A Wild and Wacky Weekend

In high school, Homecoming was always one of my favorite weeks. I appreciated all the tradition and school spirit that filled campus, and it always made for a nice fun week in the midst of an otherwise stressful time of the school year. So this fall, homecoming was one of the IU events I was looking forward to the most. With all the rain we've had in Bloomington these last few weeks and a rainy forecast, we were worried that many festivities would be canceled or too wet to enjoy, but lucky for us, planned festivities went on as planned.

The Parade

Very few high schools in Phoenix get to close off the street that runs adjacent to campus and have a homecoming parade. Fortunately, my high school was one of those few, and the homecoming parade became one of my favorite traditions. IU carries on a similar tradition where campus and community organizations create floats and get people to walk in the parade. Its a great way to see some of the organizations that are in the area and on campus-and the free candy groups hand out is always great too!

Hoosier Hysteria

An awesome tradition surrounding the kick-off of the basketball season! The last two years, the first official day the men's and women's basketball teams can practice has hit during homecoming weekend, and so Hoosier Hysteria is a part of the homecoming festivities. The men's and women's basketball teams practice for a crowd that fills Assembly Hall, and this year Men's Basketball Coach Tom Crean added some fun twists including a three-point shootout and slam dunk contest.

The Game!

Of course no homecoming is complete without the traditional game. This year IU played Illinois in an exciting game that we won! With layers and layers of sweatshirts and coats, we all froze, but it was great to see the Hoosiers play in such stellar fashion against another Big 10 school!