Jayda Porter’s younger self never would have thought she might one day run for Prom Queen.
But here she is, primed to hear her name called on Prom night.
Younger Jayda was a tomboy and never “girly.” Growing up, Jayda and her siblings were athletic. Their father made sure of that. Definitely not the stuff she thought Prom Queens were made of.
She knows differently now. “Running for Prom Queen is just knowing and socializing with a lot of people. When I was little I never would have thought I’d know this many people.”
Deciding to run for queen has her following in the footsteps of her sister; and being named to Prom Court made both her and her family proud.
While she has gotten a lot of support from her friends, it is overshadowed by that of her family.
Her sister was overjoyed by Porter’s decision to run. “Oh that’s so good, she said.” And Porter’s father stayed up some nights just to help with campaigning. He often asks what he can do to help, even suggesting “maybe I should come and barbeque for students to get them to ‘Vote for Jayda,’” Porter said with a laugh.
This mentality isn’t exclusive to her father, however. Porter also approaches life and school with that same spirit.
She has been heavily involved at Colton High since her freshman year. She started off playing volleyball and joined the track team, making sure to never just stay in her seat. Additionally, she’s always made sure to find ways to get involved and try new things.
Oddly, Porter never thought about running for anything until this year. She knew she wanted to run for prom queen and get more involved, especially since this is her last year in high school.
Friends and family all agree and say the same thing about who she is: a nice, smart, athletic person.
For Porter, the person she has become is a testament to the memory of her mother. She longs to be as independent, giving and kind as her mother.
“I look up to my grandpa and my mom,” Porter shared. “My mom always gave back to the community as much as she could, and I loved that about her. If someone didn’t have a sweater, she would go buy them a sweater. One time in freshman year, she had helped everyone on the track team get their spirit pack just because they couldn’t. She would help people with getting cars by helping them get good deals, I wanna give back to people and help those who need help as much as she did.”
Her mother supported everything she did, too, encouraging the person Jayda wanted to become.
Porter is grateful for both of her parents and everything they’ve done for her, from big gestures to the little things like staying and watching all of her games, no matter how long or far they were.
And that support has led her here, to prom night. Consider her younger self’s mind blown.
