Throughout my years as a student at Penn State I’ve had
the opportunity to attend Homecoming multiple times, and each year I’ve had a
different role while attending it!
Sophomore year I was able to simply walk around and enjoy
the activities that students could participate in. There were games to play,
food to eat (and enjoy!) and fun people to be around. I even got to watch the
crowning ceremony for the Homecoming King and Queen! Multiple friends of mine
were on the court so it was awesome having the opportunity to be there to
support them!
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Student Co-Chair Brooke
Burkey, friend Lindsay Tucker and I spending time with one of the alumni’s daughter, before the movie started! |
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| Student Co-Chair Frank
Lione and I are taking a quick break from overseeing Club Float Building! |
Last year was the beginning of my junior year and I had
the honor of being a Student Co-Chair for the Homecoming Committee, representing
the Campus Activities Board! It was a lot of fun having this added level of
involvement with all of the festivities. I oversaw the CAB volunteers
that signed up to staff the many games and activities that students and their
families could participate in! I was also a liaison between the Homecoming
Committee and the individuals that were selected to serve as Homecoming Float
judges! We had a front row seat to view the floats, which were incredible! The
theme was Country Western, and our clubs were extremely creative with their
floats. The judges and I had so much fun!
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Rachel Lynch and I pose for a picture together. She is now Chair of Special Events on the CAB Executive board with me! |
However, this year was completely different because in
the middle of September I found out that I had been nominated to be a member of
the 2015-2015 Homecoming Court! I was completely shocked! Not to mention I was
honored that people took the time out of their day to nominate me for that.
Being on the Homecoming Court was an absolutely wonderful
experience for me. I feel like I was able to grow much closer with some of my
friends that were on the court through the head shots. Each person was
responsible for supplying Kelly Ann with a headshot that could be hung up
in the Homecoming Display Case! Since one of my passions in life is
photography, many of the court members came to me to have “mini sessions” with
them. It was SO much fun! I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time!
My suite mate Ali and I both were on the court together,
and one Sunday we made a day
of it together! We went shopping for clothes to wear for our shoot, we got
lunch, and had a double photo shoot where we took each other’s head shots.
I’m going to turn her into a photographer yet, just you wait! She did an
amazing job with my pictures and I’m so thankful for that!
The court was also responsible for decorating the truck
that we would be riding in during the Homecoming Parade. We all met the day
before (during float) to try to decorate this. None of us were really able to
come up with a formal idea on how to decorate it, so we all kind of grabbed
streamers, tape, and other assorted decorations. I think the final product
still looked pretty good! During the parade itself (although I almost fell over
a couple times in my wedges) I laughed harder than I did during the Homecoming
Court headshot sessions! It was such an amazing bonding experience.
It was such an amazing opportunity to go through this
experience together with such amazing people. Honestly, I wish there were
enough crowns for every single person on the court, because each of them has a
personality worth more than a solid gold crown! I never expected to win,
and it’s something that hasn’t exactly sunken in yet. I still don’t really know
what set me apart from everyone else, because they all do just as much (if not
more) for our amazing campus.
Overall I can say that my last Homecoming as a Penn State
student has been more than I could ever have expected! Next year will be here
before we know it and I will be attending my first Berks Homecoming as an
alumnus, where I will have the opportunity to crown the 2016-2017 Berks
Homecoming Queen! I can’t wait!
Also, a shout out of congratulations to my
"King" Cody Fields! Congrats on being selected as the 2015-2016
Homecoming King! :)
WE ARE!
~ Katie
