, but not without reason. I know plenty of high schools where Homecoming is blown up to be even more grand than their prom, essentially a rite of passage as a first-year high student, where Homecoming courts are fiercely competitive, where entire towns will shove themselves into the football stadium’s vicinity on game night, and parade’s showcase the town and their alumni’s greatest achievements.

Still, I was warned by upperclassmen not to take my Spirit Week outfits “too far,” as I might come off as “too freshman”– as though “freshman” was an adjective to describe my foolishness. I was surrounded by a classroom of students that were clueless as to what a “homecoming parade” even was, after a teacher has asked us if we’d ever had one. I was informed by many that homecoming was less about the dance itself, and more about the hundreds of pictures beforehand, then the post-dance gatherings in dimly lit basements that followed.

I’m surprised to find this year that, despite the large quantity of our student body that do plan on attending the homecoming dance, the amount of students that plan on not going continues to grow since I had been a freshman only two years ago. I noticed significantly fewer pun-posters and flower bouquets, seniors donning Greek togas, and freshmen participating in Spirit Week than in years past.

The question I pose now is this: is the school simply experiencing a low point in its homecoming participation this year, or has our morale always been less defined than that of other high schools in the country?

Now, don’t get me wrong– I do believe that Lake Forest High School does a wonderful job coordinating and advertising its events. The promotions, pep rally, cook-out, game, and dance decorations are all executed with a great level of consideration and taste. However, it’s undeniable that school-wide participation and spirit in these events falls short of the bar set by many other high schools, especially for a school with as rich a tradition as LFHS.

Regardless of the reason that Lake Forest High School is experiencing this quasi-homecoming-enthusiasm drought, it seems that few find this to be unusual. Most are aware (and are sure to make others aware) that our school hypes up homecoming week at a far smaller scale than elsewhere. It’s no surprise to many that homecoming here does not necessarily equate to extravagant askings and red-carpet-styled dresses. But should it be? High school students, by the age of about 16, become impervious to the pressures that “adults” subject them to. We still procrastinate homework, stay out past curfew, and partake in a plethora of other “teenage” things against our elders’ approval. More signs and a parade won’t fix the Homecoming dance attendance problem. In reality, it is a problem that has been manifested by ourselves. 

Despite my previous misconceptions of Homecoming to bear similarities to Hollywood’s depictions, after two years of high school, I’ve picked up on one distinct fact: our high school does not meet the national average for homecoming, and everyone is aware. It’s simply factual that our expectations for Homecoming aren’t exceptionally high. That’s not to say that homecoming won’t be a good time– it’s what you make of it, and most are able to make it memorable.

With this, I encourage you to prove me wrong. Go out and show me that Homecoming will be everything you’d hoped and dreamed and more. Lake Forest High School, I implore you to make this the greatest homecoming in our school’s history to date. Kick off your shoes, and put on a dance mob in the spirit of Grease. Clap and cheer until your hands and voice are sore after they announce the Homecoming King and Queen at the football game.

Until this happens, I’m sorry Homecoming, but, I will not be attending all of your events. Season 5 of New Girl just came out– I’m busy this weekend.

Verdict: Properly rated.