While the University of Idaho’s Homecoming week features a variety of familiar events, from the Serpentine to “Vandalize Moscow,” every student sees it differently based on their role, year and personal experiences.
This said, the emotions these events inspired were not so varied. A few students who attended this year’s festivities discussed feeling a greater sense of community and bonding as a result.
“[I wanted] to go see what was up, because I heard there’s going to be floats. I’d never seen a float before, because I live in Idaho, and I like fireworks,” said Cooper Garcia, a freshman with an undeclared major.
“I thought [the parade] was really good. I’d never been to any other ones, but I thought this one was super cool. A lot of people, and the fireworks were cool,” Garcia said.
Emilee Mitchell, a freshman studying biology, discussed the Serpentine and bonfire at the Vandal Rally. “The marching band did this big performance in front of it. … They kind of, like, circled around it, and the crowd was just behind them. But it was really cool, hearing the band play with the fire in the background. It was pretty sweet. They did a really good job, I think.”
Mitchell said, “There’s a lot of school spirit, I feel like. Like, everyone was super passionate about [UI].”
Elise Provant, a sophomore in anthropology and member of the sorority Kappa Delta, gave a Greek Life perspective.
“I know it’s different for Greek Life, mainly because we have specific stuff we do, because it’s like, we’re trying to win Homecoming. We have events throughout the week. Our big thing is the parade with the floats. We do jingles in the Pitman Center that are super fun to participate in and watch. … It’s always super fun and it brings the Greek community a lot closer together. It’s a healthy competition,” she said.
“[The Homecoming game] was really fun. It was really sad that we lost, but I had a great time,” Provant added.
Marcela Isonhood, a freshman in microbiology who went to the Homecoming game itself, echoed these sentiments.
“A lot of my friends were going, so I wanted to be part of the experience. Also, I think I have school spirit in me, so I wanted to be there and support the Vandals,” she said.
“I don’t know football, so I thought it was going to be boring. But it was actually really funny,” Isonhood said. “A lot of people were shouting and you can feel the energy. It was a great environment. … I was happy. I was laughing with my friends and it was great. … We were losing for, like, a lot of the time, but that didn’t put our spirit down. We were still cheering for our team.”
“I think Homecoming [makes] us be more together, to unite us as a family, as a Vandal family. I think Homecoming is for that, to make us remember the family that Vandals are. And I’m really lucky to experience that for the first time, and I sure want to be part of it for my college experience,” Isonhood said.
Cal Torres can be reached at [email protected].