"The Longest Moment:" My Review of Senior Prom

By: Steve Pulaski





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Before I knew it, it was time to get on the bus and head to Crystal Gardens at Navy Pier in the metropolitan area of Chicago, where we'd spend five solid hours. Due to one of the twelve beautiful coach buses having a flat tire, we were setback a half-hour - to which I didn't mind much - before arriving at the venue at 7:30pm. There, we were greeted with an endless buffet of food that stretched from casual dining to fine Asian cuisine - an endless bar of kiddie cocktails (to which I had six) to traditional Pepsi (to which I had two), and a plethora of fine desserts. It was too much to take in. But it was already 7:30pm? That's impossible.





The venue housed lengthy trees that lurked over us the entire night, beautiful infrastructure, gorgeous balconies that overlooked the city of Chicago, and were all encompassed by a glass ceiling. After Ben ate (not myself, for I'm trying to maintain that great figure I bear in the above pictures), him and I walked around the venue several times, passing the dance-floor, eying it a bit, before completely circling around several times. Him and I didn't even bat an eye at the dance floor; I was too busy talking up a storm with longtime friends, new friends, teachers, deans, etc. You couldn't shut me up that night; I was too busy embracing the atmosphere and talking to many people I would probably never see again after graduation.





My philosophy when it comes down to spending the last few days with, be it separation by a move, a looming death, or what-have-you is to never shut up. One needs to talk the other person's ear off and just make conversation, just to make the most out of every literal moment with that person as humanly possible. That was the mindset during prom. I had no mentality to get drunk at the after-parties, grind on as many girls as I could, or even be bothered by the vapidness of dancing. I just wanted to talk to as many people as I could. You can't talk when dancing, at least on an intimate level. Walking around the arena and meeting and connecting with people allows you to do so.





The night went on, I continued to talk to people, sit on the balcony and talk openly with Ben with no one around, and connect with almost everyone I wanted to connect with. Then the inevitable came and it was time to head back; it was 11:51pm. Where did the time go? Had five hours flown by like that? On the bus ride home, I found myself answering many questions about my life as a film critic from my classmates, many of which as I never have the time to talk to anymore, as well as talking with my charismatic classmate Dan and his girlfriend Greta, who was an absolute sweetheart, about life in general. I contemplated trying to nap on the bus and listen to music (which is what I did on the ride to the venue being so exhausted from all the pictures and event-hopping in such a short span of time), but I couldn't - that would contradict my whole entire philosophy of prom night. I had to just roll with it and converse, which is what I did. I wound up getting back to school at 12:36am, getting home about 12:56am, showering off, texting several people, and trying to come to terms with the previous events that all seemed to take place in a short amount of time before going to bed at 2:00am sharp.





The next day was absolute purgatory, with me lounging around, not doing much of anything, hardly writing, hardly saying much, and hanging out with my friend Mike in a wonderfully listless manner where we went to the local Goodwill and White Castle. The whole time I couldn't get the biting notion out of my head that the prom night many look forward to had just passed me by like that.





Lastly, I need to elaborate on the title of this blog "The Longest Moment." I refer to it by adhering to what my prophetic Macroeconomics teacher said the Thursday before prom. "Just enjoy the moment," he said to the seniors of the class, "Don't do anything stupid. At my prom, three people died." I took that to heart about enjoying "the moment;" that's what the entire night felt like. You wait your whole entire high school career for your prom night and it's gone in a moment, like the summer break we wait nine months for that races past in what seems to be the three fastest months of the year. Like the week/two-week long vacation from work or school we live for that skips by us ever-so-quickly.





Senior prom was a moment I'd gladly relive; a chance to cherish and appreciate friendships and realize that I met and got to know a barrage of talented individuals, many of which I consider family. The directing of the evening was simply splendid, the cinematography was decadent and awe-inspiring, the acting was on the strong side, and the writing was touching and deeply heartfelt. It may be the best event of the year.

