Senior prom has always been such a milestone in my eyes. From seeing my sister have one, to all of the movies that center around the event, it always was so important. Heading into prom May 15, I set very low expectations because of the previous year and a half, but it surprisingly was a lovely opportunity to defeat past obstacles that came up this year. 

Although it wasn’t the prom night I envisioned, it was incredibly rewarding to create a sense of normalcy during my senior year. Reuniting with a community I have had since kindergarten that has felt broken for the last year and a half was unforgettable. Having the dance marked a sense of freedom from COVID-19 in a way, making it seem like a small trophy for all the triumphs of this year. 

Adding to the class community felt during the dance, you could feel the school community between teachers, clubs and students through the hard work that came with set up. Being a senior on Student Council, I wasn’t allowed to help plan prom and the underclassmen led the event. They spent a lot of time planning and working on trying to make this special for my grade and it really showed. Along with that, teachers were at the Recreational Outdoor Center (ROC) during the day of prom helping set things up, which showed their tremendous care for their students. All of the hard work that went into prom helped fix the loneliness that COVID-19 has created. 

There was definitely a clear difference between this dance and previous years, which was expected, and did not affect the overall experience too much because we have been used to feeling much more restricted. The music taste was a little dated which made the actual dance portion of the dance a bit of a let down. However, students still found a way to make it fun which overall proved how happy we were just to be together. 

Prom definitely exceeded my expectations although the event was a completely different experience than freshman year me would’ve thought. I am very grateful I got the opportunity to even go to a prom.