This year, juniors and seniors at Waterloo West High got to vote for who they thought should be on homecoming court. Votes are in, and the court is finalized, which means its time for everyone at West, including freshman and sophomores, to decide who will be crowned.
The student body voted that this years’ Homecoming King and Queen would be Talan Nelson and Ava Holmes. All of this years’ candidates were deserving, but it only comes down to one king and one queen.
Holmes is the daughters of Jeffery Holmes and Brooke Hruska. After high school, she plans to attend the University of Iowa to study business and marketing. Nelson is the son of Jim and Kelly Nelson. After high school he also plans to attend the University of Iowa, to study communications and broadcast journalism.
Holmes and Nelson both think their freshman-year selves would be in awe of this moment. Holmes shares “I don’t think my freshman year self would have believed me. It’s just a very unreal feeling to know that your peers were the ones who nominated you and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Nelson adds to Holmes, sharing “I would think its pretty crazy because I remember being really weird freshman year and most people only knew me as ‘Mrs. Nelsons kid.'”
Holmes and Nelson have both had a positive start to their senior year. Holmes shares that “being queen has already made my senior year amazing, and I know it will only get better. I think being queen will help me continue to be myself because people nominated me for a reason, which is truly a great feeling.”
Nelson appreciates the support he has received in being crowned King. “It’s a lot of congratulations and makes me feel like people enjoy having me around, I don’t know how it will affect the rest of the year but it has been pretty awesome so far,” he shares.
Both Holmes and Nelson have uplifting advice for the younger classes here at West. Holmes shares “my advice would be to always treat people with kindness. No matter how much you hear people saying that, it holds so much value. You never know what someone is going through, and by simply treating people with respect you’re doing yourself a favor as well. Kindness never goes unrecognized.”
Nelson followed with “try everything even if you think it might not be fun, new hobbies and opportunities spring from trying new things and meeting new people. Everyone you meet knows something you don’t.”
