Getting to know Templeton homecoming royalty 

Q and A with Maddie Bobbit and Austin Marquart

Posted to ‘News From the Nest’ 

– Homecoming court is a tradition at THS. Every year, each grade votes to select a girl and boy who will represent their class. These are the homecoming royalty. The Homecoming King and Queen are seniors nominated by the senior class, and voted on by the entire school. They embody the overall character of THS. Last year, we were sadly unable to assemble a homecoming court due to the pandemic. But this year, students were able to again participate in this homecoming tradition. The people spoke.

Congratulations to Maddie Bobbit and Austin Marquart, this year’s homecoming queen and king! Below, get to know a little about the winners:

First of all, Maddie, thank you for joining me today! Congratulations on being Homecoming Queen.

Thank you!

To begin, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

My name is Maddie Bobbit, I am a senior at Templeton High School. I transferred to the Templeton district in seventh grade, and ever since I’ve been involved in leadership here. I love to run, and I love sports, the outdoors, anything like that.

What sports are you involved in?

I run cross country. I also run distance in track and field, and I play soccer.

Nice! What’s your favorite sport?

Thank you! My favorite sport is probably cross country, which is going on right now.

Are you involved in anything else on campus?

I’m also president of Environmental Club here at THS, and I am the secretary of Feminist Club.

Awesome! So, how do you balance your scholastic commitments with your personal and social life?

I think it’s super important – studying and working hard in school, having good grades, they’re very important to me – but, the high school experience is also very important to me as well. I think it’s super important to chunk off time for yourself to go have fun with friends and let loose, because focusing too much on school and sports, you’ll burn out easily.

Outside of school, what is your favorite pastime or hobby?

My favorite pastime outside of school is probably running. A lot of people think I’m lying when I say I love to run, but I genuinely love running! Running is just a thing for me that I can go out and do to clear my head, think things through. I also love to cook and bake outside of school.

What’s your favorite thing to cook or bake?

My favorite thing to cook is ratatouille, and my favorite thing to bake is probably madeleines, because that’s basically my name. My name was supposed to be spelled the way madeleines, the cake cookies, are spelled, but my mom spelled it wrong on my birth certificate.

What is your current number-one priority in life?

My number-one priority in life is spending time with my family and making sure my family knows how much I appreciate them and love them.

How do you think your friends would describe you?

Awful! Oh no, hm, I don’t know. I think they would describe me as very loyal, and I think – I hope – they’d describe me as a very empathetic and compassionate person towards them.

Okay, so looking back on your time at THS – you’re not out yet – but, what experiences stand out to you?

One experience that definitely stands out to me is going to the CIF championship game last year for soccer. We got to go all the way down to Kingsburg. That was super fun. And then, obviously, winning Homecoming Queen is something that stands out. I’m very honored and very grateful that my peers view me in such a light. Yeah, I think, all of my memories – not all of them – but most of my memories at THS are very fond.

What do you think you will miss the most after you graduate?

Definitely the people here! I have really formed such a tight connection with so many people, they’re like my brothers and sisters. I’m going to miss them all going off to college, but I know they’re all going to go achieve great things – and hopefully I will too – but I’ll get to say I know them, one day.

What are your plans for after high school?

After high school? I really have not thought too hard about that. Well, I have thought about it. I want to attend a four-year college, I don’t know where yet. And then, I’m looking into the possibility of running cross country and track and field in college. So, I’m going through the process right now for that.

Will you tell me a little bit about some of the colleges you’re looking at?

Sure! Right now I’m looking at UC Santa Cruz, Cal Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Washington, and University of Oregon. And! University of Colorado Springs.

What attracts you to Colorado?

Colorado? My family took a road trip to Nebraska two summers ago, because my grandma lives out there and it wasn’t safe enough to fly. So we decided to drive, and we drove through Colorado. I absolutely loved it. I thought it was so pretty, and ever since that I’ve wanted to live there. So, either Colorado or California, but both states are very beautiful.

Or Oregon?

Or Oregon! I love Oregon too.

Awesome! So, what are you most proud of having accomplished during your time at THS?

Oh, that’s a hard question! I think my proudest accomplishment is finding the things I love and really learning more about myself through experiences here. I feel like, middle school and everything like that, I didn’t quite know who I was. I still don’t know completely who I am, but I feel like high school has definitely shown different sides of me, and I’m happy to have learned a lot more about myself.

In school, and your time in school, is there anything you wish you had done differently?

I think we all learn from our mistakes, so I don’t think I would change anything, because they’ve all turned out to be okay. A thing I would change, probably, is just not to care as much about what people think. Especially freshman and sophomore year, I think we all just need to be accepting of ourselves; and really, be kind to one another, because that goes a long way.

One more question. What advice do you have about how to make the most of high school?

My biggest piece of advice is to surround yourself with people that make you feel confident and comfortable, and that bring out the best in you. If you are not feeling happy with the people you’re surrounding yourself with, go surround yourself with people that make you happy and make you your best self. It makes high school so much more enjoyable.

So, that’s everything! Thank you so much.

Of course!

Austin, thank you for joining me today! Congratulations on your win.

Thank you.

To begin, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

My name is Austin Marquart, and I am a senior. I am the football captain, and I guess also homecoming king!

Are you involved in campus life in other ways besides football?

Football, ASB; I’m involved in a lot of clubs such as FCA, Surf Club, Entrepreneurship Club. I try to stay involved.

What’s your favorite club?

Since it’s just started, we haven’t had too many meetings yet, but the one I’ve been to the most is FCA because I’ve been doing it for a few years.

How do you balance your scholastic commitments with your personal and social life?

A lot of time management. You’ve got to really work around a schedule. I’m at school about twelve hours a day, so I always try to get in a little work whenever I can.

But outside of school, what is your favorite hobby or pastime?

I don’t have too much time out of school, being that a lot of it’s football. I like to spend a lot of time with my friends.

What is your current number one priority in life?

School.

How do you think your friends would describe you?

I think they would say that I’m very energetic and outgoing. Very open to people, I guess.

I know you’re not out yet, but, looking back on your time at THS, what experiences stand out to you?

Just the people here and the people I’ve met. Everyone’s had a big influence on me in one way or another, including the teachers.

What do you think you will miss the most after you graduate?

I am going to miss the people a lot, especially the ones that I’ve gotten really close with. I’m going to miss being able to say hi to everyone in the halls, or in between classes.

What are your plans for after high school?

I want to go to college to study criminology, and hopefully do something in that field.

That’s cool! What colleges are you looking at?

My top pick right now is Northern Arizona. I have to look more at colleges though.

Is that your dream college, you’d say?

As of right now, yes.

What are you most proud of having accomplished during your time at THS?

Probably being football captain, getting to know all the students, becoming friends with everyone, and keeping up decent grades.

What do you hope to accomplish before you graduate?

I just want to try to make the school a little bit better, kind of memorable in some way.

At school, looking back on the years you’ve been here, is there anything you wish you had done differently?

Less procrastinating.

I think we could all use a little bit of that. What advice do you have about how to make the most of high school?

Do your work, and for every free moment you get, spend it doing what you love.

That’s very good advice. Do you have any other last words?

I think that’s about it!

Well, thank you so much Austin, we are done!

Thank you!

Thank you again to our wonderful homecoming winners for taking the time to share a bit about themselves. We are honored to have these amazing students represent our school, and we’re excited to see what they accomplish next.

Written by Tess, a Junior at PRHS.