After the Scots football team won against the Waxahachie Indians on Friday Sept. 8, hundreds of students celebrated the first win of the season at the annual Howdy Dance.

The Howdy Dance is held in the North Gym after the first home football game each year. The gym was surrounded with colorful lights and a projector showed the music videos to each song as it played. The gym became very humid and stuffy, and many students were dripping with sweat.

“It was really hot in there so everybody was really sweaty. Next year I would like for more air conditioning to be used,” sophomore Kate Corey said.

When asked about how this year’s dance compared to previous years’, students had mixed feelings about the new music this year. Some found this year’s music selection to be better, while others did not enjoy the selection as much as previous years’.

“The music was worse than last year’s. I liked the awesome upbeat trap songs and I disliked the slow songs, like Taylor Swift,” junior Etienne Black said.

The students created a mosh pit in the middle of the dance floor, and everybody’s dancing revolved around the circle. Many students danced in the center of the circle, while some stayed on the outsides of the crowd to avoid being stepped on.

“My least favorite part was when you went into the mosh pit and everyone would trample you,” sophomore Hailey Turco said.

The Howdy Dance is very different from all of the other dances during the year. Students do not have to plan groups, outfits, and activities around the dance for Howdy, unlike for homecoming and Hilites.

“I like how you can wear whatever you want,” said sophomore Ashlee Newton. “You don’t have the stress of having to plan anything, you kind of just go, and you’re with everyone and it’s not more segregated with groups.”

Although the freshmen did not know what to expect, many of them had a high quality first experience. Many freshmen could be found dancing in the middle of the mosh pit and enjoying the pop music.

“I wouldn’t change anything,” freshman Danny Michel said. “It was perfect.”

As the first dance of the year, Howdy offered a sense of reunion for students returning back to school. All in all, the Howdy Dance provided HP students a fun way to celebrate the first Scottie win of the season.