The amount of fun and excitement that I had last week had me thinking…

is this what college homecoming feels like?

In high school, it was a little more exciting because I was a dancer and I got to perform on the football field for pep rally, be in the homecoming parade, participate in spirit week, and go to the dance. I was the center of attention for a few days. I loved being a Raider. But, it drastically changed in college.

In undergrad, I really wasn’t too excited about homecoming weekend. I went to the games, but I didn’t feel anymore proud to be a Terp (don’t get me wrong, I’m SO proud to be a Terp). I didn’t do the homecoming activities. I wasn’t really thrilled. It was just a normal weekend to me.

At iFest, I attended every activity, with the exception of the ones that took place during class/work. By the end of the week, I felt so much pride in my accomplishments and who I was within the iSchool. I felt proud and excited to be a Panther, but more importantly, a Panther in the School of Information Sciences. It probably helped that I ended the week with TONS of fun with my friends and my family (thanks mom and dad for coming to visit me!!!). But, iFest definitely made me feel like I was a part of something special. I think one of the best parts was the togetherness that I felt with the MLIS students. There wasn’t an event where I didn’t spend time with them or collaborate with them to make something awesome (our Jumanji board was pretty awesome). I even found myself spending a little time arguing about archives before I knew I was way over my head, ha!! Boy, do I have a lot to learn about archives.

Last week was a great experience and a true homecoming feeling for me 🙂 iPanther Pride!! <—You see what I did there? iPanther? 😉 Genius, right?