When I first started high school, I used to say that I did not care to ever attend a school dance. I didn't care for pep rallies, or sporting events, and I most definitely did not like any stigmas associated with what I referred to as "normal" high school behavior. It was silly to me that friends of mine wanted to spend money to get dressed up and go out together.

And then, during my junior year, I went to Prom.

One of my very best friends needed a date. Due to complications with his previous plans, I stepped in to help. I found a dress, shoes, and earrings in a day, and I couldn't have been happier. It was a whirlwind of activity, and I honestly can't imagine it being any other way. We took pictures, rode in a limo, went to dinner, the dance, and an after party. Quite frankly- it was some of the most fun I've ever had.

To him now- Matthew, thank you for changing my mind, for forcing me to call myself out, and for making me wonder how I ever could have been so wrong.

A few months later, it was time to get ready for Homecoming. As a senior in high school, I had never gotten the chance to go before, whether because of my head strong ideas, or my never having been asked, or (most probably) both. Yet, after having had such an amazing time at Prom, I was in. When it came time to pick out dresses, I had mine already bought a month prior to the dance. What I now consider to have been my dream Homecoming dress, it was a bright red, bandage-style, Sherri Hill.

Now, to secure a date.

One day at lunch, after discussing my misfortune with attempts so far, another of my guy best friends looked at me and he said, "Why don't we just go together?" Now, needless to say, I was dumb struck. My reply?

"Wait. Are you being serious?"

Laughing at me, Christian said, "Well, yeah. Let's go." So, being the ever-minded business woman I am, I made him shake on it. I couldn't have been any luckier than I was when we agreed to go. And so go we did.

And we went in style.

Though it be cheesy, I can say that I had never felt prettier than I did at Homecoming. My dress felt like me, and I felt like I could be me in it. Christian told me later that his mom, only one of the sweetest women out there, said something to this effect: "Babe, you picked the best date. She's got a Kardashian booty in that dress!" And I don't know if I've ever gotten a compliment that made me laugh harder, or made me feel any better about myself. Mrs. Tiffany, thank you for being such a great lady, and for letting me share such an extraordinary time with your son. He's a keeper!

Christian and I also went in a group with some good friends of ours, which made it all the better. At dinner, we all played a game where we laid our phones in the middle of the table. The rules: the next person to touch their phone before dinner was over would pay the check...and I mean the whole 16 person check. Soon, no one was thinking about who was posting what on Instagram, who was sending texts, who was tweeting what. We all genuinely paid attention to each other, and guffawed at each other's antics. The icing on the cake of my dinner came from a spontaneous surprise visit from one of my best friends who walked by our restaurant and happened to see me inside. I smiled so much then that l think my face broke.

In terms of the actual dance, as a member of Student Council, I had been busy for many days earlier putting together all of the decorations. With a circus theme, the dance was not complete without a large tent and several sparkling, bedazzled silhouettes. It was perfect. As I walked in, I was also met with overwhelming hugs by some of my favorite people, my Student Council advisors. By then, my night was complete. Yet it was FAR from over!

Leaving the dance, we headed back to pick up our individual cars before driving out to our after party. Climbing out of our vehicles, we were met with the best sight- candy, upon candy, upon candy! My friend Jasper had been surfing Pinterest ideas for weeks, and had finally come up with some super cute ideas. The funniest part was that Jasper had done it himself; this Southern, masculine, eighteen year old boy had decided on fairy lights and a candy bar all by himself. It couldn't have been better!

A few hours later, very early in the next morning, with incredibly heavy eyelids, we left for a girl friend's house to go to bed. While the night had not been without its own mishaps- our bus driver being 45 minutes late for an example- we went to sleep bursting with our newest, fantastic memories together, something for which I will always be grateful.

This year, my middle baby brother will attend his first Homecoming as a freshmen, and I could not be more excited for him. Whereas I was stubborn and did not take a chance to jump out of my comfort zone, he is taking a straight run for it. Through my first Prom and Homecoming experience, I taught a lesson to myself: You know nothing until you've tried it for yourself. You can talk bad about it, convince yourself you'll hate it, and stand on the sidelines for your entire life. You can make safe bets, not take risks, assume someone else's opinion, and be down right pig-headed about something. But get this, you fellow Kaycees of the world:

It doesn't make you right, no matter how many times you say it.

No matter how many times you tell yourself that you're justified, you just aren't. And that's okay! Sometimes, someone needs to swoop in, turn you upside down on your head, and prove to you that it can be different. Throw your expectations out the window. When I finally decided to, it was a choice that I will thank myself I made every day. Because once I tasted what life COULD be, I stopped making it what it SHOULDN'T be.

(P.S. For those of you wondering, yes, I did go to Prom later that year as well. And yes, it did even top Homecoming!)