With the cancellation of the homecoming dance, students have been taking homecoming into their own hands by planning their own homecomings, which they are calling ‘Foco,’ meaning Fake Homecoming. Most Foco groups are planning a trip to a nice restaurant for dinner, then continuing the night at someone’s house after the dinner.

Although it would take a lot of work to plan one Foco, student Molly Perkins ‘22 is planning on attending two Focos, one with her girlfriends and one with a broader group.

“Even though there’s not a homecoming this year I am going out to dinner with a bunch of my girlfriends,” Perkins said. “I’m also going to a Foco dinner with photos with a group of my friends from Liggett.”

While some students are attending more than one Foco, others, specifically underclassmen, are choosing not to do anything special to celebrate homecoming. Student Corbin Ifkovits ‘23 is among this group.

“No, I am not doing anything that is specific to homecoming,” Ifkovits said. “I might go out for dinner with friends, but I’m only a sophomore, so I’ve still got two more hocos to go. In that case, I’m not worried about missing out on anything.”

Ifkovits also acknowledges that while he is fine with not having a homecoming, he feels bad for the seniors who won’t be getting an official homecoming for their last year of high school.

“As for the seniors though, it is unfortunate because they don’t have those extra years like I do,” Ifkovits said.

The Foco trend is being used mostly by the seniors, who did not want their final year of high school to go by without a homecoming. Student Will White ‘21 is one of these seniors, as he would not let his senior year happen without some kind of homecoming.

“Me and around 16 of my friends are planning on going downtown for dinner and to take pictures,” White said. “The whole group helped in planning the night, and we are all still trying to decide which restaurant we are going to.”

Just because a lot of students are taking part in Foco does not mean it’s an easy thing to plan, which Perkins acknowledges.

“Most years, one or two people usually plan the majority of the event, but this year we all tried to help plan because it’s hard this year due to Covid,” Perkins said.

One thing that seems to have stayed the same as regular homecoming is that everyone is going to dress up. It’s possible that not everyone likes this idea, but since it’s tradition it’s one of those things that has to stay.
“My group chose to dress up for Foco, mostly because we are going to a relatively nice restaurant for dinner and we don’t want to look out of place,” White said.

However, some people love the idea of dressing up, as they find it fun to take pictures in fancy clothes, and they feel like it makes it seem more like a normal homecoming if they dress up.

“I think it’s really fun to get ready and take pictures with everyone even though there’s not a dance this year,” Perkins said.