Homecoming is an event that many students look forward to. With the Homecoming Court and Queen, football game and pep rally all leading towards the Homecoming Dance, it’s worth examining how enjoyable the dance was, and how it could be improved for the future. This year’s Homecoming dance was on Saturday, Oct. 19. It was held in the arena and the theme was “A Night in Rio.” It was a very fun experience overall, but could have benefitted from additional activities.

There were a lot of enjoyable things about Homecoming. The DJ played some great music such as “Baby” by Justin Beiber and “Yeah” by Usher. I had fun singing along and dancing on the arena floor. Tropical decorations represented the Brazil theme, including fake plants, hanging parrots decorations and wall decals. The decorations combined with green lighting to bring the arena to life.

Another fun thing about Homecoming was the location. The circular track allowed for a great way to interact and socialize as well as made it easy to find friends. If I needed a break from walking around, the bleachers provided a great place to sit down and rest. Finally, the concession stands allowed for delicious cookies and cups of water to be easily given out.

There were unfortunately some downsides to the arena venue. For one, heels were not allowed for the dance, since the shoes could damage the arena floor. Additionally, one of the trophy cases broke. Dozens of sports awards and trophies were thrown against the display case, breaking many valuable symbols of Manheim Township’s athletic achievements. Students need to be careful in the future to make sure our school’s valuable property is taken care of.

While Homecoming was a lot of fun, I do have some ideas that would have made it more fun for everyone. First of all, I would limit the noise in the arena. At times, the loud music was overwhelming, and one of my friends had to step into the hallway for a couple minutes to get a break. The noise also made it hard to hear people when they were talking to you, which limited socializing. I would either introduce a maximum volume for all music that is comfortable to hear consistently and talk over, or add sound-absorbing panels to the arena to reduce overall volume.

Homecoming could also have benefitted from more activities. Sometimes the dance gets monotonous and boring with only a few things to do. If you get bored of dancing or walking around or talking to friends, you don’t really have anything else to do. To prevent this, there could be more activities available to keep people entertained. Last year, I remember there being games of Jenga and cornhole out on the track for people to play with. Activities like these would make homecoming more fun and give people something to do besides walk around and dance.

Overall, Homecoming was a very fun experience this year, and I enjoyed hanging out on a Saturday night in the nicely decorated arena. However, it could have benefitted from more activities and a quieter environment. I am looking forward to the improvements made for next year’s Homecoming.