When you hear the word homecoming, what do you think of? Is it the spirit week filled with crazy outfits? Or maybe the football game where you play your rival school? Or is it the dance where you spend days picking out an outfit just to sweat profusely for a few hours? Whatever you think homecoming is, Missouri State University amplifies that experience times ten. On our campus, homecoming is all about tradition that bridges the gap between alumni and current students. One of the most notable honors a student can hold is being selected to run for Homecoming Court, and I was delighted to be a part of that experience. 

Running for Fall Homecoming Court was something I had been planning since February of 2021. It’s an extremely competitive and tedious process where applicants are first screened through an application. All candidates must submit multiple essay questions alongside a letter of recommendation. Then, all individuals who make it past the first round move into the interview phase where they are evaluated on: activities and university involvement, community involvement and service, knowledge of Missouri State’s Public Affairs Mission, personal presentation, personality, communication skills, and scholarship. It’s an extremely compelling process, but it pushes you to think of the institution in a different light and truly ask yourself what kind of student you want to be. And after a month of waiting and biting my fingernails: I discovered that I made it onto homecoming court. 

Myself, my campaign manager, and my 17 staff members found ourselves working tirelessly each and every night to ensure my campaign was successfully executed. It started with a random brainstorming session in the dining hall of what my campaign would be about. After throwing around some ideas, I based my theme on the hit 1976 Rocky movie with my slogan being “Let’s Nguyen this Thing” as my last name, Nguyen, is pronounced as “win.” From there, I wanted to use boxing gloves to showcase to my campus that I was fighting my way for homecoming queen: but that I was also fighting to advocate for them. The reason why I ran for homecoming queen was because not many individuals from small organizations make it onto court because it can be a popularity contest at times. My goal was to show anyone that they can run for homecoming court, and they should embrace the groups they come from because it makes them unique and sets them apart. 

After that, I went into designing my buttons, banners, social media, and campaign video to ensure that the theme was cohesive throughout the whole operation. And I was thankful to have friends who helped me publicize my candidacy and were always asking how to help every step of the way. Even though I didn’t win, I won the real prize: a taste of fleeting glory, collaboration that I had never seen before, memories that would last me a lifetime, and finding true friendships that would guide me through my toughest times.