Letterman jackets and peppy cheers wash over the scene as crisp fall air rises up into the bleachers. Hotdogs and hot chocolates hold off the frigid autumn night as a community comes together, celebrating one another and the beautiful place that made them family.

Later on slow songs and old classics push forth from the gym as the collective relaxes and settles into the routine of last June. As the night ends, a subtle feeling of acceptance and warmth permeates the building. A home reconnected. A kinship reignited.

I am absolutely enamored with the idea of homecoming. The homecoming we’ve all seen on television, complete with letterman jackets and football games, Homecoming Queens and tremendous high school dances.

The traditional homecoming is a time when communities come together to celebrate and reconnect. It’s a much needed break from the chaos found as summer fades to fall. If only that was the homecoming we had here at Parker.

Because at 330 W. Webster cheers are replaced by apathetic conversation, the beauty of an autumn night is removed in favor of a sweltering late summer day, and the all-encompassing magnificence of heartfelt community is absent altogether. Acceptance and warmth are too often banished by teenage cynicism, and kinship by exclusion, a student body divided despite the desperate need for unity.

The “fairytale homecoming” is just a fantasy, one far from reality for several hundred people in our Model Home.

Last year, my freshman year, I came into homecoming expecting pomp and pageantry, expecting to experience the traditional American homecoming at a very non-traditional school. You can imagine my disappointment when I experienced the reality of homecoming at Parker. My disappointment is two-fold, concentrated in both day-time athletics and the evening dance.

Parker always initiates homecoming with sports, falling perfectly in line with the ideal homecoming of which this school is desperately in need. The problem arises in that the only aspect that Parker manages to comprehend is the mere principle of Homecoming athletics.

For one, the festivities always commence egregiously early, 9 am this year. This places a burden on opposing teams and further complicates the advanced logistics found in hosting a large-scale event by pushing all set-up and arrival times to early morning. Any fans who wish to support all community members are forced to wake up uncomfortably early for what should be a relaxed and enjoyable Saturday.

Furthermore, the opponents that were scheduled this year vastly underwhelmed. While one might have expected a thrilling homecoming matchup against Latin or U-High, this year the Colonels faced off against Homewood Flossmoor and Lincoln Park High School in field hockey and soccer respectively.

Both as a player and as a spectator, I felt very little emotional attachment to the games. Obviously I’d like Parker to walk away with as many wins as possible, but investments that develop in games against close rivals dwarf those found against opponents with whom we have little connection.

Moving past the matters of schedule we get to the concern of our fan-experience. While the school provides essentials such as food and seating, the heart that makes homecoming special is never really present. There’s a place for the fans, but it’s also wildly uncomfortable, especially in the midday sun. There are activities, but not much else for those who wish to take a break or who lose interest in a given game.

As difficult as the athletic experience can be for our community, there’s the potential that all can be made up with an exciting homecoming dance. One with pageantry and energy, excitement and community. Unfortunately, the grand tradition of Parker’s homecoming dance lacks any and all of the aforementioned qualities. It’s terrible.

I hadn’t anticipated elaborate homecoming asks or a vote for king and queen. Really, I hadn’t expected anything more than a stereotypical school dance. Just a relaxed environment in which students can have a good time, the same one you’ve seen in every teenage movie. Although dances are a rare sight at Parker, they can’t be too difficult to put on, right?

After signing in, walking through the triple doors, and making a Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) pledge that at least half of the Upper School student body intended on breaking, I just wanted a normal, run of the mill dance. Just a few hours of music, dancing, and good friends.

But most students spent their time lingering outside of the gym or in the corner on their phones. The culture that has been cultivated is one of apathy and boredom, one that allows a national rite of passage to slip through our fingers.

Yet for me the worst part of the day came when the Homecoming Dance reached its unofficial end, which cut the dance from a ridiculously short two hour endeavor to an infuriatingly short one hour endeavor. When those savvy enough took off for after-parties and the rest, mostly freshmen were left to stew or find a ride home. I found myself in the latter group along with countless other newly minted high schoolers, all blindsided by the unspoken purpose of our Homecoming Dance: the afterparties.

Looking back on this year’s homecoming, I saw some improvement. Perhaps my expectations were just more realistic.

But the room for improvement is still very much present. Both Junior Varsity Soccer and Field Hockey had relatively small turnouts as a result of their early morning start times, the dance was defined by when people left rather than by the festivities while they were present, and even the overall atmosphere felt a little subdued, as though something were missing from our valued school customs.

Homecoming will never be perfect. There will always be improvements to be made, but the tradition can never progress unless our community changes its disposition and consciously works to make our Homecoming positive and enjoyable.