Don’t trip. Smile wide. Walk on your heels. One foot in front of the other, she made her way down the field. All the faces of those familiar and those unfamiliar staring straight at her. Her father on her arm, cooling her nerves as they surfaced. She didn’t even expect to be here, but now that there was no turning back.

Standing in line with the other homecoming court nominees, senior Mia Mateo waits in anticipation for her name to be called on the loud overhead speaker. She genuinely didn’t think she was going to win, but after she was named as 2024 Homecoming Queen, she stood there in disbelief. 

“At first I thought the announcer had messed up my name,” Mateo said. “But then there were people walking towards me and then there was just like a wave of emotion.”

Because it was her senior year, Mateo chose to run for court just for fun. Her friends encouraged her and supported her throughout the whole process. 

“I was surprised when I actually made it on court,” Mateo said. “Being able to be on court out of everyone in the school means a lot. It was such an honor.”

If Mateo could describe the night in one word, she would choose the word honor. She felt like being on court was a big achievement.

“Being able to have made such an impact on people means a lot to me,” Mateo said. “Being able to connect with so many people was crazy to me, it is kind of a reflection on my character. It’s like, ‘I gotta be doing something right’ you know?”

At the time, Mateo had her friend from Mexico visiting her. She had mounds of support from her friends and family.

“They wanted to make me a poster that they could hold up at the game,” Mateo said. “They had told me ‘No you can’t come into the kitchen Mia, we’re working on the sign,’ and the nerves started to kick in more and more when I just sitting in my room.”

Although nervous, her friends were screaming for her from the student section, their signs flailing in the air with photoshopped photos of Mateo that she still has up in her room. 

After exiting the field, everything hit her. She was standing in the gated area on the far side of the stadium with everyone she loved.

“They all told me how proud they were of me, and I was able to hug my mom,” Mateo said. “My mom was on the phone with my grandma too. Being able to hug my friends and family is a memory that is going to stay with me for life. I would have never gotten to this point if my parents and friends weren’t supporting me every step of the way.”