It was no shock that the sophomores ended up placing last during homecoming week this year. As a sophomore myself– it’s not crazy to say that we were by far the least spirited class. Not many people in my grade would argue with that. After all, we’ve finished in fourth place for the second year in a row now. 

An abnormally large percentage of the class of 2026 chose not to participate in HOCO week. Of course, a few people went above and beyond to try and hype the rest of the class up, but to no avail. Our dance-off was rough, we had zero teamwork in the relay, and our float was lacking the numbers when we needed help the most. Overall, the sophomore class was just missing the spirit every other grade level possessed. 

Four years might seem like an eternity right now, but it really isn’t. We have such a short amount of time to enjoy high school life, and if we continue to act so disinterested at the opportunities like HOCO, later down the road, we’ll lose as seniors and regret it. If the class of 2026 can just gain the motivation to try our best, good things will come. We just need to think about homecoming in a more positive light. 

Coming from a competitive person as well as an active sophomore during spirit week, I really wish our class could find that spirit that we saw in the freshman, juniors, and seniors. I don’t have the greatest sense of class pride, but the second HOCO rolls around, I try to be two times as loud because we’re missing half the participation. It honestly makes me slightly disappointed when my classmates refuse to take part in the activities because “it’s more important next year.” 

However, I believe that is far from the truth. 

Every Homecoming Week is important, regardless of what year you’re in, if you want to do well by the time you become a senior. Each time we do a certain activity, we become better at it. Our float freshman year was on the verge of collapse as we wheeled it into the gym, but this year we had a clean, stable design. Sure, we still fell short in the skit, but step-by-step improvements will eventually lead us to success.

Think about it: you couldn’t just win a medal in Olympic swimming if you’ve never swam before. 

The same thing applies to HOCO: we can’t win if we don’t practice and learn the ropes. If the class of 2026 never tries, how can we improve? 

It might sound far-fetched, but once we get rid of our fixed mindset, and start believing that we can really do well– we will improve. Just because we’re not there yet doesn’t mean it’s just time to give up completely. Have some class spirit, you’re only in high school once. Personally, I don’t want to look back to my high school years and regret the missed opportunities to just have fun.

A win as a senior might seem unlikely right now, but I hope my fellow sophomores can learn from this hurdle of a homecoming and come back stronger.