A time of good music and jubilant dancing, a night of new friendships and cherished memories, the homecoming dance provides an opportunity each year for the entire student body to convene and put away the stresses of school for a truly care-free experience. Coming from all over the region and countless schools, students enjoy themselves with the upbeat music and non-stop dancing of a truly unforgettable night.
Preparing for this highly anticipated night, students from all classes got ready on Saturday, October 19th for a dance to remember. While the freshman and sophomores dressed for a Great Gatsby themed dance at Ursuline, juniors and seniors attended a costume party homecoming in the Terry Center. With all of the elements for a good homecoming in place, the dances opened at 8 P.M.
At Jesuit, the fog-filled Terry Center entrance surprised many of the 700+ people who attended the dance. After emerging from the fog, students could see the creative and elaborate costumes, ranging from Tom and Jerry to professional athletes to mobsters.
The Terry Center served as the dance floor, with great music and fun dancing going throughout the night. Although often people complain about the music at school dances, Dominic Iannelli ’15 said the “dance was fun” and that the “DJ played a wide variety of music genres.” Chris Artigues ’15 also enjoyed the dance, and said he enjoyed seeing some teachers loosen up and dance a bit.
In the Xavier Mall, the area between the cafeteria and the Terry Center, students congregated for a more relaxed environment where they could talk without the energy and noise of the dance. This gave a great opportunity to get some fresh air and decompress from the dance.
For a laid back area to be social without any pressures, students could go to cafeteria for a more casual place to chat with friends. Set up with a casino night gambling arrangement, many students had a fun time testing their luck with a game or two.
The division of the activities between these three locations was essential to the success of homecoming. Matt Siess, senior class president, said that the “variety of activities that the attendees could partake in made it a fun-filled homecoming for everyone, not just the people who enjoyed dancing.”
Along with this partitioning of activities, the addition of Buffalo Wild Wings might just have been the extra touch that truly set this year’s 
homecoming apart. Along with the overall benefit of having access to delicious wings, the Blazin’ Challenge was a main event of the night. In a competition to eat as many hot wings in a given time period as possible, contestants had to put away the pain of the spice and power through a number of wings.
Pitting Will Farrell ’14, Erik Furton ’14, Hank Shotland ’15, and Chris Haerr ’15 against each other, the Blazin’ Challenge was a miserable race to outlast the other competitors and overcome the difficulty of eating hot wing after hot wing. Dropping out after a painful two hot wings, Will was met with boos as he stood to leave the challenge. Chris, Erik, and Hank were competing to win and were not intent on stopping until they had completed the challenge.
Starting with a fast pace, Hank powered through the wings, continuing to eat through obvious pain and distress. Â Erik kept up a steady pace throughout, seemingly unfazed by the spiciness of the wings. Chris kept a rather slow pace throughout, putting up a valiant effort. Hank proved his competitive eating merit as he seemed to push himself to the limits and finish first. Erik also completed the Blazin’ Challenge, a great feat regardless of time. Needless to say, the glory and joy of finishing not last for long as all of the competitors began to feel the consequences of eating countless wings at such a fast rate.
Aside from the intensity and energy of the Challenge, eating the wings at a reasonable pace was also a big hit. Jackson Slaughter ’15 commented that the “wings were delicious,” while Dominic Iannelli said that wings “were an awesome touch.” The Buffalo Wild Wings were simply the icing on the cake for an excellent time.
At the end of the night, all who attended the dance thought that the 2013 homecoming was truly special. Matt Siess simply said that homecoming was “remarked by many, not only students, but staff members as well, as the best homecoming that they had ever attended in their time at Jesuit.”
Mr. Andy Civello shared similar thoughts, expressing that this year’s homecoming was “one of the best [Jesuit has] ever had,” that it was “really big and really successful, [with] no problems.” After such a fantastic dance, all he could say was “I’m really looking forward to next year.”
