Hey again. Apparently my new thing is to write controversial articles. I just couldn’t help myself. But here we are.

Before anything else, I just want to ask you to remember a time that you were really excited for something. Maybe it was almost your wedding day. You had planned every little detail. Picked the perfect outfit. Found the perfect guy;). Then, some disaster occurred. Maybe the church where your wedding was to be held was near a volcano. The volcano erupted. It destroyed the entire town. You, of course, feel awful for the people that live there. You wish they did not have to experience that. And you know what else you feel? Disappointment about your wedding. Does your wedding really matter in the grand scheme of things? Maybe not. But it is personal to you, you were excited about it, so it matters to you.

Disappointment: sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one’s hopes or expectations

Before I came into class today I found out that Prom is already cancelled. Yea. And before you argue with me the facts of why this decision was made. Before you call me selfish (something we have been called way too many times by the adults around us in the past week by the way) for being disappointed about something that I was excited about for years. Hear me out.

The point of this article is not to point fingers or argue why this decision was made.

The point: Empathy 

Empathy: is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another 

My friends and I have been feeling unheard by many many adults when we try to explain how upset we are. Whether or not you feel the decision to cancel Prom was necessary is not the point. The point is that our emotions, our disappointment, is VALID.

This article is for me to get out my frustrations about the fact that my grade will never get a prom. I realize that is the way it has to be. I realize this pandemic is out of anyone’s hands. So, I am choosing to write an article on it. To ~express my feelings~ and hopefully not be called selfish anymore lol.

Some backstory:) The seniors last year had a junior year prom. The juniors this year will probably get a senior year prom. All of the adults around us had a chance to go to prom.

And yea maybe it wasn’t fun for them. Maybe their date broke up with them. Maybe it ended with tears. But when I mention the word prom to you you will have vivid memories. Whether they are good or bad they are memories.

You know what my friends and I will have when someone mentions the word prom to us in a decade or two? Nothing. A void. Emptiness. Just like we will have that same nothing when they ask us about Semi, going to football games our senior year, having a senior night that all our friends come to. After this article I will stop complaining and move on with my life. I swear.
However, I just wanted to spend these 800 words explaining to you how much prom has been hyped up for us over the years.

Where it all began:

High School Musical 3: The movie that perfectly sums up all the senior year traditions before you graduate. There is basketball games, prom, graduation, college acceptances, all the events you typically associate with one’s senior year of high school. I actually have not seen this movie in a while but I kinda want to watch it again, now that I am closer to graduating. I think it will ~get me in my feels~

Mean Girls: So much drama relating around prom in this movie. Who should Cady go to the dance with? What will she wear? What will Regina do? Who will win Spring Queen? I know, so many questions that you must just be dying to know the answers to.

I remember watching my older sister, Emily, go to Magnet prom with her  friend Maggie her Senior year. It is kind of crazy that my sister, who went to Wando, will have ended up going to a Magnet prom instead of me. Here is a picture so that we can all live vivaciously through her year. Look at all the pretty dresses. So. Beautiful. Also rip to my purple prom dress sitting in my closet.

Conclusion: If you are still reading this, thanks. You have done more than many adults around us have done when we expressed any feelings of disappointment. You decided to actually hear what we are saying. To recognize that disappointment comes in many forms. Keep in mind, this is an opinion piece. Just my opinion. Thats all:)