Every girl dreams and fantasizes about their Senior Prom the entire time they're in high school. They can't wait to wear a fancy dress, get their hair and makeup done, and have a night they'll never forget. For me it wasn't really much different, except I was extremely realistic with my fantasies. Due to my nonexistent love life and extreme lack of male friends, I knew as early as freshman year that I wouldn't have a date to prom, and as much as that thought sucked, I was at peace with it. Soon it was senior year and as expected that prophecy came true. But it turned out that was the only part of my prom fantasy that came true, because I ended up not going to prom. At the time it crushed me as if a ton of bricks randomly fell out of the sky and onto my head, but looking back it wasn't really as big of a deal as I thought.

My story is a sad one, because the reason I didn't go to prom is kind of borderline pathetic even to this day. It wasn't because I couldn't afford it, although that's also true. I didn't go to prom simply because I had no one to go with and going as a party of one would have been more pathetic than not going at all, so I didn't. I always imagined myself dressed up in a princess prom dress with my hair half-up and half-down and professionally done makeup walking into prom with a group of friends, regardless of whether they had dates or not. But when everyone started making their prom groups and no one asked me to join theirs I slowly started giving up hope that my vision would come true. See, I'm the type of person who doesn't like to invite myself places and although I'm sure I did have a bunch of friends that would've let me join their group, I didn't want to intrude, especially with something as expensive and special as prom. So I stayed quiet.

Here's the deal about this whole prom thing though. It really doesn't matter. I was talking to some of my friends a little while after prom about prom and mentioned that I wasn't there and they told me they didn't even know I wasn't there. I'm sure there's still a very large amount of people that still don't know I wasn't there almost a full two years later. And honestly, with a graduating class of over 600 people, that's not such a huge stretch. Looking back on it now, not going to prom really doesn't mean anything. It's such a small detail of a year that was full of so many amazing things when you take a step back to reflect. And honestly, no one else really cares either. Going to prom or not going to prom doesn't define you as a person. Someone who goes to prom is no better than someone who doesn't and it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you if you don't go, whatever the reason is. Because truth be told, no one is going to remember anyway. I was heartbroken at first when I realized I wouldn't be going to prom, but now when I look back on it, it doesn't crush me like it did back then. So many amazing things have happened since then that make prom a speck on my senior year.

So for all those high school seniors out there that aren't going to their prom, cheer up. The future is still endlessly bright for you, your friends still love you, and graduation day will still be the start of greater things. Don't let a dance ruin your spirit. It's not worth it.