Unless you were living under a rock here on campus, you will have realized that this past weekend was Iona’s Homecoming. The weekend, in which family and friends are invited to celebrate Iona’s rich heritage, is an ordeal with a number of scheduled events.

For myself, at least, it always feels like they add more events to the itinerary with each passing year, events that, usually, I do not find myself taking a part in.

You see, I’m really not the type of person that’s about their school spirit. But this year, for some odd reason, I felt compelled to take part in Iona’s Homecoming. I’m not really sure if it’s because I’m a senior or not, but I felt the need to be involved with something affiliated with my school.

So, rather than taking my annual family trip to Washington D.C., I decided to stay here for the weekend and see what Homecoming was all about. I knew my family would probably be upset, but after talking it over with them, they understood. And so, with the backdrop set that I was going to be missing out on something that is near and dear to my heart, I ventured out and sought to find what Homecoming was really about.

When I started out on my adventure, I wasn’t really sure what it was I was going to find, or what it was that I was even looking for. I was also a little uneasy in the beginning of the day; any time I see that giant Gael mascot it kind of throws me off a little bit. I never understood what compelled people to put those things on, and I’m not sure I ever will.

They’re a bit odd, to be honest, but I’ll save the tangent on mascots for another column. In any case, I was greeted, as was anyone else that set foot on campus, by the giant array of balloons of our school colors and, in general, a festive spirit. It seemed that everyone I knew was out and taking part in the day in some capacity, whether it was celebrating in general or being a part of the actual events.

For me, it was pretty incredible to see so many people taking part in something celebrating Iona. It was something that you don’t really see here every day. I’m sure that everyone has some sense of pride in where they go to school, even if they don’t think it. But never had I been privy to seeing so many people gaudily showing their affiliation to our school. I felt like I was watching ESPN’s College Game Day.

I’m not about to get sentimental, or anything like that. But seeing what went on this weekend really did change my perspective, at least a little bit.

It’s not like I’m about to hop on the school-spirit train, but seeing what went on here this weekend renewed a sense of pride in my school that I think I had lost touch with. Prior to experiencing Homecoming, I had always chalked my time up at Iona to being something that I had to finish as quickly as possible. I had grown tired of the whole “college” thing, and was eager to get a degree and move on.

After sticking around for the weekend though, and getting to see Iona at what may arguably be its finest, I’ve come to realize that, when I graduate, I’ll actually miss this place.

While I acknowledge that I don’t want to live in New Rochelle the rest of my life, I realize that I’m going to miss everything that made Iona what it is. And that, quite frankly, is the people. I can say that, while I’ve been here, I’ve forged some of the best friendships that I’ll ever have, and met people that I know I’ll keep in touch with after I leave here.

And maybe that is what Homecoming is about, as well. They always said in all our orientations that Iona was “home,” and that you could always come back here and what not.

And, to be honest, I’ve believed that those who said that were utterly full of it; it was a gimmicky slogan that was meant to retain our incoming class of freshmen. But, after four years of being here, I think I finally see what it means. A friend of mine woke me up Saturday morning screaming, “It’s a great day to be a Gael.” I’m starting to think that maybe he was right.

To contact The Ionian’s Ryan Karpusiewicz, e-mail him at [email protected].