Homecoming Court Q&A

By: Virginia Situ & Vivian Zheng

Sara Hang

Photo by Virginia Situ

Q: What motivated/inspired you to run for homecoming court?

A: “I ran for homecoming court for the experience and I also really wanted to give thanks to those [who] helped me and supported me throughout my high school career.”

Q: Who is the escort with you and why did you choose your escort to be your escort?

A: “Mr. Wong was my escort. I chose him to be my escort because I had him as my teacher for two years in class and he is one of the teachers I have connected to the most.”

Q: What did you feel when they announced that you are one of the homecoming princesses?

A: “I was not there when they announced my name at the quad because I was at a meeting.”

Q: What does it mean to you to win/run for homecoming court?

A: “To run and to win homecoming court is just something [I did] for fun. Something to make it a better high school experience.”

 

Courtney Tong

Photo by Virginia Situ

Q: What motivated/inspired you to run for homecoming court?

A: “When [I] watched movies as a little girl, I’ve always wanted to be in court.  Working in ASB, I’ve always seen people getting ready and people getting [into] court. I kind of wanted to be like them.”

Q: Who is the escort with you and why did you choose your escort to be your escort?

A: “My escort was my dad. He’s definitely helped me so much through high school. He’s driven me everywhere and just like today 4 a.m. just to get to school. He’s definitely helped me with life problems and lessons and he’s just always there for me.”

Q: What did you feel when they announced that you are one of the homecoming princesses?

A: “I was shocked because I didn’t think I was going to make it because there were so [many] candidates.”

Q: What does it mean to you to win/run for homecoming court?

A: “For me to run for homecoming court is that it’s not all popularity.Homecoming court is a way to [show that] popularity isn’t everything. You can express who you are and for people to recognize that.”

 

Christina Yuan

Photo by Virginia Situ

Q: What motivated/inspired you to run for homecoming court?

A: “I remember coming to homecoming rally as a freshman, I was like ‘Oh, it’s so cool’ and I was inspired because I really wanted to bring Coach Kanow back so I can walk with him. It was honestly mainly for volleyball.”

Q: Who is the escort with you and why did you choose your escort to be your escort?

A: “My escort was former Coach Kanow. I chose him because him and his program has had a significant impact in my life as a high school student. His program taught me how to be more confident and a lot of things, so I felt like it was important to ask him.”

Q: What did you feel when they announced that you are one of the homecoming princesses?

A: “I was really surprised because I didn’t think I would make it. I was really happy too.”

Q: What does it mean to you to win/run for homecoming court?

A:  “Just because it’s senior year. Just to have fun and for volleyball.”

 

Sarah Cao

Photo by Ahyoung Nguyen

Q: What motivated/inspired you to run for homecoming court?

A: “I was always interested when I was first introduced [to it] in freshman year, as well as just me wanting to run for the homecoming court so I can make a mark on the school before I left.”

Q: Who is the escort with you and why did you choose your escort to be your escort?

A: “My escort was Arella Taghdis and I chose her because she specifically was one of the people who have the biggest impact on building my character, as well as setting my mindset just in life and on-and-off the [basketball] court. She’s one of my biggest inspirations.”

Q: What did you feel when they announced that you are one of the homecoming princesses?

A: “Oh man, I was super nervous but it was great just hearing your name. It’s nice to know that people support you, and it’s like every girl’s dream to get their tiara and princess moment.”

Q: What does it mean to you to win/run for homecoming court?

A: “To me, it was special because it gave me the chance to bring back my coach, who made a major impact and influence [on me] since freshman year. So having that opportunity was amazing, as well as getting the chance to speak to the school about my things for all the Matadors at San Gabriel.”

 

Lucy Nguyen

Photo by Katherine Huang

Q: What motivated/inspired you to run for homecoming court?

A: “When I was a freshman, I was in basketball [and] I saw all the upperclassmen run. I really wanted to be one of those girls. I also wanted to win something big and see if I can do it.”

Q: Who is the escort with you and why did you choose your escort to be your escort?

A: “It’s my dad. I feel like he wasn’t there for any big moments for me and since it was a Monday, he had a day off so I was really lucky, really thankful that my parents were able to be there.”

Q: What did you feel when they announced that you are one of the homecoming princesses?

A: “It was surreal. I remember it was lunch. I was waiting to with my friends and Ms. Stone, I thought she was calling the candidates, but she was calling the perfect attendance and I was like ‘Wow, the list is so long.’ When I heard Sarah [was] called, I was like ‘Okay, that’s it, I didn’t win.’ But then I heard my name and they were like ‘Are you Lucy?’ I was like ‘Awe, yeah.’ It felt really surreal; I didn’t expect myself to win.”

Q: What does it mean to you to win/run for homecoming court?

A: “I’m glad that I got the opportunity to run. It’s obviously [my] dream because [I see this] in movies and Mean Girls. Honestly, I’m really grateful that people voted for me because there were like 16 candidate for girls, and I was like ‘You know what, I’m going to go for it.'”

 

Jackson Pham

Photo by Ahyoung Nguyen

Q: What motivated/inspired you to run for homecoming court?

