Unless you live under a rock, you’re well aware that Homecoming is tomorrow.

Actually, you’re probably more than just aware. You’re probably so excited that you can’t wait to fall asleep and wake up to October 5th displayed on your phone screen. Or maybe you’re so excited that you can’t seem to fall asleep at all.

And me? Well, I honestly couldn’t care less. In fact, I try not to think about it as much as possible. Every time I say it, I get almost the same exact response.

What? Homecoming is one of the best experiences of your high school career! It’s once a year and you get to eat a nice dinner, take cool pictures, and jam out to the mus—

Yeah, yeah. I get it. If that’s what you think, I don’t blame you. After all, Homecoming has always had that perfect-night-esque element to it—like a scene shot straight from a movie. The bar is set high, and you want to pole vault right over it.

But that bar is what ruins Homecoming. Seriously. We show up at pictures looking forward to those perfect pictures, expecting a model to be staring back at you after they’re taken. Chances are, you’re going to have a bunch of pictures you’re dissatisfied with. That’s right—you won’t be able to post them to Instagram.

Okay, maybe the pictures weren’t the greatest. But that’s fine, it’s time for dinner. There’s nothing that can go wrong, right? Whether it’s at a fine-dining steakhouse or a fast-food favorite, it’s just going to be a nice meal with friends.

1 hour later, and you’re in the bathroom trying to clean Chick-fil-A sauce off your dress. Or maybe you got marinara sauce on your tie. Regardless, your outfit is ruined, and you’re in a bad mood.

If this has never happened to you, great! You know how to eat! But if it has, then you know how frustrating it is.

Whatever. Dinner’s over. Now it’s time for the main event—the actual dance. Now this is going to fun—blasting music, hype atmosphere, and friends all around you. At this point, you know where this is going, right?

Yup. Your feet are red and bruised from being stepped on. Someone accidentally ripped your dress. You’re thirsty and can’t seem to get out of the crowd. You lost your tie. The music sucks. The entire night? That sucks too.

I know what you’re thinking: Minhao, you’ve just never had a great Homecoming experience! You’re just a hater because you’re an unlucky person.

That’s true—I’ve never found homecoming to be the “amazing” experience everyone makes it out to be. However, you might be different. If none of what I’ve described has ever happened to you, I applaud you. You have an open mind, ignore the negatives, and have an extreme amount of luck.

But let’s face it. We’re seniors now—some of us have been to 3 (soon to be 4) of these things. You’re even more aware of how different a typical homecoming night actually is. It’s nothing like the movies. You try to exceed that bar but end up clipping your leg and falling on your face.

And me? Well, I don’t have a bar at all. I just see where the night goes and I’m happy with wherever I land. I don’t force myself to replicate a scene from The Kissing Booth, and I certainly don’t beat myself over the fact it didn’t happen the next morning.

I mean, just think about how fun Homecoming could be if you didn’t hold it to such high standards. Who cares if your pictures suck? At least you got to dress up and make some memories. Bad music? Whatever. You got to dance with your friends. Chick-fil-A sauce on your dress? Well… sorry for your loss.

You know what I mean. Life is just more fun when you don’t have any high expectations. You don’t look back on what could’ve gone better or what didn’t happen; you appreciate the fact it happened. After all, there had to have been some good parts from the night.

 

That’s why Homecoming is no different for me than a regular Saturday. I’ll play video games all day, or I’ll spend an entire night with hundreds of other people in a high school gym. I’ll still go to big events, I just don’t expect to have exponentially more fun than a simple day at home. That way, I can enjoy Homecoming (or really any event) for what they actually turn out to be without feeling like I did something wrong.

Before you stop caring about everything, let me make this clear: do not apply this to your studies or passions. Keep your head high and set big goals, because your standards will carry you to success. I’m a good friend; I just don’t want this blog post to ruin the lives of all my peers.

But that’s a different story for a different time. It’s 10:32pm right now, I just spent 40 minutes writing this, and I’m freaking out right now. I need to meticulously select a tie, brush my hair, sample all of colognes, and try on my suit five times.

Haha. Just kidding.