Ever since childhood, long dresses in windows of stores caught my eye. Playing dress up was one of my favorite things to do. I’d put on my ‘princess dress’ and pretend like I was attending a ball just for me. Now ten years later, as a junior in high school, I can finally attend prom and fulfill a childhood dream. Although now I realize this fantasy of the ball is so much more than the dress.

Freshman and sophomore year I would see the prom-posal tweets, watch upperclassmen dress up during prom week, and see the pictures posted on social media the night of the event. But this year will be different since I will be on the other side of the spectrum. I will be getting to experience these events first hand instead of watching from the outside.

Prom nowadays isn’t just about the one night, it has become a week-long holiday that I am now allowed to attend.For prom week, I’m finally allowed to partake the dress up days during the five days leading up to the dance. Like Friday, the day before the dance, everyone wears their group’s prom shirt.. Some might see these days as childish or stressful,but to me, they are enjoyable and exciting.

Also with prom, comes things that might not necessarily be “appropriate” for homecoming. This includes the shirts, a destination dinner, and alternate transportation. Since the homecoming dance takes place at the high school, dinner choices are usually limited to the area close around the high schools’ city. But since prom locations are usually further away, this widens the options for dinner and also allows groups to decide to rent another transportation than just their cars or their parents, like a limo or a bus. All of these new experiences makes prom that more entertaining and makes it a night to remember.

The process of buying a dress is a situation of its own. To start off the series of events is driving to Dallas with friends and locating a store that specializes in prom dresses. The store consists of racks and racks of dresses tightly squeezed into rows and rows that people awkwardly push past each other in order to look through the options: and I love it. Walking through the aisles and having the stress of the hundreds of dresses only a few feet away from me almost make me rethink the idea of attending prom. But you have to push those thoughts aside. Then once you find one, then two, then three dresses you realize your arms might snap any second and it might be time to get into line for a room. After you find the possible dresses, you have to wait in the painfully long line. After that you have to squeeze in and out of dresses in a dressing room with dimensions no bigger than about 2 feet by 2 feet to finally discover a dress that is perfect. And though this may sound miserable, and it might have been, the experience was one that I enjoyed and look forward to next year.

Then comes the day every step has lead up to. Adults have stories they tell about their childhood and if you ask them about their prom night it will most likely ring a bell. The dance, dinner, getting ready, and a night with friends. I haven’t yet experienced this, but as the date comes closer the excitement grows. People may say to not get expectations too high but even if the event doesn’t live up to my full expectations, I know the night itself will be one to be remembered.