At 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 9, Fenwick students ran through the Triton field gates to dance and hang out with their friends. Until a few weeks ago, however, a real homecoming was just a possibility. When the school year started, everyone was excited to have a “normal” homecoming after the craziness of last year. The intense uproar when the student body learned that, instead of the usual dance, there would be informal events split up over the course of the weekend, was to be expected. Students were talking, people were emailing, and there was even a petition passed around. 

     And then, just a few weeks before the game, the plans were changed. While it still wasn’t the same homecoming Fenwick was used to, there was now a full dance, scheduled to be held on the Triton football field. It was more formal than the previously labeled “Outdoor Celebration Events.” So what caused this sudden change? Mr. Holmberg, Fenwick’s Director of Clubs and Activities, said that they wanted the original goal, giving students opportunities for interacting with each other and building a community, to stay the same. Before communicating the homecoming plan with students, the school also needed to await approval from its external venue for the event. When the plans finally came out, students were caught off guard. After all the feedback that the team organizing homecoming received, they were able to adjust plans to what they were on Saturday, October 9. 

      Students seem to be happier with the change in plans. Nora Erwin ‘24 said that she definitely preferred how it turned out. She liked that she got to have an actual homecoming, rather than something that could have happened at the beginning of the year. Nora, along with the rest of the sophomore class, experienced Fenwick’s homecoming for the first time this year–because of COVID, it wasn’t safe to hold an event even approaching a typical Homecoming during the 2020-2021 school year. Fenwick’s homecoming had a wild ride this year, but it ultimately turned out for the best.