It’s that time of year again. But every year it gets bigger. Larger and more extravagant than ever before. All to impress a girl or guy that might not even say yes. Promposals.
This year students from Middletown High School have seen a wide variety of different ways to ask someone to Prom. While one was asked with colorful chalk covering the front stairs of MHS, another was asked during the MHS marching band field trip to Walt Disney World as fireworks were going off at the Magic Kingdom Park.
Mark DeArcangelis, MHS junior, says that asking someone to Prom has definitely gained more momentum in recent years.
In past years, promposals featured plastic wrap and flowers to someone’s car or spelling out prom on plastic cups and sticking them through the school fence.
Many wonder how people can come up with fantastic ideas and not repeat anybody else. “My friends and I spent time going through ideas we had. Eventually we settled on balloons and flowers,” said Alex Stutzman, MHS senior.
DeArcangelis said he looked up ideas on Google to inspire him.
Students say promposals are one of the bigger moments of the year and are a way to be remembered.
“You want to have the promposal that everyone is going to know about and be talking about and you want to outdo other people,” said Kayla Armstrong, MHS junior. “Prom is the big dance of the year and you want to make the way you ask someone special.”
Some students don’t agree with the big preparations others go through. “I think people should care less about how others are going to see you and focus on finding a way to have a good time,” said Karolina Ross, MHS senior.
However, students still seem to enjoy being taken by surprise. “I loved the way he asked me because it was creative and I wasn’t expecting it at all,” said Kelly Klipp, MHS junior.
Others say that being asked in a big way can pressure the person into saying yes, but Klipp says otherwise. “I like how he asked me in front of the school because that’s something that doesn’t happen a lot so it made it more special.”
Prom can be over anticipated by students and that leaves them feeling empty because it didn’t meet their expectations.
“People tend to believe that the bigger a promposal is, the more special they are. In reality, the couple or pairing will most likely end communication either right after Prom or within a few weeks,” said Joseph Haddad, MHS senior.
There is a lot of pressure when asking someone in a large way to Prom. That person never knows how his or her hopeful date will react.
Austin Catania, MHS freshman, was nervous and didn’t know what to do at first.
“[Austin] asked me in Disney World while the fireworks were going off,” said MHS junior Mary Hillsman.
Some wonder how far to go when they ask their friend — especially when they want no romance to be involved.
“I wouldn’t overdue it because you are just friends, but if you get her some flowers and make her a poster or something and keep it simple that would be good,” said Armstrong.
Jacob Stalnaker, MHS junior, was anxious when he asked his friend to Prom. “I was nervous. It all came down to this,” he said.
There is always a possibility of someone saying no and the situation becoming awkward for both friends.
“If she said no, we would hopefully have laughed it off a few months from now,” said Stalnaker.
This year, some students went to Prom with a group of friends and had the same amount of fun as someone with a date.
“Don’t think you need a date because going to Prom with your best friends can be 10 times more fun,” said Hillsman.
Prom still remains to be the same thing it was when it first began; a formal dance party for juniors and seniors in high school. The only difference is that students are taking promposals to a whole new level — and often forget the reality of the situation.
