The Day Miss USA Came Back to Paloma Valley High

Nia Sanchez in her "undercover" student attire (left) and after reappearing in class at Paloma Valley High Tuesday (right). Photos: Don Williamson/Kristen Spoon

It's not every day that a former Miss USA visits your classroom -- let alone ask you to the prom.

But that's what happened Tuesday at Paloma Valley High School, where Miss USA 2014 Nia Sanchez returned to her alma mater and surprised students in Melinda McCulloch's AP psychology class.

Sanchez, a 2008 graduate of Paloma Valley, was contacted by McCulloch (left) about returning to the school and speaking to her class on the importance of self-confidence. Sanchez and Tegan Martin, a fellow Miss Universe contestant, conduct a series of workshops for teens called Universal Confidence. And rather than just walk in as Miss USA and begin speaking, Sanchez worked up a different strategy with McCulloch over months of email correspondence.

Sanchez walked into the classroom Tuesday dressed as a high school student might be -- overalls with a sweatshirt tied around her waist, her hair ratted, wearing glasses -- and was introduced as a new student. She immediately attempted to dominate the conversation, portraying an air of confidence designed as a set-up to her reappearance later in the period, after she excused herself and "dressed up" for the occasion.

There was just one problem: Those students are smart. They quickly determined she wasn't a high school student and began to grill her about her background. Senior Amber Wescott told her "this is some kind of joke" and demanded to know her last name and former school. Caught off guard, Sanchez did her best to bluff her way through it.

"I do things last minute," Sanchez said later, admitting she could've been more prepared. "Five minutes before I came into the room my husband is asking me, 'OK, what's your back story?' He's an actor; I'm not.

"I wanted it (her overconfident attitude) to be worse. I knew I needed to be mean, but I don't feel comfortable being mean. I was supposed to call people out like crazy, but I just did it a little here and there."

As part of her act, Sanchez even turned to the boy seated next to her -- sophomore Anthony Atencio -- and told him he should ask her to the prom. Stunned, Atencio declined.

Sanchez excused herself late in the class period -- supposedly to visit the restroom. As she changed out of her "disguise", students discussed what a fake they thought she was.

When Sanchez reappeared for the "reveal," there were a lot of "I knew it" comments. Students knew she wasn't a high school sophomore -- they just didn't know who she was until told.

"After you left, they had a gamut of conversations about you," McCulloch told Sanchez. "They thought you were a narc."

The last part of class then turned into a discussion about building confidence, with the students very engaged and asking questions.

"I came here to talk about confidence, but not being overconfident, like I tried to sound in this class," Sanchez said. "It's about perceptions. If someone comes into the class and looks like a hot mess, you don't really know who they are and what they might achieve later in life.

"It was weird for me to come back to high school. I just remember that some people were so mean to me," said Sanchez, who was chosen Miss Menifee Valley (right) on her way to success despite being bullied as a teenager. "Even though I was Homecoming Queen and on the song team and all that, people were so mean to me in high school."

Sanchez said her parents were divorced when she was 6 and she was raised by her father, a strict military man. She talked about her struggle in overcoming her insecurities, eventually moving out of state and becoming Miss Nevada, Miss USA and runner-up for Miss Universe.

"I was taught you don't talk out of place," she said. "It was up to me to come out of that. My faith started my confidence level. I started going to church when I was 12. After high school, I had so many things I was self-conscious about. I said, 'I need to stop this.' I looked to the scriptures and started to change. That's what built my confidence.

"I remember going home and crying all the time. Girls are really mean. They can be very judgmental, saying stuff behind your back. My main point for you today is that no matter who you are, what you look like, what activities you're involved in, you can be confident. It really shouldn't matter, your circumstance or situation. Give affirmations to yourself. Tell yourself you can do it. If you tell yourself you will be successful, you will be. If something is troubling you, find someone to talk to."

Sanchez still had to laugh and praise the students for the observations that tipped them off to her little cherade, using tools they are learning in the class. Wescott said she observed a number of things that told her Sanchez was not a high school student, including the way she crossed her legs and looked away from Wescott when questioned about her background.

"Her bone structures are defined and she looks like an older person than us," Wescott said about Sanchez, who is 26. "Her left hand, she had a tan ring on her ring finger. She said she's a sophomore in high school and she's been wearing a wedding ring?

"Also, she came in and asserted herself to the degree no one else would have. And our teacher was doing things out of the norm; I know her really well and she wasn't acting normal. When someone said 'she's not real,' she would hush them and go on to the next person."

So perhaps Sanchez learned as much about human nature as she taught on Tuesday. If nothing else, a room full of students will always be able to talk about the day Miss USA walked into their class.

And Anthony Atencio will forever be remembered as the 16-year-old who turned down a prom date with Miss USA.

"I thought it was weird," he said about the moment Sanchez suggested they go to prom together.

Asked whether he might change his answer now, he simply smiled and walked to his next class.

Additional photo credits: Anne M. Bowman (Miss Menifee Valley photo), eonline (Miss USA).