One of a high schooler’s biggest stresses is prom. Prom season is always flourishing with different emotions, drama, happiness, and excitement. Every year at Ipswich High School, they have the traditional junior and senior proms. Junior prom is held at the Hellenic Center, and senior prom is at the Crane Estate. Each event is carefully planned, and a lot of work is put into it. The difference between each prom is the amount of stress and effort put in, especially if it’s your first prom. The most pressure is felt by newbies to the prom experience, but the majority of people would agree on being overly stressed out. 

From personal experience, senior prom is less stressful to prepare for than junior prom. It is a matter of knowing what you need to do, getting it done, and knowing how to space things out. By the time prom season comes around for the senior class, they have already gotten “senioritis”, as some call it, and they are just more excited for prom instead of stressing out about it. In case you were wondering, senioritis is a term most people use to describe the excitement for prom, senior week, graduation, and summer vacation.

Most of the stress for senior prom is booking your appointments, having enough time for everything, and especially finding the perfect dress. We asked one of the seniors, Olivia, what she felt was the most stressful thing about prom. Her opinion was “finding the dress and rushing after school to your hair appointment.” That was when Olivia had her junior prom. Now she knows  from her experience how to make preparing her senior prom less stressful. “Just time everything out so you’re not rushing everything.” From a male’s point of view, Tommy said, “It wasn’t stressful because there really is no reason to stress over it.” His plan for senior prom is, “You shouldn’t be worrying about prom because it’s supposed to be fun. You should just be excited for it and not stress about it.” Unfortunately, some people worry about spending so much money and regret spending it after, especially for an event that will only last a few hours in one night.

Mrs. McShane is one of the teachers who organizes the senior prom. It is a standard format each year. Her duties are to first book the venue, which is traditionally Castle Hill and confirm the date. Then, the planners have to choose a caterer and decide on the menu for the dinner. Mrs. McShane wants to “make sure it is a reasonable and a fair price, not too high so that people won’t be left out”. Next, they need to book a DJ for the music and make arrangements for a photo-booth. Also, they have to plan for decorations at the Castle, as well as order buses to transport students from Ipswich High School to the Castle. Another important tradition is organizing the promenade where the parents view the procession of students attired in their gowns and tuxedos. Mrs. McShane is diligent with her planning for the prom and makes sure nothing is forgotten.

Overall, prom is still the biggest and most stressful event of all high school activities. It is the highlight of senior year, and most people look forward to attending the prom. Despite the high cost and stress associated with this culminating night, most seniors would agree that it is the most unforgettable celebration of their high school years.