Baylor Homecoming!

"Will you not, as a loyal student of dear old Baylor, lay aside for a few days the usual cares of life, come back to your alma mater, renew former associations and friendships, and catch that Baylor spirit again?"

- Samuel Palmer Brooks, 1909

This weekend was Baylor Homecoming! I wasn't able to make it last year, but things worked out for me to head down for a portion of the weekend festivities. And I am so glad I went! It was so great to be back on campus. It made me miss Baylor so much! It was great to walk on campus, see old friends, and just reflect on my time at Baylor. I feel so blessed to have spent my college years at such an amazing school. And I feel even more blessed to be a part of such a rich history and longstanding legacy. I loved being a student, and I love being an alumn!

Homecoming is, to say the least, a big deal at Baylor. We have the largest homecoming parade in the nation, and the city of Waco is overrun by alumni and students for an entire weekend. It's fun to see the alumni on campus, hear the stories of the sweet elderly couples who met at Baylor 50 years ago, learn how Baylor has changed over the years.

Laura and I were only able to make it down for the Saturday festivities, so we were going to make the most of our time in Waco! We headed out early Saturday morning so we could make it to the parade. We were there early enough to claim our front-row seats and even spend some time visiting the bears and shopping in the bookstore. We were able to catch up with Nicki and Mathis at the parade. It was so great to be back with friends! It has been hard to have her in a different city, so it was great to see them and catch up. I was able to see a number of the girls who lived on my hall when I was a Community Leader...I can't believe that they are seniors! The floats were great and I loved seeing that the bears were still a part of the parade! Who else can say that they have live mascots (that aren't normal household pets) who walk in their parade and attend their football games? The bears even know how to do a sic 'em! I love Baylor :)

After the parade, we headed over to Bush's for sweet tea and rolls (a Waco favorite!) Then we headed back to campus to walk around and see what all had changed. We stopped off at Dr Pepper Hour for a famous Dr Pepper float! Laura had never actually been to a Dr Pepper hour, which I could hardly believe, because it was a frequent break for me on Tuesday afternoons between classes. While we walked around campus, we ran into Courtney from BSF! It was fun to see her and reminisce together about our Baylor days. And of course, we had to take a walk down Founder's Mall and take a few pictures with good ol' Judge Baylor.

We had lunch with Nicki's family before heading over to the game! I don't know what happened, but somehow I bought us tickets right in the midst of the Mizzou fans. To say the least, it was an interesting experience. Gotta love being the only Baylor fan yelling for the bears in your section. Haha. Oh well. After we were sufficiently appalled by the Mizzou fans and burnt on our left side from sitting directly in the sun, we were able to join Nicki on the other side of the stadium. Baylor put up a good fight, staying tied to Mizzou until the last 2 minutes of the game, only losing by a field goal. The bears have come a long way, and even though we lost, it was such a good game! Before heading out of town, we stopped at Katie's to enjoy another Waco favorite. It was a really great day and I loved being back for homecoming. And I definitely caught the Baylor spirit again :)