Planning and organizing the entire night is usually the most stressful part of this American tradition. While a special committee is organized to decide on the dance theme, the right decorations and the killer band or do; the individual student has to find the perfect specimen of the opposite sex to take as their date. It is usually unheard of to attend the event alone, so weeks previous to the date, boys and girls alike hunt, scour and flirt to find that perfect date. Some are lucky enough to have a steady

girlfriend or boyfriend, but for the rest it is a frantic few weeks. First you ask around about who is already hitched or who is looking. Once you have your targeted match, you inquire to their closest friends if they are interested. In the case of a green light, it is ritual for an after school confrontation or evening phone call. If both partners are happy, a sigh of relief is breathed and on to bigger and better things, like costume. Finding the right dress or tux is very important for the teenager’s confidence level. The men have a relatively easy ritual of getting a fitting for their tux. The only decision-making is the right color vest to match their dates’ dress. The females on the other hand, as expected, have much harder time of finding the most elegant, most comfortable dress, shoes, earrings, necklace and bracelet to appear as the trophy they are to their date. This adventure often requires trips to multiple malls, the big city, finding the right undergarments, the most stable shoes. Why get so dressed up? Why be so uncomfortable? Why look like a penguin for five hours? Why not go alone? It is this odd ritual of beauty, high society and romance that we try to squeeze into one night of socializing. If you look beautiful and paired up, you will supposedly enjoy the rest of the night. Why it might seem trite and ridiculous to some, prom is the one night when teenagers get to dress and act like adults. Finding their own date, hiring a DJ, wearing your mother’s pearls, is chance for teenagers to be an individual and take care of their business.

It is strange to breakdown such a mockingly significant event such as prom in a scientific and foreign manner. Changing such a traditional su

Some topics in this essay:
, significant event, sexual innocence, entire night, losing virginity, senior prom, coming age, american tradition, floral assortment,