Imagine this: you walk through the halls of a dark high school with blasting music and receive a green wristband. As you walk in even further, you get your ID checked. You are welcome to loud music with flashing lights of purple, green, and every other color illuminating the dance floor. Kids are lining the stairs leading to the two-story Dr. O’Connor building so they can take pictures and monumentalize the moment. Others scream as they play arcade games. Kids are jumping up and down to the latest trendy music, as some try to crowd surf, and a dance circle is formed. Now, this is not an intro to a short story; this was Claremont High School’s 2025 Homecoming.

Claremont High School had a great homecoming this year, with the school packed and students of all grade levels able to celebrate and have fun. There were games, photo booths, and music to liven the experience. Although many can attest to having a great time, that does not mean they thought Homecoming was perfect. This year’s Homecoming was Harry Potter-themed. Last year, it was a superhero-themed one, which many students did not like or follow. Interviews have been conducted to get CHS students’ honest reviews on the 2025 homecoming and their overall experiences. Each student was asked the same eight questions. The questions were as follows.

1. Did you attend homecoming? 
2. What did you think of the Harry Potter theme? 
3. Did you have fun at homecoming? What aspect made it fun? 
4. What did you think of the music? Was the DJ good?
5. What do you think of the prices of homecoming tickets? Do you think they are worth the price?
6. What did you wear? Did you follow the theme?
7. Rate your homecoming experience on a scale of 1-10. 1 being an awful night and 10 being amazing. 
8. What do you think of the arcade games they had? 
9. (Extra question) What do you think the school could have done to make homecoming better? 

For the first interviewer, CHS junior Amaya Rocha rated her homecoming night a 9. She gave this rating because “I would rate it a 9/10 just because of the fact that I wanted to play some of the games but didn’t get the chance to due to people hogging it,” Rocha said. Later, she was asked if she had fun and what aspect made it fun. “The aspect that made it fun was seeing everyone from school and everyone’s pretty dresses!” Rocha said.  Still, she believes the games make it worth the price of tickets. At the same time, though, she says 50 or 70 dollars is a “bit expensive” when adding the price of your dress or suit. “I think many people didn’t want to go/or didn’t go due to the price of the ticket,” Rocha said. 

For Sophomore Catherine Zhang, her rating was lower. “8 out of 10, parts of it were boring, but it was still fun,” Zhang said. Later, she was asked if homecoming was fun and what aspect made it fun. “Yes, it was because of friends, taking photos, and dancing,” Zhang said. Zhang also agrees with Rocha on ticket prices, but their answers were different. “They are really expensive and I don’t think it’s worth the price for what you get,” Zheng said. Zhang answered that they are expensive and are not worth the price, whereas Rocha answered that the tickets are worth the price, but they are expensive. This is where answers will start to split depending on the person’s opinion. 

Since this is a review of homecoming, it only seems fair to talk about the music and theme. On music, they both had somewhat different answers. Rocha thought the DJ was mid and a lot of people did not know the songs. Zhang thought the music was good and expected party music to be like that. For the theme, Rocha gave her opinion. “The theme was okay. I never watched Harry Potter, so that might be the reason it was okay,” Rocha said. She also answered that she did not follow the theme and wore a sparkly red dress with a black leather jacket. For Zhang, it was a similar answer. “I preferred it better than last year’s theme,” Zhang said. Zhang did not follow the theme as well and wore a black dress. Again, both interviewers had somewhat split answers on the music, but their answers were similar. 

Yet again, both interviewers have similar answers on what the school can do to make homecoming better. Rocha believes that future homecomings can be improved through better music and easier access to photobooths, in an effort to avoid long wait times. Zhang says future homecomings can also be improved with shorter photo booth lines (more photo booths) and better music.

Out of all the interviews conducted (eight interviews), most had the same answers, believing that the theme was okay, yet no one followed it. They agreed that the music was okay and that the experience was fun, but not worth 50 or 70 dollars. All in all, these were positive reviews, but like with anything in life, not everyone will think it is perfect.