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Student newspaper of the Illinois Institute of Technology since 1928

Homecomin

Shireen Gul
COPY EDITOR

A massive crowd of students had
already gathered at the MTCC south lawn by
12:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 20. Stu-
dents were greeted by the smells of fresh hot—
dogs, churros, popcorn, snow cones, and cot-
ton candy. Illinois Institute Technology is well
known for keeping up its tradition of Home-
coming in a different way than other universi-
ties.

Homecoming at HT is more a cel-
ebration of the school, where the success of
the alumni is celebrated by bringing them back
to campus and sharing their stories with stu-
dents so that they too can work hard and one
day, come back with the same pride of being a
Hawk alumnus.

It was an opportunity to meet and
greet with alumni and make connections. The
alumni get a chance to revisit their alma mater,
a place they may not have been to in a while.
They really want to feel the difference, to know
what life is like at the school now and how
things have changed.

Unfortunately, not everything was as
wonderful. Rainfall played spoilsport, as most
of the games were outdoors. People still man-
aged to enjoy their time; the kids were busy in
their playing castle, the parents were enjoying
their time in beer gardens, and students were
busy taking pictures in the photo booth.

The longest lines were for face paint-
ing and caricatures because everyone wanted
to get something interesting done on their fac-
es and take home a beautiful memory of this
event in the form of a caricature that they can
keep with them forever.

The artists present there were so per-
fect that it was taking them hardly five minutes
to finish each painting.

The music would have been enjoyed
a lot more had it been a brighter day. The out-
door games were the most popular among stu-
dents. Although not many alumni were taking
part in the games, it was visible on their faces
that they were thoroughly enjoying watching
young kids enjoying their time.

Aparna Singh, a fourth year stu-
dent of biomedical engineering said, “For the
homecoming weekend, I had an opportunity
to play laser tag. I had a really good time with
my friends as this was a great stress-buster
after a long day.” She added excitedly, “After
that day, the preparation of homecomingweek
looked pretty great.”

Shreeyeh Rajan, a fourth-year busi-
ness major said, “Global Alumni Gathering
was just a cherry on the cake as it attracted
more audience.” She paused for a while and
further added, “This only helped in bringing
back old friends from across the globe which
made me sad and happy at the same time. Hap-
py because old friends got to meet each other
and sad because I will soon be saying goodbye
to my really good friends.”

Despite the fact that the weather was
not in our favor, the Homecoming Carnival
managed to keep a lot of people, which shows
that the event was a success and everyone en-
joyed the free food.

These moments can never be relived
but the memories will be cherished through-
out our lives. IIT will always be a home for all
of us. No matter where we go and what we are,
we will always be welcomed by IIT with the
same passion and love.

 

Photos by Shireen Gul