Since the start of freshmen year, every high school student dreams of attending their high school prom. The moment finally arrived for the class of 2013 this Arpil 19. This year, the JW Marriot hotel at Brickell hosted prom for our seniors. With more than 400 tickets sold in the span of four days (March 12-15), countless steps were taken months prior to the very day of the event such as, guys coming up with strategies to ask their date to prom, girls out shopping for dresses, and many other movie clichés.
Senior Joseph Castillo is the perfect example of what “going all out” really signifies. When asking out his prom date, he, not only had friends from chorus serenade her by singing “Just The Way You Are,” by Bruno Mars, but he also had S.W.A and the hype man perform in her classroom. Castillo was then delivered to her in a box during her first period class. “I knew that I wanted her (Belle Canto) to be my prom date because we get along really well so I knew it wasn’t going to be awkward with her, plus, she’s beautiful. It took me about 3-4 days to get permission because I knew I wanted it to be big, she deserved it,” Castillo said.
Although Castillo seems to be at the top of the “going all out charts” charts, he wasn’t the only one coming up with creative ideas to ask their dates to prom. Other examples include: senior Daniel Funnen, who created a large poster and hung it over the second floor of the new building; senior Nick Johnson who had his date tricked into believing there was a soccer meeting but instead was confronted by four other guys who had spelled prom out on their chest while he stood beside them with a bouquet of flowers and a prom ticket; senior Raul Flores asking his date out using the school’s event board in front of the library.
By approximately 8:00 pm, the cars in the hotel valet lot were bumper to bumper and the line for the entrance to the banquet hall was getting larger by the second with no signs of slowing. The music began playing while people made their way into the banquet hall. The banquet hall was decorated with flowers, lanterns, gold and green tablecloths and the numerous buffet tables were offered. There was a variety of food available and Misha’s mini cupcakes for dessert. “Prom went according to plan, thankfully. The true goal was to make sure that prom night was one to remember. A night that would live forever in the thoughts of the class of 2013,” said Gabriela Gonzalez, senior class president.
Towards the latter part of the night, Mr.Costa stopped the music to announce this year’s voted prom king and queen: Roberto Alfonso and Yanelys Duarte. “Winning prom queen left me with an amazing feeling for the rest of the night. The moment they called my name I just thought about not tripping and falling while walking up to receive my tiara and flowers. It was a wonderful experience that I will always be able to look back on and definitely tell my children about,” said Duarte.
Once midnight struck, the once highly anticipated event came to a close. Friends began gathering their belongings to go to their next party or saying their goodbyes. The end of prom night symbolized that the end of the class of 2013 was near. A rite of passage.
“Prom made me realize that we are one step away from graduation. It was definitely a memorable night. Everyone has always said that it is one of the highlights of senior year, but I didn’t really believe them till I experienced it,” senior Olga Herrera said in the closing moment of prom.
