Hundreds of students crowd the dance floor at one of York’s biggest events of the year, homecoming. Some are with a date, some just with friends. Everybody knows what to expect, that is, everyone except the freshmen. When faced with this upcoming event, freshmen are often faced with a lot of challenges concerning homcoming. They may have thoughts like, ‘Do I get a date? Do I go with friends? What do I wear?’ Even so, freshmen are typically excited to see what the dance will be like, despite all of these potential unknowns. For some freshmen, it’s been on their mind since the beginning of the school year.

Some common trends with homecoming involve having the boys make signs to ask girls to homecoming. Many girls feel the need to be asked because that may be ‘what everyone does.’ Yet, there are few guys who are confident enough to ask a girl that way, even if they wanted to. The high expectation that some girls have for guys may make them feel obligated to be asked to the dance and then disappointed if it doesn’t happen. This may take away some of the fun leading up to homecoming and make it more stressful.

“I feel like there’s always pressure, although it’s not always on me,” freshman Julia Ciszek said.

While girls tend to feel more obligated to get dates, boys are more chill about it. For homecoming, most boys just want to go with their friends and it takes the pressure off of getting a date and going through the process of making a sign and buying flowers.

“Going with friends is much easier because there’s no pressure to get a date,” freshman Issac Emmanuel said.

This contrast between the girls and boys doesn’t mean that people aren’t excited for a fun night. There’s usually some pressure that goes along with homecoming, but the freshmen are excited to go regardless of whether they have a date or are just going with friends.

“I’m just really excited for hoco,” Ciszek said.