Arguably, the most important night in high school—prom—is right around the corner for half of North Atlanta’s students. As a kid, prom felt centuries away, like something that only happened in the movies. However, on Friday, April 24th, this dream becomes a reality for juniors. On the other hand, seniors will experience their final high school dance. For the past few months, NAHS students have rushed to secure dates for the magical night. An upward trend in the past few years has been “promposals,” where a boy or girl will creatively ask someone to prom, typically with a poster and small gift. 

Typically, promposals are public events, in which the person being asked is surprised and applauded by the people around them. At North Atlanta, promposals can cause quite the scene, and sometimes even fill up an entire floor. When the person being asked says yes, students erupt in cheers to celebrate the new couple. This year, junior Donovan Toles organized an interactive promposal, where students lined up, forming an aisle with roses to hand to the girl as she walked through. Music was playing, while Toles stood at the end of the tunnel of students. “It really meant a lot to see my friends and people I didn’t even know helping me have a perfect promposal,” said Toles. 

Commonly, if a boy is planning on promposing to a girl, they will center the promposal around something special to them, or something that the girl loves. For instance, a boy may pair a poster with the girl’s favorite snack. Junior Will Balch gifted his girlfriend a Baja Blast from Taco Bell, her favorite drink, with a poster saying, “My Heart Will Baja Blast if You Go To Prom With Me.” Senior Grant Benner asked junior Francie Herring if she would “kick it with him at prom” because they both play soccer. Other students opt for flashier promposals. For instance, junior Kenzie Hart’s boyfriend rented a U-Haul and had his friends hide in the back. He pretended to take her on a walk, and when they came up on a parked U-Haul, the back opened, and his friends were there standing with a sign that read, “Will U-Haul Me to Prom?” “I thought it was a random truck and almost walked by it, until I realized I recognized the people in the truck,” said Hart. 

While promposals are exciting, they also come with a lot of pressure for both the askers and those being asked. People planning promposals have to spend time making a nice poster or buying a gift, but they also have to worry about the public aspect of promposals. What if they say no? On the other hand, some people worry about not getting asked at all. However, that shouldn’t be anyone’s concern, as they will be surrounded by many other amazing people. “Honestly, my favorite part about prom last year was dancing with my friends the entire night,” said senior Blair Carter. 

This year’s prom theme is “Written in the Stars,” and hopefully it will be the night of your dreams, whether you have a date or not. Prom is a night to make memories that will last a lifetime, so party like a true Dub!