Heidi Williams

Prom was on April 6, 2024 at the Bob Bullock Museum and lasted from 7-11 p.m. Tickets were $60 per person and promised a DJ, photo booths, games, drinks and light snacks. Students voted on a theme of Casino Royale, but the only on-theme aspects were the poker chips. Prom was okay, but definitely needs to be revamped for next year.

Prom is the thing nearly all highschool students look forward to. The prepping that goes into prom is like no other. Girls shop for the perfect dress that goes along with their nails, hair and makeup while boys plan promposals to ask them out. However, even with all this work and money spent on this special event, prom this year did not live up to the hype.

Prom isn’t just a dance. It’s weeks of preparation and anticipation and then a day of getting ready, taking pictures, going out to eat, attending the dance and the after party. Morning of, my date and I attended a Porsche Car Meet in Austin which not only got me excited for the rest of the day, but even more excited for the dance. After a couple of hours it was time to get ready. I first started off showering and diffusing my hair to get it ready. But, by the time I was ready to start on my makeup, the eyeliner I had practiced and practiced with ran out. Not only did this make me quite frustrated, but also worried about how others would judge my looks without perfect eyeliner.  Thankfully, my mom saved the day with her pencil eyeliner, my mood was still ruined. Things were not looking so good. I finished my makeup and put on my dress and heels and was ready to go take pictures, which I hoped would brighten my day.

Fortunately, my date and I chose a beautiful spot down by Lake Travis to take our prom pictures at, which boosted my mood. By this time I was back to being excited for the rest of the day, and at the end of our photoshoot we left for dinner at The Roaring Fork.

However, I forgot that the traffic in Austin sucks. Thankfully, even though we arrived late to our reservation, they held our table and even gave us a booth. The compliments we received on our looks boosted my energy and the amazing food made me even more excited. After trying a desert that almost made us throw up, we made our way to the Bob Bullock Museum excited to attend our first prom.

The second we entered, we didn’t really know what to think. After turning in our ticket, the first thing we saw was a moving camera that was set up in the entryway. Students were able to stand on a platform and pose while a camera spun around them, capturing a video. It was a cool attraction, but placement of it was really questionable as it took up a ton of space and made it uncomfortable when walking around it to get to the dance floor. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I definitely wasn’t expecting such a little area for dancing. Knowing that the museum is quite big, I was hoping there would be some artifacts students could see, but there were none. The dance floor seemed like any other dance floor, but the best part was playing Cedar Park Swag. For the amount of upperclassmen at Cedar Park, there weren’t a lot of seating areas, but thankfully we weren’t sitting much. After heading to the upstairs portion of the facility, which one could reach either by crowded elevator or neverending stars, we made it to the makeshift “casino” that was set up for the “Casino Royale” prom theme. Now I’ve never been to a casino, but I don’t think only six tables with poker, blackjack and roulette cut it. Also, the roulette was definitely rigged.

With the amount of people upstairs, it got hot quickly. Like way too hot. And the photobooth was not what you think. A gold backdrop with a ring light was not the photobooth I was thinking of and was disappointed by its setup. Even though the picture came in the correct style, it didn’t feel right.

Honestly, that was it at prom. A dance floor, tables, drinks, two picture taking stations, a “casino” and not even a museum. I was pretty disappointed. Hopefully my senior year prom tops this one.

After leaving the dance, my date and I decided to go to Main Event to end the night, instead of going to parties. That decision single handedly made my night. Going to an arcade all dressed up, with Icees in one hand and a disposable camera in the other definitely brightened the vibe. Without a care in the world we made the best memories after a mid dance. 

Overall, prom was an experience in and of itself but the best part was taking my heels off.