As someone who hates social events, the thought of attending a dance never bothered to cross my mind. Whether it was Homecoming, Boat Dance, or whatever the school offered, I always had the thought that spending my Saturdays at home was a much better decision. Forget loud parties and crowds, I’m a person who enjoys my own private quiet little space. But as my senior year is coming to an end, my friend suggested that I should at least go to one dance so I “wouldn’t regret it in 50 years”, which is how I ended up spending $70 for a ticket to prom at the Regency Ballroom.
I met up with my friend Theresa to get ready together on Saturday, April 27 at 6:00. We got into our dresses and did a little bit of our makeup. Considering I am a person who rarely dresses up, I did feel self-conscious and had the slight worry that people would judge. I was really glad I had a top to go with my dress to make it less revealing and more comfortable for my style. Getting ready didn’t take that long and we had some time before prom starts, so we went to Teaspoon to get a boba. The two of us then commuted to the Regency Ballroom via bus and waited for the rest of our friends to arrive. At around 7:30, we checked in and dropped off our coats and bags. Immediately, I was overwhelmed with the loud blaring music coming from the DJ in the venue.
We decided to get crepes first so we lined up at the crepe station, which was inside the ballroom. And even though the line wasn’t particularly long, it took forever. After we all got our crepes, we found some empty seats and dug in. My crepe consisted of Nutella, strawberries, and bananas. It wasn’t necessarily bad but it was really sweet and a bit too mushy to my taste. We also got Shirley Temples, which just tasted like Sprite.
At around 8:45, we finished our food and decided to go to the photo booth for pictures, which was located in another room. I was ecstatic to leave the ballroom because my ears were starting to ring from the loud music. And it was also extremely hard to communicate because the music drowned out all our voices.
When we went to the photo booth, we were met with another long line, but eventually we got our pictures at around 9:30. At this point, I was way too overstimulated with both the loud music and huge crowds to do anything else. So while the rest of my friends went to the front of the stage to dance, Theresa and I sat around, taking a break. Then for the next couple hours, we both walked around together, exploring the venue.
There really wasn’t much to see though. There was the photo booth room, the red carpet in the main lobby, and then the large concert hall where most students were, dancing to the DJ’s music. But it was really fun saying hi to classmates and seeing them dressed up.
After some time, Theresa and I walked to the front of the concert hall to look at the huge group of students jumping up and down and going hysterical over the music. And while I hate dancing, the DJ did a great job and I found myself tapping my foot and humming to the songs a couple times.
Eventually, I left the Regency Ballroom at 11:00, which was the time the dance ended. Theresa’s parents picked us up, which I was really thankful for. I really didn’t want to ride the bus since I would have to switch buses to get home.
Now for the big question: Was it worth it? From the perspective that it was my first school dance, my answer, surprisingly, is yes. I would say it was worth the memories such as seeing people I know glamored up and exploring the venue while music is blaring in the background. It will definitely be fun looking back at all the photos in the future. The fact that I had friends with me made prom less lonely and more enjoyable.
But if I was given the chance to go to another dance, would I go? Absolutely not. I stand by the fact that I hate loud crowded parties. For a quiet, antisocial person like me, going to one school dance is enough for me and I’m glad I went to at least one.
