Meza selected as Lindsay Orange Blossom Festival Queen
While the Lindsay Orange Blossom Festival and Parade scheduled for April 17 had to be canceled there will still be a Lindsay OBF Queen who will reign in 2021.
Jimena Meza has been selected as the 2021 Lindsay OBF Queen. Meza is the proud daughter of two hardworking immigrants, Rosario and Gerardo Meza. Following in the footsteps of several members of their families, Meza’s parents decided to leave their home country to provide better and brighter futures for their future children. Both Rosario and Gerardo were only 19 years old when they emigrated from Mexico to Lindsay in the late 1990s where they settled down and created a family.
Meza comes from a family of six which consists of her two parents, her older brother Eric, and her two younger sisters Marlen and Alejandra. Meza’s older brother Eric is an aspiring mechanic and a father of three. Marlen is currently majoring in Mathematics with a minor in Spanish at Cal State Stanislaus, with aspirations to become a teacher. Her youngest sister Alejandra is currently a 5th grader at Washington Elementary who hopes to one day work in the science field.
Like many local Lindsay youth, Meza grew up helping her parents working in the fields picking oranges, lemons, tangerines, and grapes in Lindsay and other parts of the Central Valley. From a young age, Meza was determined to make the most of the sacrifices of her parents. Being a first-generation college student, every step in her educational career was new and unfamiliar. Meza always knew she wanted to pursue higher education and she paved her own way to becoming a learning facilitator, to inspire other youth from her community, to stand as an example of success for other firstgeneration learners.
Meza graduated third in her class in 2016 from Lindsay High School. As a high school student, she participated in different activities such as volunteering at the Porterville Animal Shelter in Lindsay, painting
the high school football bleachers, and helping local families in need of resources with her AVID class. She was also involved in a few other extracurricular activities like tennis, theater, and migrant speech and debate.
Meza completed her undergraduate studies at Cal State Stanislaus, graduating Magna Cum Laude, and received her bachelor’s in history in the Spring of 2020. While in college, Meza made an effort to come home as often as possible, volunteering her time to the high school and the community through various AVID and REAP services like mentoring seniors and participating in COPE (Cost of Poverty Experience).
Meza is currently completing her Single Subject Credential at Cal State Stanislaus and her student teaching at Buhach Colony High School via distance learning. Meza continues to help anyone who comes to her for aid on any academic issues to the best of her ability. Currently, she’s assisting high school seniors with both college and financial aid applications.
Meza wishes to one day come back to LHS as a social science teacher and inspire more students to continue their educational journey.
Meza said she’s honored and grateful to be this year’s OBF queen.