I was nervous before I even walked in. They were the same nerves that I had last year, just heightened since now was worried I wouldn't fit in correctly.. am I wearing the right thing? Do my hair and makeup look okay? As I walked through the doors, nostalgia hit and I remembered how wonderful my senior prom was. My boyfriend had been my date to that one as well and it had been the best dance I had ever been to. It was weird to be a stranger to an experience I had already been through, but that was alright because now I was excited for the night to continue.

My initial reaction to going back to prom as a college student, while justifiable, ended up having an insignificant impact on the rest of my night. The only reason I think I had that feeling was because of other's opinions of my relationship and how they wanted me to perceive my own high school experience. There was this idea that it was weird for me to go to prom because it’s a high school event. People implied that I hadn’t moved on from the past or that my stress about it was immature. The reality is this, I had an amazing time and would love to relive the night over again if I could. I have that feeling about both my senior prom and now, my boyfriend’s senior prom. The pictures were gorgeous and the dancing was so much fun.

There really isn’t anything that I would want to go back and change and there definitely is no regret towards going. I got to hang out with a bunch of my old friends at the after party later which, I would say, was more fun than my after party last year. As now learned from experience, watching The Bee Movie as an adult who is barely awake at 1 a.m, is life-altering and yet kind of unsettling as well. That movie was definitely not the cinematic gold I had remembered from when I was younger. Aside from that, everything was so relaxed and easy that I was able to completely enjoy myself without any pressures.

I had been nervous for no reason. I had been nervous because other people's opinions got in my head and scared me. Once I was in the dance and surrounded by my friends, some of them I hadn't seen or talked to in months, I realized that I could still be included there regardless of my age or what other people thought. It's one year, so what? These friends mean just as much to me when I first left for a university as they do now and I was extremely happy to see them all again.

This isn't changing who I was nor did going to prom seem that out of the ordinary for me. Instead of picking out a college formal dress, I was choosing one for prom. I curled my hair the same way and did my makeup as I usually do. I danced like I danced at any other party. It's not like I know some secret college knowledge about parties or really that my college experience has anything to do with how I would be enjoying myself at prom. Me going to prom as a college student, hanging out with my friends who are now preparing to graduate high school is not a huge deal. I was honored to be invited and, just like at my prom, I had an amazing time with my boyfriend once again.