At the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, two Norwin freshmen began an Instagram account together that would end up becoming very popular among their fellow students, eventually garnering over 1,000 followers over three years later. The account, @nhs_homecoming_proposals, features numerous student Homecoming proposals and, outside of the Homecoming season, also posts dance proposals for Prom and Snoball.
The two former freshmen, now currently seniors, are Addison Baer and Serena Borrelli. Baer and Borrelli decided to start the account their first Homecoming season after being inspired by another student-run account, Norwin Barstool.
“We wanted our own unique little thing,” said Baer.
Borrelli adds that it was “mostly a joke at first”, something fun to do in their free time, before it began to take off with more and more people sending their proposals as time went on.
On Snapchat, Borrelli also saw various Homecoming proposals on people’s stories. These stories disappeared after 24 hours, meaning that there was no permanent picture for people to go back and look at.
“I thought it would be cool to be able to send [Homecoming] proposals to an actual account and have them posted” Borrelli explains, “No one was really able to see the posters that people put time and effort into before that”.
With their final year of high school ending in May, the two account owners decided that they wanted to reveal themselves as the admins.
“We decided it’s time,” Baer said. “Everyone’s been asking about it for the past couple of years”.
Throughout the years, Baer and Borelli have posted nearly 300 dance proposals on the account, ranging from small hand-drawn signs to a proposal on the side of a U-haul. Not only do students get to see all the different types of proposals made by their peers, but they also get to see who is going to the dance with who.
“My favorite thing is getting to see the Homecoming proposals before everybody else does,” Baer said. She also adds that she enjoys seeing people’s reactions to them when they are posted.
After Baer and Borrelli graduate in May, they hope to pass the account down to a junior friend of theirs, who Baer says will also remain anonymous until their senior year and they decide to reveal themself just as they did.
Borrelli says “I am hoping that [the account] will keep running for a while after I graduate.”
