By Lucy Kaminsky

Volume 67, Issue II

A lot of the senior girls at Briarcliff High School have recently come down with serious cases of prom anxiety. It may seem extreme to teachers, friends, and parents; it’s been a topic of conversation since spirit week and has only worsened as the year has gone on. We are worried about dresses, heels, makeup, and most importantly, dates. Who you bring to prom is a big deal. Most likely, a photo from your prom will become your pro le picture and you’ll be tagged in at least seven instagrams from peers and underclassmen, so it makes a big impression on those who will friend you from the Whatever College You Commit

To Class of 2021 Facebook page. And if they don’t think your date is cute enough or your dress nice enough, what does that say about you?

Real talk: if they judge you on what you wore to prom, you don’t want to be friends with them anyway. Here’s the solution: stop caring. Go with your friends. Go alone. Don’t go at all. Move to Switzerland, where they probably don’t have prom. In essence, do whatever feels good for you, even if it’s not what you (or your friends, or your parents, or your siblings) imagined for you. Untag yourself any photos that make you feel less than amazing and keep the photo of yourself from Memorial Day WeekendasyourprolecomeJune. No one cares, and no one is judging you but yourself (and OK, maybe a few insensitive classmates. But who cares, anyway? It’s so close to graduation.)

Prom stress normally falls on girls, because they care more, and it just seems harder for them to get a date. It’s normal, but admittedly less cool than it is for boys, for a girl to bring someone younger as a date. It’s also less cool to go with a friend who is a girl, which when you think about it, is very heteronormative, but that’s a talk for another day.

The reason for the promxiety (as I’ve dubbed it) is that it is your last chance to really go out with a bang. If you go alone, or with someone you don’t think is good enough for you, you feel like you didn’t live up to the potential of your whole high school social experience. Most people fall into two categories: you didn’t live up to it at all, or you lived up to it way too much. If you’re one of the lucky few that didn’t over do it or feel like you did nothing, mazel tov. If you fell into the two major categories, it is all OK. You are going to have another four years and you can let that define who you are as a person. Or not. You are a whole person, not someone who will be de ned by a singular evening, one you will not care about when you have a job, a college degree, or children, so don’t let it define you, and figure out prom plans solely based on what will make you happiest.