A: “When I was a freshman, my sister was actually a senior here. So she ran for homecoming court and I saw her walking down the aisle so I was like ‘Oh, I want to do that too.’ [It’s] pretty cool to walk behind my sister’s foot step.”

Q: Who is the escort with you and why did you choose your escort to be your escort?

A: “The reason why I chose my escort to be Ms. G was because I had her for two years, and I felt like Ms. G was always [the] teacher that I’m the closest to. Every time when I walk into her history class, she would always smile and made sure that I was on track to graduating [high school].”

Q: What did you feel when they announced that you are one of the homecoming princes?

A: “I was kind of scared at first, when they were announcing [the princes] one by one. I was just standing there like I don’t know what to do, but then when they called my name, I was like ‘Omg! I won!’ It was really exciting. It made me really happy actually, thinking about how my sister had won. It’s kind of cool how I [am] the homecoming prince and my sister was the homecoming princes in her high school [senior] year.”

Q: What does it mean to you to win/run for homecoming court?

A: “I felt like it was just for fun. I don’t think the homecoming court is a competition at all. Most of the people in the homecoming court were my friends. So it was kind of cool to run and to win with them.”

 

 

Henry Vuong

Photo by Vivian Zheng

Q: What motivated/inspired you to run for homecoming court?

A: “At first, I just wanted to do it because I wanted to walk down the aisle during pep rally. I [also] wanted to have a speech because I wanted to thank my friends while [walking] down the aisle, and I was like ‘Oh, I can walk with my mom too.’ My mom hasn’t been to many school things [activities] like my volleyball games because she’s busy but she doesn’t work on Mondays; so this is a good time to bring her to school and show her everything.”

Q: Who is the escort with you and why did you choose your escort to be your escort?

A: “My mom doesn’t really know anything about here and I’ve been here for three years [already]. It’s my senior year so might as well have her walk me down the aisle and see all the performances and stuff.”

Q: What did you feel when they announced that you are one of the homecoming princes?

A: “I was really happy because I didn’t expect myself to win compared to the other people. So when they called my name, I was really excited and I just walked up, and I was just really happy when I was standing in the quad with my stash and my wand.”

Q: What does it mean to you to win/run for homecoming court?

A: “It doesn’t really mean much to me because like I’ve said, I just wanted to do it to have my mom with me and for that speech to thank all my friends. I don’t really see it as a competition [because] it’s just to walk down the aisle and have everyone look at us.”

 

 

Ricky Jiao

Photo by Ahyoung Nguyen

Q: What motivated/inspired you to run for homecoming court?

A: “In my honest opinion, the upperclassmen from before motivated me. When I was a freshman, the seniors tried out for homecoming court, and then three of the seniors won and they motivated me to do it. So I am here.”

Q: Who is the escort with you and why did you choose your escort to be your escort?

A: “My escort was Kelvin Huynh. To me, he is just a special friend and I feel like he deserves to be my escort.”

Q: What did you feel when they announced that you are one of the homecoming princes?

A: “I was the last name [called]. I honestly didn’t think I will be called but here I am so it feels good.”

Q: What does it mean to you to win/run for homecoming court?

A: “For me, it was to win it for the alumnus from the past, just for honor.”

 

Caden Ong

Photo by Virginia Situ

Q: What motivated/inspired you to run for homecoming court?

A: “I wanted to run because I knew it was my last year at San Gabriel and when I graduate I didn’t want to have any regrets thinking about not doing this and not doing that.”

Q: Who is the escort with you and why did you choose your escort to be your escort?

A: “My escort was Ms. Parra. To me she isn’t just any teacher. She’s one of the teachers that really stuck out and helped guide me throughout my four years and I go to her for help occasionally. When I first met her freshmen year I remember her as one of the best teachers.”

Q: What did you feel when they announced that you are one of the homecoming princes?

A: “I was really surprised when they announced it because I didn’t expect to win. I jumped out of my seat. My mind was blown because it was really surprising.”

Q: What does it mean to you to win/run for homecoming court?

A: “To me it means that if you are running you want to be involved in school and make yourself well known. It means that people obviously [see] you as a role model and take a liking to you.”

 

Randy Lee

Photo by Virginia Situ

Q: What motivated/inspired you to run for homecoming court?

A: “I really wanted to run because I wanted to be able to have the speech where I can thank all the people that helped me go so far in life and everyone who supported me before.”

Q: Who is the escort with you and why did you choose your escort to be your escort?

A: “My escort was my best friend, Roxanne Fong. I chose her because we always kind of did everything together. [So] I thought it would be nice if she came with me on this adventure too.”

Q: What did you feel when they announced that you are one of the homecoming princes?

A: “I was really happy. I was surprised at first because [on the] inside, I was like, I’m probably gonna lose, it’s okay, but when I heard my name I was really happy. I almost tripped at the pancake.”

Q: What does it mean to you to win/run for homecoming court?

A: “I was really happy that I was able to bring my parents here because I wanted to show them what I do in school. I wanted them to be proud of me and I thought it’d be nice if I could honor them by doing that.”