Lirona Joshi
Staff Writer
Kaitlin Beyler was crowned Troy University’s 2018 Homecoming queen by Gov. Kay Ivey on Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Homecoming football game. Beyler, a senior biomedical sciences major from Alabaster, was part of an 11-member homecoming court that saw representation of students from three different campus locations and had two international students along with local Troy students.
Beyler was nominated by the Chi Omega sorority from internal voting before the Homecoming court applications were made public. Her journey from a modest high schooler to a reigning Homecoming queen is one of determination and discipline.
“Honestly, in high school, I never really thought of myself as someone who would be on the Homecoming court or would become the Homecoming queen,” Beyler said. “I was not really well-known and was never selected to be on anything that was on popular vote.”
Beyler said she didn’t realize it the first time they called her name.
“My mom had to push me. She was like, ‘Kaitlin, they just called you.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, really?’ ” Beyler said. “It was really shocking, and I had no words at that moment because I knew what was going on, but I really didn’t know what was going on.”
Beyler finds her 2018 Homecoming Court nomination to be especially significant and special in the fact that for the first time the court was representative of the real Troy University, with a mix of internationals and locals and people from different campuses.
“We had people from different backgrounds and cultures, and it really showed a more accurate representation of Troy as an institution,” Beyler said.
According to Beyler, being able to connect with people from different walks of life has been one of the best things Troy University has inculcated in her to help her reach her full potential. It also helped her celebrate the people on the court.
Upon coming to Troy, she decided to make sure she got the most of her college experience and started getting involved on campus. According to Beyler, meeting people through different organizations bolstered her confidence in herself and her leadership abilities as the years went on.
“I really do think that that was one of the pinnacle moments for me, in just telling myself that I am going to get involved and that I am going to do great things at the university, because it was more of a mental thing,” Beyler said. “If I put my heart and my head and all my energy in what I wanted to do, I knew I could go forward.
“That’s how everything started for me; I really spread myself in different areas and surrounded myself with people and made sure that I gave back to others, just like they gave back to me.”
In describing herself in a word, Beyler chooses the word “determined.”
Juggling an intensive major of biomedical sciences with her extracurricular activities that include but are not limited to SGA, Trojan Ambassador, the Tropolitan and honors societies, Beyler credits her resolved attitude in helping her make it through.
“Everything that I have done in my life, I have made sure I put in 100 percent, and I am determined to succeed in the things that I do,” Beyler said. “It’s mainly because I don’t want to let myself down and let other people down, too.”
Beyler said she had to learn the discipline required to organize and balance out her schedule very early into her college life.
