October 4, 2002

Homecoming 2002

Photo by JENNIFER KELLY 2002 Senior Homecoming Court Nominees: Katy Roth (Queen) , Jordan Brown, Katie Gunther, Matt Edwards, Melissa Agostino, Craig O'Neill (King).

Getting ready for the big night: Guys vs. Dolls

By REBECCA HOPKINS

Over the past few weeks, students have been gabbing about the fast-approaching homecoming dance. Guys and girls alike have been asking each other: “What are you wearing,” “ Who are you going with?” and “What are you doing before and after?” While guys and girls they may be asking the same kind of questions, the answer to “What are you wearing?” will gather a more detailed response from one sex than the other. This is mainly because of the difference in the amount of time spent on getting ready by girls and guys.

Guys are constantly complaining about having to wait while girls get ready to go out. However females do not just take a shower and get dressed; the process is far more complex than that. They have to take into consideration their hair, make-up and nails. Also, girls do not often wear a dress they have worn to a previous dance, they like to go out and buy a new one. This takes time and money. Girls search until they find that perfect dress that fits them just right, no matter how much it costs.

"I enjoy going shopping for a dress with a group of friends. That's my favorite part of homecoming," said junior Megan Ulanich. Although a majority of the girls do buy a new dress, some girls will wear one they have worn in the past, or borrow one from a friend. After they find the dress, the next step is finding a pair of terrific shoes that match it. The shoes do not find the dress of course, so that means girls have to go through six or seven shoe stores and fork over another $30. After the shoes and the dress, what else could the gals possibly need? Jewelry. It adds the finishing touch to the outfit. After spending their dinero on their new dress and shoes, most girls wear jewelry they already have or borrow it from a friend.

Photo courtesy of ALUMNI OFFICE 1988’s infamous Marlin mascot

"I either look at what I have from previous dances, or I borrow some from a friend. That way I somewhat limit the spending," said sophomore Sarah Vreeland. After all this shopping and spending, girls finally have the outfit. The next step does not come until the actual day of the dance when they do everything else necessary to look absolutely perfect. "After I take my shower, I normally do my nails in between everything else, that way they have plenty of time to dry," said freshman Kristen Jehl.

The next challenge the girls take on is their hair. It's one of the most time-consuming tasks for most girls. Contrary to popular belief, girls cannot throw some gel in their hair like guys do. Girls put a lot of time and experimenting into deciding what they want to do and how they can do it.

Make-up comes second to hair as a tedious task. Not only does make-up have to be applied meticuously, but it also must to match the outfit to bring the whole ensemble together. Now, girls have reached the point where they can get dressed. They get dressed, put on their shoes and jewelry and take one last glance in the mirror to make sure everything looks just right. "By the time I get everything together and done it will probably take me about two hours to get completely ready," said Ulanich.

Guys have a much different routine when it comes to getting ready for homecoming. "I normally wear what I already have, but this year I'm going to have to go shopping," said junior Chris Douglass. Although Douglass plans to buy something new this year, most guys will not.

"I'll probably just pull something out of my closet that I already have, that way I won't have to go shopping and spend money," said senior James Lee. Getting ready on the day of the dance for guys is much easier than the girls' process. “I'll shower and shave, throw on my clothes before I leave, it will probably take me about fifteen minutes total to get ready," said Douglass.

So the next time you guys are complaining about having to wait for your date to get ready, try to remember what they go through and how much time they put into looking good.

Coming Home
A history of Homecomings

By KATE ROSS

Photo courtesy of The Sandpiper Vol. 9 1988’s Homecoming court with their escorts

Homecoming at Virginia Wesleyan has gone through an interesting evolution over the years. When it first emerged in the late 1970s, the festivities surrounded a basketball game in the early spring. The weekend included activities like a barbeque, faculty and staff talent show and an alumni harbor cruise on Friday night. The Homecoming Queen was chosen at this time, although she was without a Homecoming King until 1991 when the first king was crowned.

As the tradition matured, the college moved Homecoming to the fall in 1981, with soccer as its main athletic event. According to Alumni Relations Director and former student Kevin Clary, in 1982 Dean David Buckingham arrived and managed to involve more students in the festivities. Also contributing to its growth was the fact that class reunions and Parents' Weekend were held the same weekend.

As each event grew, Parents Weekend was separated from Homecoming and reunion activities. Then, three years ago, class reunions were moved to the summer when alumni have more time and opportunity to attend. With this schedule, greater emphasis could be placed on each event. "In some ways [Homecoming] has gotten smaller, but its focus is still on alums and students for the weekend," Clary said. "It's been a good thing that other things have grown out of it."

Today, Homecoming has evolved into a day of picnics, tailgate parties and athletics for locals, alumni and students. In general, the 400 to 500 alumni in attendance each year have gotten younger. According to Clary, many have graduated within the last five years and come to "spend a day on campus and have a good time." This year the 6000th student will graduate from Wesleyan. As the college grows and the number of graduates increases, Homecoming is also likely to grow in importance and attendance. While the history of our Homecomings may be hard to uncover, the growth of the college provides for the opportunity to create history and establish traditions.

"We're not a college with a long history of 100 years or more, and not a lot of our history is compiled," Clary said. "So we are making the traditions now. That's kind of the neat thing about it all."

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