When February rolls around, the whole aura of Ridge shifts dramatically. Students, filled with what was previously stress from studying, now become relaxed as they see the end of the school year drawing near (a trait markedly present among the “second-semester seniors”). But the summer break is not the only thing they look forward to. At Ridge, April showers do seem to bring May flowers – flowers, that is, for prom.
In the three months prior to prom, Facebook and Instagram feeds are bombarded with prom proposals, or “promposals” for short. It’s not a rare sight to see the classic guy-visits-girl’s-house with flowers and a poster, but students have also recently begun to get very creative. While he has notably been a go-to teacher for helping with short promposal exhibitions during class, mathematics teacher Mr. Boop believes that “prom proposals are silly, and these days they’re so extravagant. When I was in high school, those things were nonexistent.” Clearly, times have changed, as Amol Kumthekar ’15 agrees with the changed expectations: “For me,” he explains, “thinking of prom proposals is probably the most difficult thing about prom.”
Finding a prom date is just the beginning of what is the exciting journey to prom. Veterans of prom Cameron Montag and Luke Chiafullo ’15 concur that putting on the clean and crisp tuxedo a couple hours before the event is one of the most satisfying experiences. As Montag claims, “Yeah during pre-prom pictures, when you have your tux on, that’s when you think ‘Wow. This is actually happening!’”
For girls, however, with prom comes the stress and anxiety of buying the perfect dress. In January, all junior girls who have Facebook accounts created a group dedicated to the posting of prom dress pictures. This group was created in order to prevent duplicate prom dresses, and one junior even authored a lengthy “Prom Dress Constitution” to establish rules for buying prom dresses.
Renee Hastings ’15 was initially very skeptical of this system: “It is a little bit ridiculous. It was really alarming that people were freaking out about prom in January. Now it’s fine and I’m used to it.”
Of course, the dress isn’t the only issue. When asked what they found so stressful about prom, Alexandra Smith ’15 and Brittany Rickard ’15 both cited different origins of worry. While Rickard asserted that planning pre and post prom would be was most aggravating, Smith claimed that getting “the perfect look with the dress and the hair” would take time.
By the time April and May come, all the anxiety and panicking is sure to pay off. Facebook and Instagram feeds will no longer be filled with promposals, but instead will be filled with boys and girls looking as put-together as ever in the classic prom pose, enjoying this unique high-school experience.