It is with heartfelt excitement and pride that we share the beautiful news of our District “Don’t Miss the Bus” Rose Parade Essay Contest winner.
Please join us in congratulating Peyton Schoen of SDSU Rotaract who has been selected to represent our entire District as the official walker next to the Rotary Rose Parade Float at the Rose Parade on January 1st, 2026 in Pasadena.
Peyton’s essay was chosen for its honesty, emotional depth, and the powerful way she shared her personal journey of discovering true community and belonging through Rotaract. Her reflection resonated on a deeper level and captured the heart of what Rotary means to so many of us.
We are incredibly proud that Peyton will be walking on behalf of all Rotarians, Rotaractors, and Interactors throughout San Diego and Imperial Valley. She will also be standing alongside Rotary leaders from California and throughout the United States including Rotary International President Nominee for 2027-2028 Larry Lunsford. This is an extraordinary honor and a once in a lifetime moment for one of our own.
The Rose Parade will be broadcast on multiple networks and viewed by millions of people around the world. Through Peyton our District message of hope, love, unity, and “Don’t Miss the Bus” will reach audiences everywhere.
I want to share why this moment is so meaningful for all of us. Our participation in the Rose Parade is far more than having a float travel down Colorado Boulevard. It is a moment for Rotary to stand among service organizations from around the world and show millions of people what we represent. It is a chance to demonstrate that Rotary stands for peace, compassion, unity, and the belief that we can create a better world when we work together.
Below is Peyton’s winning essay presented exactly as she submitted it. I hope you take a moment to read it and feel the heart behind her words:
I had always heard the word ‘community’ thrown around by people in my small hometown without ever having a definition for it. I heard phrases like ‘Oh they live in the gated community’ or ‘She’s in the country club community’, and I could never tell if it was a positive or negative thing. I believed community was exclusive, and only certain people could belong. I molded myself to fit rigid ideas of community and slowly lost myself to fit a narrow-minded definition of community. To me, the idea of community had become disingenuous to my true self.
Coming into college, my desire to belong was extreme. I did not know who I was supposed to be, how I was supposed to make myself, so I could fit into a community. I spent my first semester lost and terrified I would never find a place to belong, because no one told me exactly who I should be. I spent my days in a monotonous cycle: wake up, work out, class, lunch, study, dinner, sleep, repeat. I never explored new things because I didn’t know what I liked, and I was too scared of rejection to try. My fear of ridicule and nonacceptance kept me stagnant and alone.
One sunny Saturday, I was sitting on my bunk bed in my freshman dorm, having just hung up the phone with my mom, and feeling more homesick than I had in ages, when a cheery, bright girl interrupted my depression session. She and my roommate had been out playing tennis, and they had just come home, giggling about some inside joke that just made me feel more alienated from my nonexistent community. In an attempt to hide my loneliness, I said, “I love your hoodie, where did you get it?” The girl looked up with a grin, and I felt seen by a stranger for the first time since I moved in. “It's merch from my community service club, Rotaract! We are accepting applications, and there’s an info session on Tuesday! You should come check us out!” I’m not sure if it was the genuine delight on her face or the mention of ‘community’, something I had so desperately desired, but I latched onto the small ray of hope she gave me. The pure joy and passion that shone through in her face when she talked about Rotaract was enough to convince me to pull up the application on my phone, right there, and change my life forever.
Three years later, I am the proud president of San Diego State Rotaract Club. Thanks to a lovely brown hoodie (of which I am now the owner of), I have rediscovered the true meaning of community, and in doing so, found a forever family. Rotary to me is not only a true force of good in the world, but a lifelong community that has changed not only the trajectory of my life, but made me who I am today: a proud Rotaractor (and future Rotarian).