‘Tis the season for homecoming! With this comes the exciting pressure of planning a group, promoting for the homecoming court, but most importantly, scoring a date. The one way to do that is to have a good proposal.

So what even is a proposal? Why is it such a big deal to ask someone to a “silly high school dance”? Homecoming proposals have been a creative tradition leading up to the dance that the “asker” takes on. Personally, I think what’s grown the appeal of asking with a big sign instead of over a text is the “fairytale,”  that people create in their heads due to social media and popular films. As a senior, I can confirm to a freshman that high school is not and will never be like “High School Musical,” but I can confirm that homecoming season is a close second. It all depends how you plan to handle everything. 

Throughout my years, homecoming proposals have slowly lost their “spark.” Take this for example. My freshman year, I remember walking down the science hallway to find a group of maybe ten guys in two rows, holding flowers that lead to their friend holding a big sign that said, “HOCO??” Now before I get carried away, you don’t have to do that just to score a date. What I’m saying is, don’t let the fear of rejection hold you back from asking.

Continuing on, I have to give props to the person who decides to ask. It takes a lot for someone to go out of their way to make the plan, the poster, and get friends involved. I can understand why the feeling of pressure is very apparent. School work on top of planning everything also can be overwhelming. I get it. What I want to ask the reader is, if you are in this role about to ask someone, or want to. How would you want someone to ask you? Would you want them to just send a text in case they don’t get the answer they want to hear? Or, would you want them to take the time to find out your interests and make the poster designed just for you?

 There’s no harm in going the extra mile with your proposal. Remember that everything in high school is supposed to be fun and lighthearted. At the end of the day you don’t have to have a date, but if you want one, remember that it’s only a high school dance. You only have four years here, so if you want something to happen, make it happen.