Do you remember the feeling of finally, finally, FINALLY being a senior in high school? Every day is the last day of something. For certain seniors, their last homecoming is a very big deal.

Why Senior Homecoming Mums are special

Every senior wearing a homecoming mum—and in particular, if she (or he) is wearing a big homecoming mum—has likely excelled on campus or within her community in some way that is meaningful to her. Maybe she is the cheer captain or an athlete or a student council officer or an honor student, or maybe she’s a leader in her church or FFA or Girl Scouts. Maybe she’s in love. Maybe she’s found her calling. Maybe she’s a survivor. Her family is likely involved in her life, and they’ve all been waiting a dozen years for her high school curtain call. No matter what, after this year, she will begin to separate from all that was and begin her ascent into the next stage of her life.

It’s hard for a senior to articulate all this. Besides, homecoming is a time to let loose, laugh, and have fun! But she doesn’t have to say anything, because the mum says it for her.

excerpt from my blog story, What’s the World’s Largest Homecoming Mum?

How Senior Homecoming Mums are special

In a KHOU documentary about the Texas homecoming mum tradition, reporter Brandi Smith interviewed dozens of students at Cinco Ranch High School in Katy, TX about their understanding of senior mums.

“They are huge! That’s when you put on all the bells and whistles, and all the lights,” senior Jenna Jenkins told KHOU. “It’s an excuse to kind of dress up and have fun.”

“Freshman and sophomore are usually maroon and white (aka school colors),” junior Valerie Mendez told KHOU. “It’s gets bigger as the grades go up and up. And the junior is silver and, like, the senior is gold, pink, or however they want to style it.”

“I think it’s a good Texas tradition,” junior Camille Corrence told KHOU, “especially for seniors to have bigger mums to express their seniority...”

“It doesn’t have to be traditional,” senior Mia Prevatt told KHOU as she showed off her Hello Kitty-inspired mum. “Everybody thinks, like, ‘Oh I have to have certain colors or it has to be this way.” She shakes her head no. “You can literally do whatever you want and just put it on there. As long as you like it, people are going to like it either way!”

Here’s that documentary in its entirety. Jump to about 6:56 to see these student interviews:

Related story: What is a homecoming mum in Texas?