Ahh the Mineral Point Junior Prom. One of Mineral Point’s most elite and hyped-up events, similar to the likes of the Fourth of July Parade and the Fall Art Tour. Exactly four years ago, I was a junior celebrating my own prom, and now by brother Gabe just celebrated his. Let’s take a look at how both Gabe and I celebrated our special day. There are plenty of comedic moments when differing the female from the male perspective.

Molly’s Junior Prom:
8:00am—I’m already awake. I can barely sleep. My hair appointment is at 10:00. What should I do with two hours? Try my dress on again? Practice my makeup? Paint my nails? Text my friend Anna to see what she’s doing? This morning is going by too slowly and I just want the festivities to start.

10:00am—Getting my hair done. I want it to be simple, elegant, and not tacky. I love the finished product, and think it will go fantastically with my dress.

11:30am—I’m back home. I’ve already done my makeup for Prom (I obviously couldn’t wait.) Maybe I could put my dress on already? Okay, I’m putting it on. Am I going crazy? It’s only 11:30. Oh well.

12:00pm—I’m already completely dressed for prom and pictures don’t even start until 3:30pm. What should I do for three hours? My hair is done, my nails are painted, and I’ve redone my eyeliner twice already. THERE IS NOTHING ELSE I CAN DO EXCEPT TWIDDLE MY THUMBS.

3:00-6:00pm—We go to Orchard Lawn and take an insane amount of pictures. My face hurts so badly from smiling this much. Justin gave me a really nice corsage. Now apparently we have to go to church. We all promenade into St. Mary’s, which is pretty embarrassing. Father Hinnen is on vacation, and we have a temporary priest, who thinks that it’s homecoming. He starts wishing the football players good luck, and hopes they score many touchdowns. I know that his hilarious slip up is something I’ll never forget about my prom.

6:00pm- 8:30pm —My group of friends and I rented a bus from the Hodan Center and took it to the Mexican restaurant in Platteville. We’re having an absolute blast, and I’m so glad I didn’t worry about renting a limo or going to a super fancy restaurant. I’m around my friends, and that’s what matters to me.

8:45pm- 9:30pm—Oh my gosh. We’re lining up for the Grand March. I hate being in front of people. I’m going to vomit. I just want it to be the dance. Here we go. There are so many people yelling and clapping and shouting. Which way were we supposed to walk down the aisle again? Okay. So many cameras flashing. This is literally the worst. Please let this part be over soon.

The rest of the night: This has been such a fantastic night full of dancing, sweating like crazy, laughing, and spending quality time with friends singing Taylor Swift Karaoke and jumping in bouncy houses. I’m exhausted, but every ounce of energy spent was absolutely worth it.

Molly’s Reflections: I didn’t even make it to the breakfast…I was that exhausted. Looking back on my Junior Prom, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I never took the experience too seriously, and really wanted it to be a night to look back on in fondness. There were quite a few people in my grade who wanted the perfect experience with the 500-dollar dress, but that just wasn’t me. I look back at pictures, and still am happy with my prom dress, pleased that I never over-did it. I was 17. Why should I have had to look like I was 25? It was a fantastic day.

Gabe’s Junior Prom

8:00am—I’m sleeping.

10:00am—I guess I’ll get up and eat some breakfast. I’m nervous about my guitar performance for the prom mass tonight. It’s the first time I’m going to play guitar and sing in front of people.

11:30am—I guess I’ll go play some basketball with people and hang out.

12:00pm— I’ll eat some lunch now; maybe watch some TV.

2:30pm—I’ll text Sarah, “What time should we meet up to go to Orchard Lawn for pictures?”

3:00-6:00pm—I guess I’ll put my tuxedo on now, because dad told me I should start getting ready. My sister took pictures of me in front of the barn, and I take pictures with my family. Then I go over to Orchard lawn and take pictures, which is fun. I’m not nervous, just excited.

At the mass—I’m really enjoying playing guitar and singing at the prom mass. Before I was really nervous, but I really like performing in front of people.

6:00pm-8: 30pm—Sarah and I get in my dad’s car out to Dodge Point Country Club. We have dinner with my whole grade. It’s really fun; there are awesome ice cream sundaes with M&Ms. This is literally the best. Now we’re headed to Rachel McCoy’s house to play Mario kart and stuff, and now we’re taking MORE pictures…so many pictures.

8:45pm-9: 30pm— We’re headed to the school, chilling backstage for 30 minutes before the Grand March. I’m not nervous about the Grand March—just excited.
Everyone else in my grade is freaking out back stage right now. People are like “What if I trip?!” It’s stupid to worry…it’s all good fun. I enjoy walking out and seeing everyone, even though it’s so dark that you actually can’t see anything.

The rest of the night: The dance is really fun, pretty average dance experience actually. I guess I’ll go home to change before Post-prom, which looks SO sweet. There’s so much food—I’ve spent almost 30 minutes eating. Make that an hour eating. Now I’m playing ping-pong, basketball, and beanbags. It’s now 3:30 am, and we’re headed to the junior prom breakfast. I’m not hungry or anything because I seriously ate SO MUCH at post prom. There’s bacon, muffins, pancakes. I obviously still ate it, because you can’t just let bacon sit there and not be eaten. It was nice talking about prom with all my classmates at the breakfast.

Gabe’s Reflections:
I really enjoyed looking good with my whole grade; we all looked so classy. I loved spending time with everyone, and my favorite part was walking out during the Grand March. I was ecstatic about my tuxedo choice because I was the only one in my grade with a white suit and black pants. I like that I decided to be original. I don’t have regrets because…well I didn’t have high expectations about prom. What are you supposed to expect?

Gabe and I had very different feelings before our proms. Mine was anxiety-filled and his was pretty even-keeled. If you ask our parents, this difference in feelings describes our personalities quite accurately. Anxiety aside, neither of us regrets our prom experience, and we are so glad we participated. Even though the prom experience can feel cheesy, forced, and extremely awkward, I think it was one of the highlights of my high school experience, and I’m sure Gabe would agree. I think Kate Winslet said it perfectly: “I like corny. I’m looking for corny in my life.”