High school homecoming was filled with the glitz-and-glam of fancy outfits, Homecoming royalty, and photo sessions. I remember being a part of my class Homecoming Halls Band, and my senior year, I was honored to sing the anthem before kickoff. While I hold these fond high school memories, and hope you do too, college homecoming is quite different.

In high school, we had a spirit week leading up to homecoming. We dressed up in various outfits for different theme days and took tons of squad pics. The last day, we dressed up in colors depending on our class.

In college, we also had a spirit week. It usually consists of wearing different colors throughout the week. I think most people were not aware of the color, let alone participated.

In high school, we celebrated. There was pep rally, we decorated the halls and maybe you even performed. Basically, it was a school wide party that lead up to the football game and dance.

In high school, seniors would nominate friends and then you’d all vote for the Homecoming King and Queen. This involved sashes, crowns, and even a ceremony.

In college, there are thousands of us. For the most part, nobody cares about being “royalty” anymore.

In high school, you might have been asked to homecoming in a promposal-esque manner. If not, you probably went with a group of friends.

In college, you went with some friends or whomever you usually go to football games with. Unlike high school, you didn’t plan this out for weeks or months in advance.

Speaking of planning, in high school, you picked out a dress (or suit), bought a boutonnière (or corsage), and managed to meet up with all your friends before the dance. Parents would take TONS of photos.

In college, you picked out some type of sprit wear before the game or maybe wore whatever you were wearing earlier that day. You may have also added face paint. Basically, dressing up for homecoming takes minimal effort compared to high school. You might have a few nice photos of you and your friends, but you most likely have selfies with applied Snapchat filters saved in your camera roll instead.

While high school and college homecoming are certainly different, they are both tons of fun!