By Caitlyn Meisner | Staff Writer

Homecoming is very overhyped and overwhelming, even for the most spirited Baylor fans.

There are way too many homecoming activities for me to keep up with. Between the bonfire, the parade, the football game, Pigskin Revue and other random events, I really don’t know what to do or where to go all weekend.

Entering Baylor as a freshman in fall 2020, I’ve only experienced two homecomings, both of which were at opposite ends of the capacity spectrum.

Most juniors and seniors remember homecoming 2020.

We sat in McLane Stadium for a few hours watching Pigskin Revue from the big screen and saw a couple of fireworks. Go Bears!

Homecoming 2021 was a completely different story. I couldn’t keep up with all the events going on, especially with all of them happening on Friday night and Saturday morning. It was utterly overwhelming.

Not to mention I am the first one in my family to even know about Baylor. I didn’t have a family member or alum to walk me through or familiarize me with the events when I was a kid.

I was going through homecoming completely alone, with the help of some other college kids my age who had never experienced a college homecoming — let alone a Baylor one.

Maybe it’s my family or just the northern schools I grew up around, but returning to your alma mater for homecoming has never been a thing my parents did. It was something they did for their high schools, not college.

Now that the football game is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, all of the events in the morning are going to go by even faster so everyone can scramble to the game. And this means I have to wake up even earlier to find a good spot to watch the parade, if I have the willpower to go. Yay!

Even as an undergraduate student, I’ve always felt like homecoming was more for the alumni. Most of the events seem tailored to them, especially if they were in Greek life.

I mean, it is in the name: homecoming. Alumni are coming home. I already live here, so I’m really just coming to campus from my apartment.

So, yes. I am the Ebenezer Scrooge of Baylor Homecoming. Maybe my cold, non- southern heart will warm up to the idea of homecoming when I’m a senior next year and I realize it’s my last one.

This year, though, I think I’ll watch all the traffic and chaos happen from my apartment window, reading my Lariat homecoming print edition.