by Lauren Langdon

I was sitting in a free with friends when the conversation inevitably turned to the upcoming dances. Soon squeals of “cute” and “oh my gerd, I love it” were exclaimed as girls mention how they were asked or how they asked their date to the dance.

The stories grew more elaborate. Senior Cori Mroz even filled her boyfriend Rockhurst High School senior Andrew Moss’s car with balloons. The stories were cute, but I did not understand all the hoopla. I mean, it is just a dance, right?

My rambling thoughts skid to a stop when I see everyone looking at me. Oh no. Someone asked me a question and I was too sidetracked to notice. I have not blushed this much since the infamous AP American literature class fishbowl of 2012 that I was completely unprepared for.

My friends repeated their question, “Lauren, how did you ask your boyfriend?”

Disappointment washed over their expectant faces as I said that I just asked him – when we were talking at the Rockhurst college fair a few weeks ago. Granted it was not romantic or adorable, but I thought it was fine… until I saw everyone’s reaction. Apparently, I am the weird one.

I have never asked anyone to a dance before, but I always assumed I would ask a future boyfriend outright to go to a dance with me. No fireworks. No display. Just a genuine conversation. So when I started dating my first boyfriend Rockhurst senior Zach Mundy (I know I am a little late to this teenage ritual called dating) at the beginning of September, I followed my convictions.

I was not unwilling to put the effort into a prom-posal, but I felt like asking your significant other to a dance should not be a show – it should be something personal. Surprisingly, I found myself alone in my views, but undeterred I told myself to stay strong, not to give in to society’s pressures.

Weeks passed and I smugly told myself I had averted another frivolous high school ritual; I was wrong. Creeping up on me like a child sneaking Halloween candy in the dead of night, I started genuinely enjoying people’s prom-posal stories. By spending hours planning the perfect way to ask their date to a dance students were showing their date how much they cared. Even my boyfriend agreed that he thought it was “a sweet thing to do.”

Although it pains me to admit it, I am not always right. It was so easy for me to judge other girls for their “displays” and chalk up my convictions as mature, but that is not maturity. Maturity is not judging others for their actions, even when you don’t see the point of them. Sometimes, being fun is reason enough.