Thoughts From an Uncrowned Homecoming Queen

By Broadside Opinion Columnist Nicole Kukuruda

I should be bitter that I didn’t win or bitter that we lost the game, but I’m not. I mean, I did spend quite a bit of time practicing my talent. I wouldn’t say I was obsessed with getting that sparkly crown or anything, but I did starve myself for three days to fit into that stupid Homecoming dress from high school. And I might have had flashes in my mind of whipping the crown off that pretty little head and pronouncing myself Miss Mason … but I’m not bitter at all.

We may have lost the game and I may have lost the crown, but Homecoming was amazing. I had fun, and overall, I’m not bitter. But who can blame me?

Homecoming was a complete success. I’ll admit that when the memo went out announcing the theme of “Mason Rocks,” I was significantly less than enthusiastic. I thought it was unimaginative and boring. But, as it turns out, it was a great theme. Lee Warner and Julia Wetzel, the Homecoming Chair and Vice-Chair for Program Board, really put together an absolutely amazing event. It was just flexible enough to cater to all that Homecoming typically includes like concerts, dances, talent shows and the game, and they somehow managed to turn the theme into a foam finger.

Really, a foam finger – it doesn’t get better than that. Granted, the finger was technically two fingers making the typical KISS rocks sign, but still, it worked. And the truth of the matter is that Mason does, in fact, rock. Mason is a great school that is becoming better by the minute. Mason rocks my world, and it damn well should rock yours!

I know I’m not the only person who had a great time at Homecoming. There are photo albums littering Facebook with proof of the level of fun and excitement that could be witnessed at our “dinky little commuter school” last weekend. The Greeks were out in full force with hotdogs and all. DJs were showcasing, rocking music and fans were sporting festive face paint.

If you think Mason is a lame school or Gunston is a dumb mascot, then you didn’t come to Homecoming, and you probably don’t want to care or get involved.

Mason had a beautiful glimmer last weekend. A glimmer of what our school could, and should be, and it was rather sparkly. There were kids frolicking and having a good time. The Mason Police were keeping people safe, without making people afraid of the police.

Granted, the whole reason it was pulled off successfully was the weather. We can say Mason rocks all day long, but we have to realize the fall-like weather was the deal breaker. The weather and time of year are what make traditional fall Homecomings the outstanding events that they are. The perfect crispness of the air, the warm smell of a hotdog covered in ketchup and spicy mustard, the loving fizz of an ice cold beer foaming down the back of your throat and the sounds of chaos and happiness; these are the ideals that make up Homecoming.

It may have been the winter technically, but the sporting “swap” from football to basketball didn’t kill Mason’s Homecoming. The weather was perfect, the hotdogs were grilling and the beer was definitely flowing. Not even losing the game could kill our Homecoming spirit. We also know that, win or lose, we love Mason and everything it stands for, regardless of the score at the end of the game.

And maybe, five, 10 or 15 years down the line, the whistle that blows at Homecoming won’t denote a foul or the end of a play where the ball goes in the basket, but it will be the whistle to end the heart-wrenching tackle of man on man, to stop the grass from being torn up and to force the players out of a huddle as they drip in sweat despite the chill in the air. The smell of wet grass in October is what football and Homecoming are all about, and a true fall Homecoming doesn’t have to be that far away.