Say it louder: toning down prom expectations
Whether it’s something about school, being a student, or a social issue, columnist Emma Cramption tries to make sure her message is heard in her weekly column “Say it Louder”.
February 11, 2019
With prom approaching on April 13, everybody is already discussing and planning. Prom is open to anyone with an upperclassman date, but the main intended audience is seniors so they can have one last big celebration before graduating.
I dreamed about prom for a good portion of my childhood. What my dress would look like, who my date would be, etc. When you’re younger, things like this seem about a million times more magical. Now that it’s actually coming up, however, it just isn’t really a big deal to me anymore.
Events like prom and homecoming really stress me because there is so much pressure for a perfect night. After all, you do have to spend kind of a ridiculous amount of money on your ticket, dress/suit, shoes, and especially if you’re looking to rent a hotel room or even a house like most people are.
All of that money for just one night leads expectations to be high. Because why would you want to spend your entire paycheck and more on a crappy night? I know in the past I would be upset about spending so much money on a homecoming that went wrong, but prom is much more expensive.
Plus, everybody hypes these events for months. That is all anybody talks about for a pretty long period of time. It’s even said by some adults and countless movies that prom is the best night of your life. I think that’s a stretch considering that it is just a high school dance.
I don’t want to be negative or hate on prom, because I probably will end up going for the experience. I’m just saying that these things are typically extremely overhyped, so I’m not going in with the expectation of anything near the best night of my life, and I would encourage everyone to do the same.
Part of the reason why my homecoming experiences all went wrong was because I expected too much out of it. Remember that this is just a dance and it’s supposed to be fun. There should be no pressure as far as who looks the best, who’s going to the best party, who spent the most money, etc. Prom should be a time to be with all of your friends before we go off to college.
