Cha Cha, Real Smooth: A recap of the recent Homecoming dance from the eyes of students

By; Lenora Kirkland

On the weekend of Homecoming, Eastern’s SAB organized this year’s first school dance. There was dancing, Chick-Fil-A eating and glow sticks; a little bit of everything. Even Micah Britton, a senior, agreed that “the Chick-Fil-A is a hit,” to which Zoe Mailhot replied, “and that’s spoken by a vegetarian that can’t eat any of it.” Chick-Fil-A is just “a vibe” in and of itself according to Britton. I’m sure many would agree. 

Others were in mutual agreement about the DJ’s song choices. In all honesty, it took some time before the good music started to pull people onto the dance floor; however, classic bops do wonders for a crowd of college students and soon after WAP was played, the dwindling number of dancers grew exponentially.  It seems we are all united behind a common love of fried chicken and dancing. “It’s really fun seeing all the people that are out having a good time, just dancing to songs from our childhood,” Alex Colby, a freshman who attended the dance, said. It was very exciting to witness the walls of our differences crumble as we sang the lyrics to a number of classics in unison. 

A group of seniors also shared their thoughts on the dance as an event that reminded them of their COVID years spent at Eastern. “The dance is the best dance I’ve had since freshman year here. The COVID dances were outside on the tennis court so it was a less formal and a much colder environment,” Britton said. The dance was most certainly an event of a post-COVID era, allowing us to socialize together once again. 

A large proportion of the student body loved the chance to chat with friends on the dance floor. Kayla Rodriguez said, “I like it, it’s really nice and a great chance to socialize!” Frankie Bolen is another student who enjoyed the social aspect of the dance. She said “A lot of my friends are here tonight!” which was her favorite part of the event. 

That being said, there were still many who opted not to attend the Homecoming dance, making it a much smaller gathering than it perhaps could have been. “Homecoming would be better if more people came, because SAB actually invested in doing cool stuff and they haven’t done that for the last three years,” Mailhot said. 

Comments on the quality of the set-up were also positive. Valentina Aquino, a freshman, was one of the first to point this out, noting “I like the theme, and the decorations are beautiful!”  Mac Macolino agreed, saying “they’ve done a really great job decorating, and they’ve put a lot of thought into this! It’s really sweet.” The glow sticks and photo booth were also widely enjoyed elements of the event. 

Many also enjoyed the chance to dress up. “It was so fun to dress up and get cute,” freshman Josh Steen said. Freshman Kate Hall said that “getting ready with friends was almost just as fun as the dance itself.”

The event was most certainly a night to remember. A massive thank you to SAB for all their hard work and effort! The dance was a hit, and we look forward to the upcoming fall events!