This past weekend was Homecoming Weekend at UMass Amherst! Alumni from all over the place came back to Amherst to celebrate their time on campus and the memories they made here. Some of those alumni included my mom, my dad, my aunt, and my mom’s best friend (plus my sister and I, who are currently UMass students). I also have two uncles and another aunt who graduated from UMass, although they couldn’t make it this weekend. My family of Minutemen was super excited to get together and experience Homecoming Weekend together!
The weekend started off on Friday evening with dinner at Johnny’s Tavern, a personal favorite of ours located right in downtown Amherst. We all enjoyed the great atmosphere, delicious food, and creative cocktails before heading back to campus for the 49th Annual Multiband Pops Concert! My aunt is a proud alumna of the UMass Minuteman Marching Band, and music is something that we’ve bonded over since I was in middle school. We found our seats in the packed Fine Arts Center and enjoyed some great music from UMass’s talented student performers before calling it a night.
The next morning started with my parents stopping by my apartment before we drove down to the Homecoming Weekend tailgate. I have to say, this was probably the most fun I’ve had at a UMass tailgate since coming to campus! We had a great setup, lovely weather, and tons of food. It was so fun to hear my family members reminisce about their time at UMass and talk about all the things that have changed since they were on campus. My mom and her best friend met here (as did my mom and dad!), and their stories never disappoint. We even got to see the band march by on their way to the stadium!
After several fantastic hours of catching up and working our way through the coolers of food and drinks we had, we all bundled up and headed into McGuirk Alumni Stadium for the homecoming football game. It was so nice to walk through all of the other tailgate lots on our way in and see everyone having a great time with their family and friends, too. We stopped by one of the alumni booths on the way in, grabbed some buttons and pom-poms, and found our seats. Though UMass isn’t known for having a fantastic football team, we actually won this time — and the band, dance team, and cheer team were super fun to watch, too.
We ended the night without dinner reservations anywhere, so we ended up at good old Texas Roadhouse — Amherst gets crowded on homecoming weekend! Tired as we were, we wrapped up the day talking about all of the new memories we had made and how excited we were to do it again next year. As a current senior, I’ll also be a UMass alumni for next year’s homecoming, and I’m already so excited to come back and have this new tradition with my family. Go UMass!
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