SCPC hosted its annual Homecoming Carnival on Tech Green, or rather, the yellow brick road, last Tuesday. Conveniently taking place during midday, students stopped by for a brief arts-and-crafts break between classes or spent their afternoon competing in bouncy house and egg-cracking races with friends.
Erin Yoon, fourth-year NEURO and this year’s SCPC President, spoke about this special event.
“It’s a big tradition here at Tech throughout Homecoming. It creates a sense of camaraderie around the campus, having clubs compete against each other, and it just kind of brings the whole school together in a nice way around the surrounding theme,” Yoon said.
With Wicked in the zeitgeist, the theme for this year was the Wizard of Oz. Pink and green pervaded heavily throughout — even down to the cupcake frosting colors— and Emerald Castle chalk drawings surrounded the festivities.
Other stations included a jewelry-making activity, a miniature golf course, bungee jumping, a mini Wipeout obstacle course and custom balloon animals. All of these activities and more were free for students, with no pre-registration required.
To provide such a variety of events at no charge required extensive planning and budgeting behind the scenes, months in advance.
“It’s a pretty extensive process, but Homecoming week is a signature event for us. Generally, we’ll start planning for events the semester before… and over the summer, they’ll also finalize the event schedule, order supplies and reserve all the spaces,” Yoon said.
Unlike other traditional Homecoming events, the Homecoming Carnival takes place earlier in the week, throughout late morning and early afternoon class times. Many students stopped by for just a few moments of relaxation and fun before heading into more classes.
“I had like 15 minutes before my class, and it just looked fun. And there’s free food,” said Katie Wang, third-year CS.
Of course, the most popular station was the lunch buffet. Chicken tenders, mac and cheese bites and cupcakes were among the catering options.
Some students, who had enjoyed this event in past years, came back to reminisce on past Homecomings and make new memories.
“I wanted to see if they had anything different, and they did, like miniature golf. Apparently, they’re egging people over there. I might go on the bungee again, too,” said Kristen Shurney, fourth-year LMC.
While Homecoming started as an event to celebrate alumni, it also celebrates their relationship with current students and Tech’s future.
“You can walk around and see the different props and the different banners that people put up for Homecoming. Everyone’s excited about the Homecoming game and alumni coming back. It’s just a good way to get everyone together to celebrate it in a casual way,” Yoon said.
All students who attended the Homecoming Carnival will one day be the alumni that Homecoming week honors. Events such as these allow students to make memories of their college years on campus in a low-cost, stress-free way.
“I saw the tickets on Instagram and they were free, so. There’s free food. There’s good events. A lot of people. It’s just a nice way to socialize,” said Tahmid Khondokarm, first-year CMPE.
The Homecoming Carnival is just one of many traditions continuing this year, with Freshman Cake race, Mini 500 and Wreck Parade scheduled for later in the week.