This Could Be Your Sign to Ask Someone

Sarina Marzbani

It’s Office Hours on a Tuesday in October, and you possibly just failed your biology quiz, leaving the DMS quad when you notice two groups approaching, centered around two people. One is holding a poster board and flowers. Someone’s trailing behind, filming in the most conspicuous way possible. 

It’s a hoco proposal. 

We know the drill once October comes around. For those who don’t, a hoco proposal is a creative way to ask someone to homecoming, usually with a handmade poster and a small gift. From on-campus proposals to the [insert your local high school’s name here] Askings Instagram page, they’re their own form of entertainment. You can spend an entire Office Hours session looking at signs for people you’ve never met or haven’t seen since elementary school, trying to decode references. 

And honestly, that’s part of the fun. The best signs are rarely the ones that would make sense to anyone else. The great ones reference a favorite movie, a certain restaurant order, or something so oddly specific that you can immediately tell the person actually knows who they’re asking to homecoming. Being the poster recipient says, “Someone listens to you, knows the little things about you and made this sign just for you.” It’s someone turning what they know about you into something tangible.

While high schoolers may not get the grand declarations of love we see in movies, a hoco proposal is our own wonderful alternative: making someone feel seen. Maybe it says, “I’d be SADe without you at Hoco,” with the Best of Sade vinyl in hand, or “Hoco would be Din Tai FUNg with you” accompanied by a $25 gift card. (I have more ideas, so feel free to email me if you’re curious.) 

Even if you’re shaking your head at those examples, it’s easy to admit that in a world where so much communication happens digitally, there’s something vulnerable about making a handmade sign and showing someone you thought about them. It may be awkward, but that makes it meaningful. Eventually, we’ll move on from OCSA, and these everyday moments with each other will become memories. Sometimes, those people we love deserve to know. So show them you care; however that may look, whenever you can. Remember their favorite snack and send them that funny TikTok. 

You don’t need a poster board, flowers, or a perfectly timed crowd to make someone feel appreciated. Sometimes, it’s as simple as letting someone know you thought of them. 

And if you are considering asking someone to homecoming, maybe take this article as a sign.