- Spencer Lee ’20 & Lance Chou ’20
For Juniors and Seniors at Sacred Heart, one of the most memorable experiences is always said to be prom. Many students will buy prom dresses/tuxedos months before the event is even scheduled, and there will be countless hours of preparation for the event. This year, this all changes. There will be no prom where students gather and socialize at a physical, tangible place. This year, students get to experience the next best thing: Virtual Prom.
But before you go to Virtual Prom, you have to go through the most nerve wracking part – asking somebody to prom or being asked yourself. How will this be done in an era of social distancing and quarantine? By Zoom of course. We will illustrate how this process will happen. First, the guy must create a Zoom meeting, and copy the Zoom meeting ID. The guy must share this ID to the person he is asking, without giving away what the meeting is about, just for the sake of the surprise. When both of you are on the Zoom call, you press the share screen button, go on the whiteboard setting, and quickly write “Prom?”. If you get a yes, then you are all good to go, but if you get a no, there is no problem. Just end the meeting immediately, and pretend as if nothing happened. It’s a foolproof process that is surely the future of Prom asks. Now you’re ready for the real fun of Virtual Prom.
Virtual Prom, the epitome of social distancing and a product of a global pandemic. Just imagine how good it could be. So what does a virtual prom entail? Everything a normal prom would have, of course. The moshing, the food, the dancing – it will have none of that, but it will have the most essential part, connection. Connecting with others at prom is a highlight in any junior/seniors high school career and with virtual prom, it becomes even more important. Who needs in person connection anyway, we’re talking about Wi-Fi connection. Your connection is going to have to be top-notch to deal with all the students on the Zoom at that time. Worried that you won’t be able to talk to your date? Odds are, they would have left you in the first 10 minutes of prom anyway. So now, you don’t have to feel bad when they ditch you because they’ll be gone from the start. You think that people will just end up leaving and talking to their own friends, that happens anyway. Prom is not a time of making a connection with that special someone, it is about the bond you create with your friends on how awkward it was taking photos.
In all, virtual prom has anything and everything someone would need in a real prom without all the pesky formalities…kind of.
