Brace yourself, end of an era blogs are coming. Well, not quite. This was around the time two years ago when my time at WIS was coming to an end so you’ll be reading a few posts on that once again.
However five years ago, another era ended for me while another would begin the following year.
Homecoming weekend at Slippery Rock was always a fun time on campus with lots of events leading up to Saturday. We had the parade on Main Street, the alumni would always come together, there would be tailgating and food in the big tent, and the annual Homecoming football game would take place. For me the tradition went on long after I graduated from Slippery Rock in 2005.
My memory escapes me now, but some of the themes that I remember from Homecoming week included Hollywood and the ’80s. During my time on campus, VH1 had shows looking back at the past decade (I Love the 80’s and other various related ones). So the ’80’s theme in 2004 really stood out to me. I even got to meet Dennis Haskins (Saved By The Bell’s Mr. Belding) in person during that week.
While a few of my trips up to campus after graduation were memorable, others were pretty forgettable. I had an ulterior motive in mind during those post-college years and that was to recreate my past and go back. I wasn’t happy for a long time after graduation because my life wasn’t where I wanted it to be. My entire time in school I always looked at it as being my own little safe space, both at HGA and SRU. Plus, working a menial job (early on) after college made me question why I went to school in the first place. My attitude has done a complete 180 in the last five years though and I appreciate those years now having worked at Park Diner and Kings.
I enjoy working and making money more now than I did 15-20 years ago.
The Slippery Rock Homecoming Tradition for me came to an end in 2018 (five years ago today). While an old tradition would end, a new one would soon begin. The Fall conference ended in 2017 in Toastmasters and would be replaced by the Fall Symposium next year. I had an opportunity to attend the first one in Erie but it was homecoming weekend and I wanted to keep up with the old tradition. While I didn’t want to admit it, I soon came to realize that this had run its course for me. While I didn’t enjoy myself, I learned that it’s best to find out on your own when something loses its interest.
I attended my first Fall Symposium in October of 2019 and enjoyed myself. I look forward to all I will be learning tomorrow and meeting all my Toastmaster friends.
Stylish 🍒 