Phoebe Underhill (10) was getting ready to get ice cream with her boyfriend, Joe Oswald. The moment she walked through the door, the fresh scent of newly picked roses flew through the air. As she glanced down the lawn, there he was, standing with a sign that said “Of all the fish in the sea, will you go to HOCO with me?” The surge of excitement and nervousness rumbled through both Phoebe and Joe. As she walked closer, she exploded with delight and, without any thought, immediately said “yes!”
Every fall, students wait eagerly for the long-awaited homecoming dance. Along with all of the preparations for homecoming, including buying the right outfit and finding the right shoes, another popular contribution to the event is homecoming proposals.
Every year, students are longing for the highly anticipated question that always sparks the best enthusiasm. Homecoming is not just about the dance, it is about the first wild feeling after the question is asked, the burst of excitement, and the first glance of the proposal.
The proposal that Underhill received was known to be a unique one. Each part of the proposal was very creative and came together perfectly. Phoebe mentioned that in the moment, she was able to say “yes” so easily because it was everything she could have asked for. He was able to include a fish in the poster which really helped tie the whole thing together.
“My fish had just died, so he got me a new one which was sweet,” Underhill said.
Homecoming proposals are not a new phenomenon; they are a lasting tradition from around the country. Physics teacher Gordon Hallmark recalls that his homecoming proposal said, “Will you Van Gogh with me to homecoming?”
“She was into art back then and she was taking a painting class. We were having a conversation about how that was her favorite artist and that’s why I put that on there.” Hallmark said.
While Hallmark included his own form of creativity, Jack Heilman (12), included a very special way of showing his admiration for his girlfriend. He was able to include different volleyball terms to grab Miley Williams’s (11) attention and make her relate to it.
“The most challenging part of the proposal was finding the right phrases that included volleyball terms,” Heilman said.
Another major part of the proposal was creating the sign while making it look creative and unique. Finding the right words to say and making it pretty isn’t the easiest thing to do when the pressure is on.
“I added a phrase that took me an hour and a half to come up with cause it was kind of hard to get it on the poster because I was using fat sized sharpies to write it on there,” Heilman said.
After days of thinking about the perfect saying to put on the sign, he finally figured it out. He was able to brainstorm many different ideas by himself, while continuing with the theme of volleyball for his girlfriend.
His final poster read, “Let’s block out everyone else because I dig you. Let’s kill it together. HOCO?”
While most people continue to use a poster to ask someone out, it is important to consider the person’s interests to make the sign more visually appealing and interesting.
“It’s just kind of like tradition to do a sign because I mean you could just ask but it’s really a traditional high school type of thing to do a sign,” Heilman said.
Homecoming is an important part of the high school experience for all students to take part in. Each of these proposals showcased their unique ideas for the homecoming season. When one receives a homecoming proposal, they feel extremely special and get to complete the moment with someone they like as shared by Gordon Hallmark.
“It’s like asking someone out without the pressure and you can go to a dance and it’s a special night with a person but it’s not the pressure of asking them out to date them and everything so it is more fun and casual,” Hallmark said.
Homecoming proposals never go out of style as students and teachers participate such as, Physics teacher Gordon Hallmark, his significant other Emily McGurn, Jack Heilman (12), Miley Williams (11), Phoebe Underhill (10), and Joe Oswald (11).
