I exited the gigantic party bus my prom group had rented and hoped the good times would continue inside the Creighton ballroom. The upbeat music with a prominent bass line from the bus was still in my head, and I was ready to dance as we ascended in the elevator.
Ding. Fourth floor. All of the bodies squeezed into the elevator hurried out, quickly showed their student IDs to enter the dance, and excitedly socialized with other friends as girls put their heels in bags to avoid any falls while busting a move.
Finally our group was ready to take over the dance floor but as we entered the ballroom my ears were met by Katy Perry’s “Firework,” a song released in 2010. We all shrugged our shoulders and tried to make the best out of this outdated song.
After the following tracks continually reminded me of middle school and Kidz Bop, I decided to take action and request a song. Many other students had the same idea. While I was waiting in line I realized this year’s venue was more impressive than last year’s. It wasn’t too big, like the Century Link Center’s ballroom last prom. The DJ was set up right in front of a huge window that showed the city’s skyline, and the carpeted floors were way more comforting than last year’s tile or wooden floors that became sticky and gross from reckless dancers repeatedly spilling their drinks.
With a sigh, I returned to my group of friends. The mood was awkward because the lights were basically all the way on. Sure, that eliminated some grinding but no one else wanted to dance either. The worst part was when they turned the lights all the way off and everyone cheered with joy ready to finally start the night, only for the lights to be turned back on a few seconds later. This happened again; another cheer, fist pumps starting high in the air, only for the lights to be left dimmed for the rest of the night. I felt like we were being teased. It didn’t help that the DJ did more talking than anything.
Water dispensers were left outside of the ballroom for students, but with no surrounding trash cans, plastic cups began to litter the floor, leaving a mess and confusion of clean and dirty cups. After the water ran out and the dispensers became empty, there was a failure to refill the dispensers causing a long line in front of a water fountain right outside of the bathrooms. Classy.
When it was time for coronation students dived onto the dance floor with ropes in attempt to create a makeshift walkway for the candidates. Shoving, a lack of cooperation to get the crowd to move, and ultimately no view of the nominees unless you were holding the rope made me want to leave immediately.
After crowning seniors Jeremy Morton and Holly Clauson as prom king and queen, my friends and I decided to leave in hopes that after-prom would provide a more entertaining and less hectic environment. Overall, my hopes for prom to be overwhelming fun were outshined by the bad lighting, a venue that was too nice to become so cluttered and the horribly juvenile pop songs.
To download pictures of prom, visit http://thethunderbeat.smugmug.com/School/Prom/28617269_qXbGFn
Bri Thomas
West Wind News Editor
