It started out as ‘incoming’, back in the days when we had no alumni to come home. As seniors, we called it ‘homecoming’ for the first time and welcomed back the first graduating class, but I don’t think any of us realized what homecoming was going to mean for all of us.
Friday, October 10th, we came home. Not just to our houses for the night or the weekend, or to our friends’ houses that became our second homes during high school. We came home to our community, to our teachers and friends and the underclassmen who looked up to us. We came home to Guerin Catholic.
We’re all in different places, pursuing our dreams, making new friends, and moving on with our lives. We are now Boilermakers, Cardinals, Hoosiers, Flyers, Jaguars, Wildcats, Fighting Irish, and so much more. We are growing apart each and every day, but for one night, we were just us again. The first freshman. The class of 2008. We were Golden Eagles, together again.
It wasn’t quite tailgating without Trevor Lunsford’s truck and it was weird to see people besides Sam Titus, Tyler Dolan, Alex McPeek, and the usual crew painted gold. Instead of ruling the school, we were guests in our own stadium (how about that track, though?!). Walking around, there were more unfamiliar faces than there were familiar. But some things never change. Standing on the field waiting to be “honored” (was that what that was?!) at halftime, we were the same old kids, reminiscing about high school, swapping stories about college, making plans to hang out: “If you’re ever at Purdue-you better call me!” “When you come up to Ball State, we’re hanging out for sure!” We were treated to a free meal from the concession stand and free hugs from Mrs. Murphy. Our shoe tradition still stands, although new ones are being added as well. It was a bittersweet return.
We’re back at our colleges now, but we’ll be back. We’ll always be back. No matter where we go or how far we travel, Guerin Catholic will always remain our home. Valerie Carnevale, Class of '08