For the past few months, I’ve had encounters with many of my family members–parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, 4th cousins, and everything in between–and the same topic seemed to come up in many of my conversations with them: prom. Who am I going with, what my dress looks like, why I shouldn’t get drunk that night (beyond the obvious legal issue); the conversation could go pretty far if I didn’t have to stop them mid-sentence and remind them that I won’t be going to prom as a junior.

They all proceed to give me the same look of sympathy as if I’m missing out on a milestone in my life, and soon after that, we’re on to talking about something else. I think this absence of a junior prom in Frisco should change though.

For one, a junior prom would give us seniors-in-training a chance to tune into our “maturity”. Considering that many of us claim to have graduated from the homecoming dance, a junior prom would present a somewhat new experience. Additionally, our brains and hearts have adjusted well to the high school dynamic by now, and since many of us have acquired the responsibilities of a job and driving, there isn’t too much that separates us from “seniorhood” besides the college application process.

Those of us who experience a horrendous first prom experience our junior year can go into round two of prom with a solid foundation of what to expect. If a student decides not to go to their junior prom, they can now sleep at night knowing they can attend their senior prom if they regret their initial decision.

We all know that junior year is stressful. Our grades matter the most, we’re beginning to take on leadership positions, and we’re constantly uneasy about the SAT and ACT. Despite our crazy school schedules, we don’t have an opportunity towards the end of the school year to unwind and relax as a junior class. A junior prom would be the perfect opportunity to do so.