Yvette Gonzalez wants to get to know you

As she put up posters for her Homecoming Queen campaign, Yvette Gonzalez was approached by a stranger who asked what she was doing.

“Her name was Alexis,” Yvette said. “She’s a senior, a bit of a shy person, but she has a lot of energy once you get to know her. She didn’t know I was campaigning.”

While the two of them talked, Yvette was struck by a sobering thought. “It was shocking that I didn’t know who one of my seniors was, y’know?”

Yvette has been a Link Crew leader for the last three years, and a Colton High cheerleader her entire high school career. However, for as many people as she has had opportunity to meet during her time in high school, it has been this process of campaigning for Homecoming Queen that has made her recognize just how many people are really on the Colton campus, and how unique and special each of them are.

“With programs, you get to meet a bunch of people, but you don’t always have that one-on-one connection with them,” Yvette shared about her involvement with Cheer and Link Crew. “You’re talking about school, you’re talking about studying, you’re talking about the next football game, and you’re getting them excited for whatever is coming. But around my campaign, I’ve learned so much about different people.”

In Link Crew, the team is focused on supporting Freshmen and Sophomore students, but since Yvette only works with students during fifth period, she recognizes just how few people at school she is getting to know.

“Campaigning really helped me to realize—you’re starting to see all two thousand students at Colton High School.”

That has been the best part of running for Homecoming Queen: seeing those faces and recognizing them by name in the halls between classes and at lunch. For Yvette—who values making memories so much she encourages every Freshman to really embrace the moments they have here at Colton High—whether or not she wins the crown at halftime is nowhere near as important as moments like the one with Alexis, in which a new friend was made.

“A lot of our students are really bold,” she says with a glowing smile. “You may see them walking by, and they look shy and quiet, but once you get to really see what’s underneath the surface, they are exciting and have so many things planned. It’s fascinating, like a book that you want to read.”