HomeComing

23rd September 2019, by Jehee K. (G12)

For those who have ever wondered why KISJ (Korea International School Jeju) didn’t ever have a homecoming despite following the American school's curriculum, the great STUCO (Student council) has come up with the first and ever homecoming on September 18th, 2019. The party was an absolute success with great food, exciting music, flawless performances, and beautiful decorations that all took a tremendous amount of effort to prepare. Also, an exclusive factor that made this party special was that it was outdoors. Many people enjoyed the evening breeze along with the thrilling atmosphere of the party.

In American schools or organizations, they usually schedule their homecoming events near significant sports occasions for sports like American football, soccer, hockey, and more. The purpose of this party after the game is to welcome back the players from the season trips they were on, and the party is even more enthusiastic if they could celebrate their victories as well. However, the homecoming in KISJ, organized by the STUCO, had maintained the purpose of welcoming the students back for a new year even though they have not matched the event up with a specific sports event. The application of an event based on American culture in a society of Korean students was lucrative despite being its first time.

Furthermore, another group of people that made the party special were the clubs that participated as fundraising groups. Damda sold polaroids, Tri-M sold Nachos, Goodgoods sold marshmallows and juice, and ACM sold chocolate bars with delivery messages. With the support of these clubs, the students could fill their stomach with delicious treats and leave meaningful memories with their friends, couples, and more. The clubs not only cooperated for fundraising purposes but Harmonix and LOA were part of the performing group providing a different level of spirit to the student body. Han and Sally and Julie were also part of the performers with impressive rap and singing skills. Their performances were spotless and were thrilling enough for the student body to feel joy as a unified whole. Joey L. (G.11) said that the performances went along with the homecoming party very well and she loved the enthusiasm of the crowd during the performances.

Additionally, STUCO prepared a supplementary event for the purpose of student amusement. They sent out a mass email to the student body asking them to fill out a ‘superlatives’ survey. The categories for the superlatives were the following: most likely to be the next Marvel hero, most likely to win a lottery, most likely to be a celebrity, most likely to date an underclassmen, be the first one to have Senioritis, most likely to date an upperclassmen, and most likely to accidentally show up in pajamas for important events. The winners for each category were Justin Lee (G.10), Inwoo J. (G.12), Doomin K. (G.11), Inha H. (G.12), Irene J. (G.12), Yubeen J.(G.10), and Sangseob K. (G.12). The students had fun guessing who the winners might be for each category before they were called and cheered for them after each winner went out to the stage. Inwoo J., one of the winners of the superlatives, said “ I went to the party to simply enjoy so when my name was called I was even more surprised. The awards were interesting due to their diversity and uniqueness which enhanced the mood of the party in general.”

I had interviewed a current member of STUCO that initially came up with the idea of homecoming: Michelle K. (G.12). She shared her motivations for coming up with the idea of the ‘homecoming party’. She said that it was greatly influenced by her interest in watching Youtube about high school life in American schools. She was mesmerized by how big the homecoming parties were in those schools and she thought she could bring up her idea during the STUCO meeting. Since the STUCO members were planning to make an event for the students, they planned to open the first-ever homecoming party of KISJ. She was very happy with how the party went and she would like to continue the tradition of the homecoming party. To give a heads up, the next party STUCO is planning for is their annual Halloween party. It has been successful for the past years and many people are looking forward to seeing the creepy decorations that STUCO comes up with this year.

Overall, the party was a great success, leaving memorable memoir for many people's first ever homecoming. “I’m glad to have had that moment with the people I love and share the last pieces of memories.” said Katie K. (G.12)