This year’s Homecoming Dance will take place during Spirit Week on Friday, Feb. 19 in the Annandale campus cafeteria from 8 p.m. to midnight. The cost for the event will be $3 in advance and $5 at the door. Tickets will be available at the local student activities office. All money collected from ticket sales will go to Haiti relief effort.

At the dance, the Student Government Association from the Annandale campus will raise money for the annual Relay for Life event, and funds will go directly to the American Cancer Society.

Free basketball game tickets will also be available for Saturday, Feb. 20 when both NOVA’s women’s and men’s teams will play against Tidewater Community College. The women’s game begins at 2 p.m. and the men’s game at 4 p.m.

Kaiser Permanente and Pepsi will provide limited food and drinks and will be available in between the games, but you must present your ticket in order to be served.

The Alumni Association will also be available for a meet-and-greet outside the Cultural Center Gym, where the basketball games will take place. A quick snack and information on opportunities  for current students becoming alumni will also be available.

This year’s Homecoming theme will be School Spirit. The event will be semi-formal. However, in the past, most students have chosen to dress in formal attire. This year’s DJ will be provided by Basement Media Productions. The Homecoming Committee coordinator is Jessie Zahorian.

Zahorian will step down as Student Activities Counselor after the dance but will remain as a full time Counseling Center faculty member. Michelle Garel will be the new Student Activities Counselor for the Annandale campus.

When asked what a homecoming dance means to a NOVA student, Zahorian responded, “It’s a way to get involved and develop school spirit. It’s also similar to what students will see once they transfer to a four-year institution. One of the reasons why we decided to do homecoming was promote school spirit and increase awareness of student activities and the sports program. We have many activities to offer students, but unfortunately many students don’t know or don’t care about the opportunities.”

It is her belief in the importance of such an event that inspires Zahorian to be involved in the planning process.

Student involvement is encouraged through e-mail from all student activities coordinators to their students. Fliers are also placed around the campuses. The homecoming dance is a college-wide event and is held for all NOVA students.

There will be a Homecoming king and queen to represent each campus. Homecoming Court applications are available through each campus’ Student Activities Office. Nominees must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA, submit a resume and be nominated by a student club or organization or by a NOVA faculty or staff member.

According to Nessie Vanta, an Annandale student and member for the planning committee, this year at least 150 students are expected to attend the dance. It’s a great way to meet fellow students from other campuses and to just have fun. Extracurricular activities are “how NOVA takes into account the importance of its students. [Students] should attend because it will open their minds to different school activities.”

Participation in student activities and volunteering for events is a great way to boost one’s resume and to stand apart from the crowd when moving onto a four-year institution or applying for a job, according to Vanta.

In spite of the difficulty in carving out time from her busy schedule to volunteer on the planning committee, Robin Scott will volunteer at the event as well. Scott, a General Studies major, said, “Now that I am taking more credits, it’s a little more difficult” to find time for the event. Yet, she would not be deterred. She wanted to experience her first NOVA Homecoming. Meeting other students from the other campuses, helping out and enjoying free food were sufficient motivators.

Mathematics and Economics major, Josh Mansolt, also faces time constraints balancing a 20-credit course load and a 20-hour per week job. When asked what inspired his participation in planning Homecoming, he said, “I have always enjoyed coordinating and planning events, so the decision to help was easy. I serve by contributing ideas and volunteering. I expect the dance will be successful at engendering school spirit.”

When asked to share final ideas about the event, Mansolt said that he was thrilled that the ticket sales are being donated to “ameliorate the destitution and anguish” of the recent disaster survivors in Haiti.

Perhaps that is one of the greatest things about participating in events and opportunities at NOVA. With each event, not only does the community come together to celebrate, but that joy is used to share compassion and tangible help to neighbors, no matter how far away geographically.

People and things are known by the fruit they bear. Business major Katya Hungaste stated that Homecoming is important not only because “it brings the campuses together,” but also that “NOVA is not just a community college but has events like real colleges as well.” Having a vibrant, active community changes the feel and look of a community for the better.

NOVA is a real college with a real Homecoming Dance. It is put on for the students to come together, to enjoy and to pay it forward. With each and every ticket, a life will be changed for the better in Haiti this year. Good things don’t always taste like medicine. Each person involved in the dance said the same thing over and over again: It’s going to be fun.

By: Annie Ryan

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