The heavily anticipated Junior Prom took place on May 8th with almost every junior in attendance. Prom is an important event, and students look forward to it all year. Hair is done, dresses are carefully chosen, and promposals are planned. Everyone hears about prom when they are young, and it is always framed as a magical night unlike any other. But what was Junior Prom actually like? Did it live up to the very high expectations? I had the opportunity to talk with two juniors, Lia deNormandie and GoEun Rottman, to hear about their experiences and opinions.
When talking to Lia, she said that her favorite part was getting to hang out with her friends and “getting ready, dancing, etc.” Lia enjoyed taking pictures and staying at the table in the main hall with her friends. Every event has problems, and Lia reported that her least favorite part was “all of the stress and anxiety that went into prep for it/things like that.” Lia also had the same issue many girls had: wearing heels that make feet ache. During my conversation with GoEun, she said that her favorite part was when everyone grouped into a circle and started dancing. On the other end of things, her least favorite part “was probably the food because, despite it being great, it was kind of cold. I was at prom last year, and the food was so much better, and there was more of a selection.” She offered a different and interesting perspective especially due to her attendance at last year’s prom. GoEun spent prom dancing with her friends, eating, and she “took a lot of pictures.”
Lia did not have many expectations because she had never been to prom before: “I figured something pretty broad and generic in terms of location and tables and things, but it wasn’t bad.” For GoEun, prom did not live up to her expectations: “I thought it was going to be a better prom than last year because the tickets were slightly more expensive, so I was a little disappointed.” The cost of the tickets was another point of frustration for lots of students because it was not as affordable as it had been in previous years.
When asked about what she would change, Lia said, “I think overall it went well. Maybe just making it more of a casual thing so people aren’t so stressed- it’s definitely an event with a ton of things leading up, so things feel like they need to be perfect. Not necessarily something that could be changed, just something I noticed.” GoEun said that she would change the music “because it was a lot of club music, and she wished that they played more classics instead of just rap.”
Overall, Lia gave Junior Prom a 7/10, while GoEun gave it a 5.5/10.
