Selena Gomez Visits Her Old Middle School For the First Time Since Living Her Disney Dreams

By Chanel Vargas

Updated on 9/11/2019 at 12:45 PM

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Selena Gomez had a blast from the past on Monday when she visited her old stomping grounds at Danny Jones Middle School in Mansfield, TX. The singer, who was filming a documentary about her childhood and hometown memories, swung by the school during the late afternoon to reconnect with a few of her past teachers and say hey to the students, according to the Mansfield Independent School District blog. Selena just happened to be in the area when she decided to pop by the school, which turned out to be a surreal experience for her. "This trip, I wanted to take my best friend Courtney and also some of my people from my label just to show them where I grew up and how proud I am of where I'm from," Selena said.

Selena was attending Danny Jones Middle School when she was signed to take part in her first Disney project as a background character on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. The seventh-grader asked her coach to sign a withdrawal form so she could move to Florida to be part of the show. "She said, 'Oh, I'm just going to be in a little Disney film,'" said Stephani Gray, the head girls' basketball coach at Lake Ridge High School. "And I said, 'Oh. OK.' Because sometimes middle-school kids kind of exaggerate." But it wasn't long before Selena's old coach was scrolling through the credits of a Disney movie and came across her name.

The 27-year-old has since won numerous honors, including an American Music Award, an MTV Video Music Award, a People's Choice Award, and multiple Teen Choice Awards. But seeing her old middle school made her feel nostalgic in the best way, which inspired her to leave the students with a few key pieces of advice. "What I would tell them is that it's really hard, but it's worth it," Selena said. "I wasn't a straight-A student by all means, but I think it's really important, and I think it's also important to be kind to someone. Just encourage them in their schoolwork and know that anything is possible for them."