This year at Cairn’s homecoming celebration there was a lot to celebrate. There were new students, old students, some fun activities, athletic victories, and the official introduction of Cairn’s “Forward” franchise. As a student, I enjoyed seeing so many people on campus versus the usual weekend ghost town. My friends, professors, their families, and alumni all came out for another homecoming. There were so many good aspects to Cairn’s homecoming that it is almost impossible to accurately describe each aspect, so I am just going to list my top five:

1. Introducing Cairn’s “Forward” Franchise

Trying to get the word out about something this huge to a large number of people is extremely tough. It is so much easier to just gather as many as you can and tell them all together. That is the best approach and the approach that Cairn took. As a student, it was very cool to hear about all the new advances and plans for Cairn. Most of them won’t happen until after my graduation, but it is still amazing to see that there are plans for the future and that the school I go to will not be the school that future students go to.

2. Free Chick-Fil-A

Who doesn’t love free Chick-Fil-A? They donated over 1,000 meals, and we even had extra for seconds! You can’t beat that. I personally don’t mind the regular cafeteria food, but honestly if it is a choice between that and Chick-Fil-A, I gotta choose Chick-Fil-A! In all seriousness though, it was a pretty awesome thing for the Chick-Fil-A corporation to do.

3. Athletic Events

Having a ton of athletic games during a huge event when there are a ton of people already on campus is total genius. It is especially helpful for women’s sports, since there always seems to be a huge imbalance of attendance to women’s games and men’s games. The attendance numbers will almost, if not always, favor the men’s side. Why? Who knows, but when there is something like homecoming going on during games it brings in crowds and gives well-deserved attention to the sports that could really use it, and thrive on the fans as well as the players.

4. 7th Time Down Concert

So I didn’t actually attend this event, but I heard from some other students that it was pretty good. Honestly, I think this is one of the best things Cairn could have done because it definitely appeals more to the students, which really shows that Cairn is considering the students more. That means a lot to students, and that is what prospective students should look for in a college or university.

5. Fireworks

Minus the sound factor, fireworks are an amazing way to end a night. They are beautiful, cool, amazing and a lot of other adjectives. It is also just a time to relax. After running around to all the rides, eating so much food, and listening to speeches, it is good to just sit down and watch fireworks. It is oddly calming to gaze up and see sparks of red, blue, green, yellow, and many other colors appear and then disappear.

So many good things happened, but honestly homecoming is great just because we get to celebrate another year in Cairn's history.