Coming Home

Throughout the past semester of school, I’ve gathered that senior year is more. There is more excitement, more pressure and more moments to make count. There is an overall need to stay present and focused, because soon, the high school experience will be nothing but a memory.

Saying so, in the past few weeks, I’ve been awaiting a special event, one I’ve counted down the days for: homecoming.

Homecoming for me centers around the blue sparkly dress I’ll wear, the overpriced meal I’ll devour and the dozens of pictures I’ll pose for. I’m looking forward to the intentionally-positioned decorations, the energetic music and the unregretted exhaustion I’ll feel the next morning as I roll out of bed. I’ll be present to the moment.

As a senior, this is the focal point of my homecoming experience, to have the best night of my life. I have to wonder, though, why does everyone else come? This is the only game each year where the bleachers are at full-capacity, roaring with fans. What are they seeking?

Every year, homecoming has a theme. Last year, it was a jungle theme, and there were inflatable monkeys around every corner. My freshman year, the theme was Hollywood, and for one night, we strutted down the red carpet basking in the fame of celebrity. Sophomore year, the gym dazzled with bright colors, illuminating the theme of neon lights. This year, the theme is “Out of This World,” a fancy name for space. There will be stars twinkling, styrofoam planets hanging from the drop-ceiling tiles and an eight-foot inflatable rocketship.

Being from the village of Oak Ridge, Mo., oftentimes, I forget it’s a big world. Not only are there billions of places on Earth, there’s an entire galaxy on the other side of the atmosphere. There are billions of people doing billions of things all over the world. Somehow, I, one little person, am here. Why am I here? What is special about this place where I’ve been for so long?

I’ve concluded it’s less about where we are and more about who we are. Whatever it is that we experience here at Oak Ridge, we all do it together. We use the same lockers, study the same books and participate in the same annual traditions. We, the students, family members and community, are what makes Oak Ridge great. It’s because so many people came to this area and gave life their best. More than anything, because when life got hard, they stayed.

Perhaps this is why the stands are packed on homecoming night. Our alumni are coming home. They’re coming to see the community they built, the memories they made and the walls that shaped them. Whether they are willing to admit it or not, Oak Ridge changed them. Just by coming, they changed Oak Ridge.

I have to ask, where are you from? Who shaped you? What did you make great? If you could, even for one basketball game, would you go back and remember the person you were there? A lot has changed. Maybe you left a long time ago. Many of you stayed. Either way, one day, will you come home?

Erin Urhahn is a senior at Oak Ridge High School. She's just a girl trying to find her niche in the world.