Do Homecoming Queens Peak In High School? We Asked Them.

"I keep my crown in my office and when people ask if I still have it, I’ll put it on, especially during homecoming week."

Gen Z (and increasingly Gen Alpha), like pretty much every generation before them, may seem too cool for school and too hip to care about traditions from the past. Surprisingly, though, there’s one high school custom they want to keep alive: crowning a queen at homecoming and prom.

According to Google Trends, searches for “homecoming” peak every September and October in the U.S., as schools across the country celebrate school pride and host student dances.

In late September, searches for “how to win homecoming queen” spiked +130% over one week, and searches for “homecoming queen campaign ideas” more than doubled that month.

We shouldn’t be that surprised, though. From Carrie White to Olivia Rodrigo’s tour aesthetic, pop culture is full of representations of girls who’ve been named homecoming or prom queen. (Obviously, Carrie’s experience was less than ideal.) The homecoming queen is a cultural fixture and an enduring symbol of popularity in our minds.

With homecoming season in full swing, we decided to ask former queens about how getting crowned affected their lives later on, if at all. Did they peak in high school, as the cliché about them goes? Are they surprised that running for homecoming queen and king is still something kids are doing? Does being popular in your youth give you a leg up?