There’s something beautifully chaotic about watching a flock of girls in heels attempt to walk across a lawn while parents scream, “One more photo!” from every direction imaginable. That was the scene on May 15 at junior Alina Parekh’s house, where what felt like 97% of the junior class gathered before prom. The backyard was overflowing with dresses, fake eyelashes hanging on for dear life, boys awkwardly fixing their bowties, and enough moms with cameras to rival the paparazzi. Even some seniors made their appearance at junior prom, straying away from the idea of cliques and separate friend groups, to realizing, “Oh wait… we actually all grew up together.” 

In this way, it was kind of perfect. 

High school starts out feeling so divided. Freshman year, everyone is terrified of sitting at the wrong lunch table like it’s a life-altering decision. People spend four years trying so hard to become somebody. Somebody cooler. Prettier. Funnier. More liked. People spend years building these invisible walls around themselves because being a teenager is terrifying and nobody wants to admit it. Then, somehow, by junior year everyone gets tired of pretending. 

Typically when you think of a high school dance, you picture at least a handful of people standing in the corner trying to look too cool to participate. However, at junior prom, during my very important trip from the dance floor to the Shirley Temple table, I looked around and realized everyone was dancing. The entire room was packed in the center, jumping up and down like one giant synchronized blob. For once, nobody looked embarrassed to be having fun. 

Honestly, it made me smile, and I think that’s the part I’ll remember someday– not the dresses or the decorations or who showed up with whom. Just the feeling of looking around and realizing everyone had finally become comfortable enough to just be themselves. The cliques weren’t as cliquey anymore. People stopped caring so much about who they were supposed to be. It felt less like separate friend groups and more like one giant group of kids realizing they have to make the most of the time they have left together.

Of course, nights like this don’t happen all on their own. Junior SGA Officer Ava Miner explained just how much work went into making the night come together. 

“Prom went really, really well. Other class officers and I used the whole year to raise money for Junior Prom through fundraising events such as Duck Donuts and a Powderpuff Cafe. We designed and printed invitations and made masquerade mask centerpieces to decorate the venue. It was overall a success and the attendance and set up at prom was just what we hoped for.” 

And it did feel like a success. Not in the Pinterest-perfect way everyone imagines a room has to be, but in the way where people genuinely had fun. The kind where nobody wanted the night to end even though everyone’s feet hurt and half the boys had given up keeping their ties on correctly by 6:30.

Somewhere between blurry bathroom selfies, hairspray filling the air, and hearing everyone scream the lyrics to songs we’ll probably laugh about in ten years, it hit me that growing up isn’t glamorous at all. It’s just slowly realizing the people and places you see everyday won’t belong to you forever. 

Right now, Morris Knolls still feels small. Familiar, safe. We still know each other’s names when we pass in the hallway. We still gather in crowded backyards before dances. We still have moments where the whole grade somehow feels connected. But eventually, soon enough, these will all become memories. 

And maybe that’s why prom felt so emotional without anyone saying it out loud. Deep down, I think everyone felt it a little, that we’re standing in the middle of something we will miss before it’s even over.

One day we’ll all grow up and scatter across different towns, colleges, jobs, apartments, marriages, lives. We’ll become people our freshman-year selves can’t even imagine yet.

That’s exactly why prom mattered. Not because it was perfect, but because for one night, everyone just let themselves be kids together for a little longer.