Pictured Above: Skyler Adams (left) and Noelle Bederman won the St. Petersburg campus’ Homecoming royalty votes this year. Despite the virtual format of Homecoming week this year, Adams said she’s been enjoying the events: calling the fortune teller her favorite part of the week. Bederman’s favorite event was the “Night to Dismember” murder mystery.
Courtesy of Skyler Adams and Noelle Bederman
By Sophie Ojdanic
Harborside Activities Board (HAB) announced Wednesday that Noelle Bederman and Skyler Adams won the St. Petersburg campus’ vote for Homecoming royalty.
“Honestly, I was just so shocked,” Adams, a junior health sciences major, said. “I may have screamed and done a little dance that was basically just me jumping up and down.
“The rest of the night, I would just randomly get excited and start squirming and bouncing… My roommate went to give me a hug and I had to wiggle first and ended up headbutting her pretty hard.”
Bederman, a senior psychology major, was one of the two homecoming royalty candidates that Adams didn’t know.
“Ironically, Noelle is one of the two court members that I didn’t already know, but I am super excited for the opportunity to get to know her,” Adams said. “She seems super sweet.”
Bederman said she was happy to win with Adams.
“I can’t wait to meet Skyler,” Bederman said.
In an attempt to overcome her shyness, Bederman said she chose to run for Homecoming royalty.
“I chose to run for Homecoming royalty because it is my last year at USF and I wanted to do something out of my comfort zone,” Bederman said. “I am usually very shy, but I wanted to represent our school.”
Bederman said she was shocked to find that she won.
“I was in pure shock when I found out I won,” Bederman said. “I still am. I feel very grateful that people chose to vote for me.”
Adams said she almost didn’t run for royalty.
“I never thought that I had a chance of winning and didn’t even consider running until my friend suggested it,” she said. “I have had amazing experiences here at USF and I love every opportunity to represent the university and the St. Petersburg campus.
“Not to mention, I have always wanted a good excuse to wear a crown or tiara.”
Women won the royalty votes on all three campuses. The St. Petersburg campus saw two male candidates, the Sarasota-Manatee campus saw one male candidate and the Tampa campus did not have any male candidates.
On the Sarasota-Manatee campus, Luz Olguin and Scarleth Andino Funez won. On the Tampa campus, Samia Alamgir and Avalon Jade Thiesen won.
“I think homecoming royalty means something different to everyone on this campus,” Adams said. “To me, it was always an unattainable dream that I didn’t think could ever be possible.”
She said she often downplays her successes, and winning Homecoming royalty showed her that she had made an impact.
“It is literally a dream come true to have indisputable proof that I have made an impact here at USF St. Petersburg,” Adams said.
To Bederman, winning royalty gave her an opportunity to represent the St. Petersburg campus.
“Homecoming royalty is a way to represent our campus and the student body,” Bederman said.
Bederman and Adams are not the first same-sex pair to win Homecoming royalty since the 2019 change from crowning a “king” and “queen” to crowning “royalty.” Last year, Spencer Gomez and Daniel Ciccia both won Homecoming royalty on the St. Petersburg campus.
