Cathedral Prep and Villa Maria Academy’s homecoming took place this past Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Hagerty Family Events Center. The effects of COVID and the weather made this year’s homecoming different than usual, but it ended up working out great.

COVID is still present in today’s world whether we like it or not, so the homecoming was not allowed to be held in the gym. The weather on Saturday was cold and a little rainy, so this year’s homecoming took place in a big tent with heaters.

Homecoming is so special because any student, from any grade, at Prep and Villa is allowed to attend. The seniors get to make their last homecoming memory, and the freshmen get to make their first.

Freshman Ty Hulick gave some input on his first homecoming experience.

“I had a really fun time at my first Prep homecoming,” Ty said. “I got to see all of my friends, and I thought it was fun because it was outside, which was cool.

Ty also talked about his favorite part of homecoming.

“I just loved seeing all of my friends and going out to dinner with them before the dance,” he said. “I also loved when everyone was dancing in the mosh pit in the middle of the dance floor.”

While Ty experienced homecoming for the first time, senior Kyle Sargent got to experience homecoming for his last time.

“My last homecoming experience was different than what I thought it would be like,” he said. “At first, I was bummed out that we had to have homecoming in a tent outside, but it actually turned out to be pretty fun. I thought the senior class made the most out of their last homecoming considering all of the factors going against it.”

Cathedral Prep and Villa’s homecoming was different than any other homecoming in the past years. Previous generations of high school kids did not have to deal with a global pandemic, but for this case, it’s just how the cookie crumbles. Even though homecoming couldn’t take place in the gym, the students had a great time and made the best out of it.