By Assoah Ndomo | Photographer
Homecoming is a special tradition for Baylor, and it involves many traditions: the bonfire, the football game, the parade, Pigskin Revue and more. Now, why is the bonfire the best one of the weekend?
Let me explain why the other ones are not the move.
First, the football game is not that special. The game can single-handedly determine if you’re going to have a good homecoming weekend or a bad homecoming weekend. It’s high risk, high reward, but there’s no need to bet on that with the other options on the list.
The parade is not a bad tradition. It includes not only Baylor students but also the Waco community. Everybody is all smiles while watching organizations display floats that they have been working on for weeks and months. Imagine being on a float for two hours, and it’s just people cheering you on. That’s amazing, isn’t it? You would think.
Here’s the problem with the parade: It’s early in the morning. Most people are probably still recovering from the night before. Besides, while watching the parade, most of the time you’re just admiring the show, and you don’t really get to interact much with others because they’re admiring the show as well.
Now, my knowledge of Pigskin is fairly limited, but I know it’s a performance consisting of the top All-University Sing performances from the year before. The organizations practice their performances for about two months before they finally perform during homecoming weekend in Waco Hall. The thing about Pigskin is that it primarily includes sororities and fraternities. If you don’t know someone who is part of Greek Life, you rarely hear of it. Point being, it’s not exactly inclusive of all Baylor students, so I don’t think it can be considered the best homecoming event.
Finally, the bonfire. The bonfire is literally a social gathering. I’m not saying the other events are not social gatherings, but the whole point of the bonfire is for everybody to eat some food and watch the bonfire. Imagine: It’s a chilly night. You go outside, and you see everybody gathered on Fountain Mall. You find one person you know, and next thing you know, you have a whole friend group together in a matter of 30 minutes. There’s no extra noise — just you and the Baylor community. Watching the bonfire with friends is truly a surreal experience. It’s almost as if you’re in a movie, which is what makes the bonfire the best tradition of Baylor Homecoming.
