FAMU Homecoming ’23

Last week was homecoming, and boy, was there a lot going on. While I wasn’t able to do much due to financial reasons, I still found things to do and enjoy myself. My favorite event is still tied between attending Kim Godwin’s 60th Birthday Soiree and the Grads are Back Keeping it in the FAMUly panel or the Homecoming game. But for the sake of this blog, I’ll talk about the game.

The color for the game today was orange, so I went under my bed and pulled out my large container of FAMU gear and winter clothes to find a jersey I bought my freshman year. After grabbing the garment, I decided on light-washed denim shorts and my orange checkered vans. After completing my skin routine and putting on most of my clothes, I went to my new vanity mirror from Fenty Beauty and got to making this face sparkle ;)

I’m not big on eye makeup, so I decided to add a touch of orange in the corners of my eyes. I love enhancing my natural beauty, so I did minimal work on the rest of my face. Outlining my brows, a blurring tint under my eyes and highlight on my cheeks, nose, and brows. I left the lashes for last as they typically take the longest, so I curled my natural lashes and carefully put on my strip lashes.

After redoing my hair in the style from the night before, I finally put on my jersey along with my vans and some sparkly gloss. Packing my portable charger and purse essentials in my stadium-approved bag, I was ready to face the head and bustling crowds outside. After a short wait, my roommate and I headed out to meet up with a friend who was saving us seats. And to our surprise, when we opened the door, there was a cat!

We had seen this same cat when leaving the night prior, but she was back and looking for some love. So we fed the cat some water and small ripped pieces of a croissant. Not wanting to keep our friend waiting, we sadly said our goodbyes and headed uphill into the homecoming frenzy of traffic and hoards of people.

Walking uphill is always terrible, but add a line of cars trying to dive both ways. It becomes an absolute mess. Upon getting to the top of the hill, there were cars as far as the eye could see. Lined up in traffic going to our right, cars parked in tens of rows in the previously empty lot in front of us, there was a lot going on.

Continuing on our way to the stadium, the sea of green and orange starts to appear one by one. We make our way into the crowd of tailgating and find the line. After waiting less than 10 minutes, our entry into the stadium was met with lines for concessions. Deciding to bite the bullet and wait, we get some light food, and after almost 45 minutes, we finally meet up with our friend in the bleachers.

It is HOT!!! The sun is beaming directly on the student section, and the energy in the air is lively and fun. Alumni, family, friends, and students alike are here to celebrate Homecoming, and it was felt throughout the entirety of the stadium. While we stuff our faces, the game ceremonies and songs begin shortly after the kickoff happens, and all eyes are on the field.

Within the first 15 minutes, we’ve scored, and the crowd is having a great time cheering and singing. We are seated next to the marching band, so of course, the scoring melody is played, and we all dance and cheer along. The sun is still extremely high in the sky, and we are sweating; nonetheless, we push through and make it to halftime.

It’s always a pleasure to see the Marching 100 perform, and this year they did not disappoint. With a beautiful tribute to the 50-year celebration of Hip-Hop, they did a melody of crowd favorites (I do not remember the songs played, lol). While this was a great performance from the marching band (as always), this was definitely not my favorite. I just feel that the song choice was not on par with what the crowd (me) was expecting, so I didn’t enjoy it 100%.

After half-time, the stadium cleared out a lot as students left to prepare for the after-party and alums left to attend their events. While we all stayed until the end of the game, there was more cheering, singing, dancing, sweating, and, of course, winning. Upon winning the game, the football team was declared as South East SWAC Champions, making the win that much better.

It’s now around 7:15 p.m., and I am absolutely beat. Joining the crowd on the walk back to the apartment, the sea of cars had cleared, and the line of cars was now on the road at the bottom of the hill. My roommate and I ordered a pizza, continued our “Pretty Little Liars” binge, and called it a night.