For weeks now, I have heard my senior classmates express some form of dismay that I will not be speaking at our high school graduation on June 6th, 2014. After running on a promising platform and gaining an unbelievably large amount of support on Facebook and Twitter, many were surprised that I rejected a nomination they believed I would've easily won. Such a reason was already elaborated on in a lengthy video update I posted here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_y44OWtVCAI have decided that instead of publishing stray notes on speaking at graduation, I would rather publish something more intimate and personal - and, of course, not adhere to the incredibly ridiculous three minute time frame my speech would've had to meet and not exceed. Below I have written an elaborate "review" on my senior prom, which was May 17th, 2014. In addition, I'll include pictures from the evening, personal reflections, thoughts on friends, and a whole lot more. This is for the senior class of 2014, which is comprised of some of the best people I've ever gotten to know in my life.Prom is an event as American as apple pie, where hundreds of high school seniors - and various underclassmen on some occasions - buy and rent gorgeous attire and proceed to ask their longtime boyfriend/girlfriend or special someone out to a night of extravagance. Many make prom out to be a big deal, going as far as to spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to assure that their night is perfect and that they will make indelible memories.This was a night of extravagance I didn't plan on attending for several reasons. For one, I didn't have a date, and have always found the idea of going to prom without a date to be an idiotic idea. And two, I couldn't gather together a group of friends so that we could sit at one table, which were mandatory to select before attending the event. That all changed when further contemplation, and some online research, reminded me that dancing was only a small part of prom; the fun is also in the social interactions, the glamor, the idea that many of our classmates are together for one night, and it's a celebratory sendoff for the senior class that we'll probably never see again.I had to get on in this after thoroughly thinking these ideas through. I contacted a longtime friend by the name of Ben, who has helped me out through too many things in high school to list, if I could get together with his group for prom. He said it was not an issue, and soon enough, I found myself holding the 436th ticket for my senior prom, on bus number nine, table seventeen. A few days later, I stopped by a local suit rental place and got myself a beautiful, light gray tuxedo with a black vest and a white dress shirt. I was on my way to prom - something I never thought I'd say.I had little expectations up until the night, except for impending nervousness the Friday before and Saturday morning/afternoon of. I convinced myself to have no expectations so I wouldn't be disappointed. At around 3:30pm that afternoon, Ben - looking incredibly handsome in his bright white suit - picked me up and we headed out to our friend Britney's house to take pictures. Following that, we stopped at a local hotel - where more pictures endured. At the hotel, I managed to get a picture with my longtime friend Sanad, along with being able to mix and mingle with my several other dapper classmates. Then came time to check-in at the school - it was all happening quickly, too quickly.Walking in the gym, it was an overwhelming sight; this is when I got to see how many people I actually knew. Right away upon stepping in, three people greeted me. They were my friend Matt and my friends Danny and Andi, who went together and made a lovely couple. I marveled at everyone's tuxedos but more so at the dresses my girl-friends decided to wear. I've always held the belief that when men dress up, we more-or-less look the same, and it comes down to our fine details, like the shininess of our shoes, our watches, our jewelry, our hat or lack thereof, and so forth. With women, their dress often reflects their personality and I adore looking at girls who have been dolled up in a dress that screams a loud color like yellow, green, or red, or is humble and subdued like a turquoise or a nice shade of light green.I ran into my long-suffering friend Kelly, who I said looked like an absolute "princess," my adorable friend CJ, who I enjoy talking to on a personal level, my buddy Jeton, who is probably one of the most brutally honest and toughest guys I know, Melanie and Emily, two beautiful girls with so much going for them it's unreal, my best friend Josh, who has seen me at unrealistic highs and some rough lows throughout high school, my breathtaking friend Rachel, who has endured way too many self-indulgent conversations with me whenever she paid my accounting class a visit, my Blackhawk super-fan buddy Benjamin, my devoted supporter and friend Tom, Tristan, who has given "Steve Pulaski Tries It" several products to sample, my quiet friend named Haley, whom I would constantly talk to in my College Algebra course in order to try and connect with her rather than have us sit in dreary silence together, my dapper friend Nick, who granted me a red boutonniere to go with my peach-colored one, my adoring friend Katie, who stands tall with her wavy blonde hair and unbelievably kind aura, my hilariously raunchy and unabashedly dirty-minded friend Anna, who I adore talking with on intimate subjects such as human sexuality, my pal Robby, who has achieved monstrous success with his independent rock band, my hilarious friend Heather, who was part of my inspiration to go to prom in the first place, twin brothers Brian and Steven, who I've known since first grade, among many other souls I was just grateful to be in the presence of.