Students who wish to be involved in school events can greatly benefit school spirit, but it can also come at the detriment of their academics. At Cupertino High School, many students are deeply grounded in classwork and extracurriculars, emphasized by a growing competitive culture. At the same time, events like Homecoming in the fall and spirit days throughout the year are also popular activities to participate in.
Participating in events such as Homecoming often requires waking up earlier for dance practices, or staying up late for decoration and poster makings. However, it can also be a highly rewarding experience — which is why so many students participate.
Said class of 2025 Homecoming skit lead Xiwen Xie, “It gets so bad that my mom knows, and [when] I told her I [was going to] do Homecoming again, she was like, ‘Why?’”
Because of participation in marching band as well, Xie experienced difficulty with completing school assignments while simultaneously keeping up with a rigorous Homecoming schedule. Balancing everything requires careful time management and even with balance, many sacrifices need to be made.
“Especially as you get closer to the actual performance, academics and college apps, at least for me, take a back burner in my mind,” Xie said. “I’m really focused on getting everything together, especially in that week leading up to Homecoming.”
In addition to the skit side, there is an enormous responsibility on homecoming dance participants and organizers.
“There’s definitely some pressure to put on a performance so that people are satisfied because as a council, it’s our job to manage all the Homecoming stuff,” Soham Shukla, the only class of 2025 Rally Chair, said. “People will be disappointed if we don’t put in all the work and make it as good as it can be.”
Eventually, the pressure can spill over into day-to-day activities, and sometimes academics.
“There were times where in class we [were] just thinking about Homecoming while doing other stuff,” Shukla said. “I have classes with some of the council members and if [we] get a break or something, we just start talking about council work.”
However, Shukla also reflected that in the end, his participation did not have a noticeable toll on his academics, showing that there are ways to be involved in school spirit without sacrificing schoolwork.
“For skit, it’s a lot of doing homework in the hour I have free between seventh and band rehearsal, or during my free period or my TA period,” Xie said. For people with tight schedules, this method of planning and organizing work is the most common.
“In the summer, [students] should prioritize other aspects, like getting started on college apps,” Shukla said. “Get ahead on classwork. Prepare a bit so that when the school year starts, you can prioritize Homecoming a little more than you would have if you didn’t prepare.”
Said Shukla, “I didn’t do [Homecoming] my freshmen year [or] sophomore year. I did it my junior year and I just knew I had to do more in some way because I liked it so much.”
Ultimately, both Xie and Shukla agree that participating in school spirit can be rewarding and allows students to form a bond with their class, helping foster a better school experience. If managed correctly, forming such a bond with the school is one of the most rewarding experiences that a high school student can have.
