As teenage girls, we are force-fed the idea that prom is the end-all, be-all of high school. The dress, the hair, the shoes, the makeup, the date, the limo, the corsage… they all must be perfect. And if it’s not perfect, oh, boy, will your night be ruined.

The first, most stressful aspect of prom is the asking. If the guy’s “promposal” is too small and boring, you’re upset. You claim he didn’t “try hard enough”. But if the “promposal” is in front of fifty people and elaborate, you’re angry he made a fool of himself in public. You’re embarrassed. And if you don’t get asked at all, you feel ashamed and unworthy. Going with a group of friends has been made a taboo by the media, and no one wants to end up in that position.

Prom is expensive! If you’re not rolling in dough, it will take a lot from your pocket. A dress will cost anywhere from $300-$700, and that doesn’t even count alterations. Then there’s hair, makeup, spray tans, nails, eyebrows. The list goes on and on. If you’re stuck for money, you might search for every penny under the couch until you have enough for your dress because once again, society claims borrowing a used dress from a friend is not the “prom way”.

I must admit, taking pictures with all your friends before prom is pretty fun. However, if you’re anything like me, my jaw gave out thirty minutes into pictures from smiling so much. Before I even got to prom my feet hurt and I was tired. But “Just keep smiling! Just keep smiling! Prom is the best night of your life!”.

Dancing isn’t everyone’s favorite pastime and it sure isn’t mine. My junior year of high school I was patronized by my date for not getting up to dance once. It just wasn’t what I considered fun. For a girl who doesn’t like to dance, prom doesn’t have much more to offer: subpar catering, cheesy photobooth pictures, and tripping on a long dress all night. It was fun running into my friends as we walked room from room, but nothing of the night was spectacular and mesmerizing like I worked it up to be.

My junior year, I went with my boyfriend at the time, and the night was pretty average. It definitely didn’t meet my expectations. Sparks didn’t fly, I didn’t laugh until I cried, and I didn’t dance the night away. The following year I went with a friend of mine, and the night was the same as the year before. I went into the night with realistic expectations, and they weren’t surpassed. I ended both nights with smudged makeup, messy hair, blisters on my feet, and a pounding headache.

Don’t get me wrong, if I could do it all over again, I would still go to both of my proms, but that is mostly because I suffer from fear of missing out. The pictures are nice to look at and reminisce about, and sometimes I’ll remember a silly thing that happened and laugh, but I wouldn’t say I loved prom, especially compared to some people. It’s OK to dislike prom! Who cares if you get looked at by girls when you say it wasn’t the best night of your life?

In all honesty, if prom is the best night of your life, your life must be pretty boring.