Homecoming was a fun, memorable, nerve-wracking high school experience. That was for me at least. Who am I? I am Haysten Jesus, The Sophomore Prince. I want to share with you an inside perspective of how Homecoming can be on the court. 

I was privileged to have my best friend, Keakealani Gasper, Sophomore Princess, alongside me on the court. Having her alongside me through the whole thing, helped with my nervousness. If she hadn’t encouraged me to run, I would’ve never had this memorable experience.

It being my first time, I thought homecoming would be a breeze. All I had to do was wave and smile. 

Then, the actual preparation and planning hit. It became quite stressful thinking about my suit, the parade, the pep rally, and the game. It all started to feel a bit much. The Princess’s mom, Nalani Gasper helped relieve the planning stress. 

She planned everything. She planned the decorations for the truck for the parade, the time needed to get dressed, and even our banner. Everything was planned, except for what I was going to wear. It took a while but I finally was able to rent a suit to wear. It was a far drive to town but it was worth it. 

Just when I thought everything was fine. I had to learn the dance. I gave up my Saturday to learn it. Then throughout the next week, I would go to my best friend’s house to help her learn the dance. After that, we would go over everything to finalize things.

The highlights of Homecoming were the parade and the game. I loved the parade, I always have. When I was younger I used to watch the parade. Then getting to be in the parade and experiencing the parade firsthand was awesome. Especially seeing all my friends, and the other court members all dressed up. It is similar when it comes to the game. Being the person walking on the field felt way better than being the person in the crowd. 

It was also nice connecting with the other court members. Some of them were already my friends. We were all nervous and scared to walk out, but we all did it together. Not to mention we all looked super fly. Once again, I appreciated my best friend, the princess, for being an encouragement.

I loved homecoming even with the ups and downs. It was one of those moments I will remember for the rest of my life. Hearing the people cheer, seeing your family there, and all the people taking pictures. It made me happy and made me smile. Don’t be shy and run for court next year. I used to be scared but now I wish I could do it again.