Of all the school dances held at middle schools and high schools, Senior Prom is the most important and highly awaited of them all. Girls get their hair appointments, nail appointments and pretty much anything that ends with appointments, while boys get their haircuts and fitted suits and ties. 

 Prom is a time to have fun one last time with your class before everyone heads off to the real world of adulthood. Unfortunately, that glamorous night has been taken away from the seniors this year.

 Not only did COVID take away the last year of high school for these seniors, but also those events they have waited for since the beginning of their school lives.

 According to ABC News 11, “Current pandemic guidance prevents planning for 2021 graduation ceremonies at the typical large venues like Raleigh Convention Center,” the district said.”

 In response to these limitations, some Sanderson seniors took matters into their own hands and threw their own prom events. Groups of varying size threw these parties to celebrate their hard work over the last 4 years of high school, and help relieve some of  the stress of this past year.

Sanderson Senior Cindy Gonzolaz gave her thoughts on the small parties that are being thrown, “I wasn’t able to attend the parties, but I’ve seen all over my social media that my class was able to enjoy their time together.”       

 Not everyone was able to attend a celebration, but their fellow peers kept high spirits and positive thoughts for everyone.

 Obviously these small get togethers/parties aren’t the same as having your whole class together celebrating as one, but it was something special to those who attended.

 Many events, activities and celebrations have been taken away from the class of 2021. They were not able to live out their last year of high school as they expected, but they were able to make light of the situation and come up with an alternative idea.

 No young adult about to graduate high school should be stripped of their long awaited prom. Especially when so many other events have been cancelled one after the other.

 This may seem odd to the future senior classes but when you look back on the chaotic year it has been, it will make sense.

 Sanderson Sophomore Madison Fenell states, “I feel bad for all the seniors that got stripped from these special events this year. I hope everything is back to normal by the time my senior year rolls around.” 

 In conclusion, COVID has put many restrictions on high school students, especially seniors, but we can come together and fight through these tough times in order to turn things back to normal. In the end, high school students can find ways to have these events we’ve looked forward  to our whole lives, such as prom, graduation, and simply being able to sit in class with our peers.