Transfer students are in an interesting position. On the one hand, we are excited to have a fresh start at a new school. On the other hand, some of us really miss our old colleges, especially during homecoming week.
I spent my freshman year in the heart of the SEC at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Homecoming week at Vandy began on Monday morning and didn’t end until Sunday night. There were parties, tailgates, and professors making announcements in class. Tickets for the football game were distributed and sold out within 48 hours. At Cornell, if it weren’t for a few administrative emails I received over the last few days, I would have no idea that homecoming existed. In case you haven’t heard, the Big Red take on Bucknell at Schoellkopf Field on Saturday at 3:00pm.
I’m not the only transfer who feels this way, that Cornell’s homecoming is not as highly publicized as it could or should be. Sophomore ILR transfer student Cassie Blazejeski received an email yesterday about a Cornell camping trip happening over homecoming weekend. “I was like, well, this is how the weekend is going to go. People are already leaving to go camping,” says Blazejeski, “I’m really excited though. The school I went to last year had no school spirit. So anything is better.”
Excitement and not knowing what to expect seem to be common themes among Cornell’s transfer students. Sophomore Hotel School transfer Heather Mullen explains: “It [homecoming] is exciting. I don’t know much about it. I know there’s a really large concert, so that should be fun. I just saw the signs for fireworks so that should be exciting. I guess there’s a football game at some point. And I’m really excited for the tailgate.”
Mullen’s housemate and fellow Hotelie transfer, Brianna Gross, says that for her homecoming is a “limited privilege.” Gross is a junior and reasons, “We only get like two. So I kind of want to milk it for all it’s worth.”
However, for some Cornell transfers, this isn’t their first homecoming with the Big Red. Ithaca native and sophomore Human Ecology transfer Corinne Klohmann knows what to expect. “I’ve been to other homecomings. I went to Passion Pit five years ago. So this will be Passion Pit round two,” says Klohmann.
Most transfers, though, are not Ithaca natives, and this will be their first Big Red homecoming week. Transfers from far away see homecoming as a chance to connect with the University. “Homecoming allows us [transfers] to connect with our school and have school spirit,” says Cornell cheerleader and Californian sophomore ILR transfer Taylor Woodward. Fellow cheerleader and sophomore ILR out-of-state transfer Tori Straub agrees.
Cole Rutherford is a Big Red baseball player and junior transfer at ILR. This is what he had to say regarding homecoming: “I’m excited for it. I’m excited for the football game. It’s probably going to be the most crowded football game all year. There’s a lot of talk about how the football team was not as good as it could have been last year and they are going to be better this year. It’s kind of this big day to kick it off. As an athlete there’s a little bit more hype around homecoming. Every football player I’ve met has said, ‘Oh yeah, we’re going to be good this year.’”
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