Winter homecoming week ended Friday night with the boys’ varsity
basketball homecoming game. I have not been to a single basketball
game this year, but I will watch our boys take on Alvarez.
Personally, I think it is somewhat odd to have winter homecoming
after spring sports have already begun.
Winter homecoming week ended Friday night with the boys’ varsity basketball homecoming game. I have not been to a single basketball game this year, but I will watch our boys take on Alvarez. Personally, I think it is somewhat odd to have winter homecoming after spring sports have already begun.
With homecoming week comes spirit days. The spirit days this week were as follows: Monday – Disney Day, Tuesday – Black and White Day, Wednesday – Superhero day, Thursday – Career Day, and Friday – Blue and Gold Day. I tried to participate in the spirit days as much as possible this week. I even busted out my old Mickey Mouse backpack on Disney day, and dressed in black and white from head to toe on Black and White Day. As usual with spirit days, most students really got into it, with some going over the top.
Also with homecoming comes the homecoming court. I can’t say that I am a big fan of having a homecoming court. After all, what is the point, really, of having a homecoming court? Does it build school spirit? Is it something that you can put on a resume or a college application? Or does it just create competition and hurt feelings? The homecoming court has always been a popularity contest, and it probably always will be, but why even have it? You would think that in the 21st century, we would have evolved past the need to elect popularity-based “kings and queens.”
And speaking of homecoming, what is the homecoming game – or any sporting event for that matter – without the cheerleaders? Yes, sadly, our Gilroy High School cheerleaders will not be at the homecoming game, because they will be in Hawaii, performing at the Pro Bowl on Feb. 10. While we wish them good luck, we will sorely miss their spirit and enthusiasm at the game.
On a slightly different note, GHS has a decidedly international flair this year. I don’t know if I just never really noticed it before, or if we have more foreign exchange students than in past years, but GHS is definitely multi-cultural this year.
I had met one of the foreign exchange students from Brazil my freshman year, but did not know him or any other foreign exchange students personally. That is definitely not the case this year. This year, I am good friends with a junior guy from Germany, as well as senior guys from Ecuador and France. There are also three exchange students in my math class. My friends and I having been teaching our new friends about our culture in America, and in return they have taught us about their cultures back home. I remember when my friends and I met our German friend for the first time, we bombarded him with questions like “What kind of music do you listen to in Germany?” and “Do you have Mexican food in Germany?”
We have been able to watch our new foreign friends improve their English and try new things. They have now experienced their first Thanksgiving, American dances, new foods, their first American football games, and participated on our sports teams. In the beginning, we hung out with them to be nice, now we hang out with them because we want to. I have become very attached to these new friends, and it is hard to remember what it was like before I met them, and even harder to imagine what it will be like when they are gone.
These exchange students are very brave individuals. It is extremely hard to imagine leaving your friends, family and the country that you love to go live with complete strangers for an entire year. The exchange students at Gilroy High have not only done that, but embraced us and our culture, just as we have embraced them. I’ve come to realize just how important the foreign exchange program is. It not only offers a chance to see the world, but it helps teach tolerance and build goodwill. We have realized that they may be from another country, but when it comes down to it, they are just like us. Having teenagers from all over the world attending school with us every day just goes to show that we all really can be friends.
Deena Morsilli is a Gilroy High School student who writes a bi-weekly column for the Dispatch. Reach her at Mo************@*ol.com
