A long awaited homecoming

By Ria Sanghera, Youth Writer

The classic Halloween experience: rush-buying candy for trick-or-treaters, ordering

Halloween costumes on Amazon, making the classic last-minute Spirit Halloween run.
Though, instead of the usual day-before-Halloween routine, Liberty High School students
were texting their friends, dressing up, and preparing for their first Homecoming dance
after distance learning.

After the past year, the dance was almost a relief to students-proof of the return to
normalcy that had been reinforced in emails, letters, and alike. Despite the week’s events
including a rained-in virtual rally, contested spirit days, and a lost Homecoming game, the
dance was still highly anticipated for heightened by tales of food trucks, pop-a-shot
basketball, and light-up dance floors.

“I liked that there were air hockey tables and pool tables so even people who don’t really
like to dance still had something to do,” Ashley Ribeiro, a senior at Liberty commented on
the new aspects.

The effort to make every student feel comfortable was definitely noticed. Compared to past
dances, this time felt more open, with more activities to do, and more planning to account
for such. However, there was one much expected downfall.

“My least favorite part was how long and disorganized the line to get into the event was
since we had to spend an hour to get in line, despite already buying tickets,” Ribeiro said.

By the time students entered the dance, others had been in long-before as almost 2,000
students attended the dance and waited in lines across the length of the pool and tennis
courts combined. This prompted yet another concern.

“There was no COVID regulation whatsoever, most people weren’t wearing their masks and
people were easily less than five feet apart. It impacted my enjoyment because my friends
or I could have gotten sick or spread the virus to others unknowingly,” Ribeiro expressed.

The lasting impacts of COVID can still be felt at events that would have been considered
normal a few years ago. In crowded spaces, even if one tries to separate themself from the
masses, there is huge risk for contracting the deadly virus especially as not everyone is
vaccinated, and it can not be mandated.

It is made clear that we can not escape the pandemic, but the homecoming dance despite
its differences from prior years was successful to remind students of the experiences and
A long awaited homecoming
By Ria Sanghera, Youth Writer
people they have missed and as a chance for students to be able to surround themselves
with peers for their first or last times at the event.