Let me set the stage for you.

It’s about one month before the big day. Homecoming asks pop up around every hall. “I Slope to Ski You at Homecoming.” One of the severely cringey posters that caught my eye. Little do these couples know that this was just the beginning of the one month torture they were about to face. From dinner reservations to hair appointments, spots fill up fast. On top of that, ties and dresses have to match perfectly with a put together corsage complimenting the both. All this time, energy, money put towards one singular night and the DJ doesn’t even play Thotiana…

So, this sparks my main question. Is all the stress and money dedicated towards homecoming or any school dance for that matter really worth it? Personally, I believe no because only a few months after the fact the so-called “best day of the year” becomes summed up to a couple of Instagram pictures that don’t actually portray the night. Nonetheless, I wanted to hit the halls and see what fellow classmates and teachers had to say on the topic.

When asked, Mr. Geibel certainly had vivid memories from his homecoming date, way back in the late 80s: “My homecoming dance was horrible. I went with my girlfriend we were dating since ninth grade. My senior year, her eleventh-grade year, and we were on the verge of breaking up. It was the worst night of our lives. All night long she pretended to be tired so she could go home and go out with her friends. And I knew that the whole time. We knew our dating time was coming to an end, but since we were dating we knew we had to go with each other. It was very awkward.”

Geibel continued by posing a bit of advice for high schoolers: “I think people should go to Mcdonald’s for dinner because it is cheap and you know you’ll get something you will like. Then just go to somebody’s house. Maybe go to the dance, but definitely dress up and go to McDonald’s, because all people do is fight anyhow. They fight about where to go to dinner, they fight about how many people can be in their party, it starts out as 4 and then ends up as 17 an odd number just because somebody ends up not going with anybody and nobody agrees on where to go. The wait staff is rude because you know the wait staff is always rude to teenagers.”  

Teachers have memories from years ago to pass down, but I thought interviewing a couple of students would give us a better taste of homecoming today.

Already stressed out student, sophomore Nina Miller, responded to the question with: “ I don’t think it’s worth it, but at the same time it’s there and I’m happy it’s there. It’s almost like holidays. They’re stressful but it’s still fun and you still participate. For me, all the prep work like buying dresses and getting my hair done is the most fun part. It’s still stressful but a different kind of stress. Almost like one that alleviates stress from school. In short, I don’t think it’s worth all the stress but I think it’s worth some of it.”

Her advice: “Go with people that all get along because that’s where most of the drama comes from.”

Victoria Ren went on to pose her own perspective on the topic with: “I don’t know how to exactly define stress, but I don’t think homecoming is exactly it. 

It definitely took up a lot of time but it’s one of those things you want to experience just to experience once, and you don’t have to go again. And this year I don’t want to go as much because where I am at now I just have bigger priorities. I think it is still a lot of fun though. In the end, looking back I don’t think it was worth it but at the same time I thought it was worth it at that moment. Which makes the biggest difference because you don’t think you’re wasting time then. Still, I think it is something you want to experience because you’ll look back on it and think that was cool. I went through buying a dress, doing my makeup, going with friends, going to an after-party and that’s all that really matters.”

Her advice: “Enjoy while it lasts. If you’re gonna go, make it a point to have a good time because you don’t want to look back a few years later and only remember petty arguments and bad music.”

So, is homecoming worth it? All of the money, stress, time, and energy which many look back at in complete and utter contempt?

To be short, yes.

Despite the warnings of our superiors, and although it’s rather cliche, these are our high school years.  

While we may loathe the idea of getting dressed up and spending way too much money, it’s a special kind of rite of passage.  The photos we take and post to Instagram are part of our life story: a story which we may not always love, but nonetheless, one that we took part in it.