Happy Baylor Homecoming weekend, folks! I know it’s technically not the weekend yet, but I like to count every second after Thursday morning as part of the celebration. I’ve been looking forward to Baylor Homecoming since the beginning of the year, not only because it’s such a damn fun time, but also since my parents and I scheduled our Waco trip for the first two full weeks of this month. We’re obviously and sadly not in Waco right now like we were supposed to be (damn you, Delta variant!), but we can still celebrate from afar one of the most exciting and enjoyable weekends for Baylor students, alumni, and friends. I love Baylor Homecoming weekend for many reasons, but above all because the 2012 celebration was when I decided I wanted to go to Baylor and Baylor only. Prior to that weekend I had no idea where I would go to college or what I’d study, but as soon as my dad and I drove onto campus, my search was over. Add in attending my first ever college football game (unaffiliated with UH) and despite despising all sports my entire life, I fell in love with football then and begged my dad to let us watch the whole game even when it was storming and lightning delayed play. Dad searched for ponchos and settled for clean trash bags we ripped holes in and pulled over our clothes. I screamed, cheered, and jumped up and down while watching athletes I’d never seen before in my life much less knew the names of and I had never experienced the sheer bliss of a college football victory (even though it was apparently a 41-14 win over Kansas). I loved every moment I spent at Baylor that weekend my sophomore year and I thankfully was accepted as it was the only school I applied to (my dad tried to convince me to apply to other universities and I refused because I hated every other school’s football team). Because I discovered my love for both Baylor and football during Baylor Homecoming in 2012, the annual weekend has always been dear to my heart and the most fun time for my parents to visit me when I was a college student. Dad came up almost every year (this post is from my last college Homecoming) aside from the basically cancelled weekend my freshman year and mom tagged along on the trip we took my senior year of high school. I wish we could’ve gone up this year so I could enjoy the best parts of the city I essentially grew up (into an adult) in and see my best friends in the world, but alas, we’ll have to wait for 2022 Homecoming weekend and enjoy these photographic memories (even though some are in 144p and my face and hair are horrible) in the meantime. Happy Homecoming, Baylor family!
