I wish I could say that it was an immediate and overwhelming feeling of comfort that came over me, but it was not. I spent a good amount of time wrestling with my own memories of this place {both positive and negative} and then reconciling them with the place that FC had become {for better and for worse}.

It was not the same school I had left behind. This many months later, I am still here. The perspective that I have gained adds to my excitement that this month marks an important event in the life of our school community, homecoming.

I find a fascinating connection between the tradition of homecoming and the arrival of the fall season. For me, fall represents warmth and coziness. Most of my favorite memories are affiliated with the fall holidays. The smells, the sounds and the flavors of the season are things that I look forward to for the remaining nine months of the year.

This year I am choosing to add another “holiday” to my fall calendar: Fresno Christian Homecoming, Oct. 31, 2014. Think about it: good people, good food and a good game all in one place! This is my invitation to homecoming.

As the Dean of Students, I am honored to be extending an invitation to all of our Fresno Christian Family, past and present, to join us. Come and see what we?ve been up to since you left. You may, like me, have a new holiday to add to your fall calendar from this year forward.

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For more opinions, read the Oct. 21 article, COLUMN: Societal pressures continue to influence personal decisions.