With an “Enchanted Garden” theme, Aragon hosted its prom in the San Francisco Design Center Galleria on April 21, complete with decorations of vines on the stairs of the five-story building, flower-shaped lights and fairies serving cupcakes to students.
For some schools, prom is held on a Saturday, which gives students the entire day to get ready for prom, whether it’s doing make-up, eating dinner, or getting the ride to the event. However, Aragon’s prom was held on a Friday, with students having a minimum day at school in the morning. While some students may not enjoy this type of scheduling, Senior Oscar Carlos does not see a problem with prom being held on a Friday. He says, “I think Friday is actually perfectly fine. We stay up late on Friday night and then we rest late on Saturday, so it gives us the Sunday to still be able to get homework done and schoolwork to refocus.”
Students noticed major improvements in this year’s prom. One improvement was the variety of opportunities for students to take pictures of their prom experience. With three different locations, students could take selfie shots with two different backgrounds or have pictures prepared by a professional photographer. Senior Quinn Holland says, “I like the idea of having a different kind of photo booth where it is still like a photo booth but you have your own way of taking photos because not everybody can afford to or wants to wait in lines to take those pictures to get up there. So I think it was really smart to have three different locations where people can [take pictures].”
Students also enjoyed the DJ, Niki Matteo. Junior Taylin Nguyen says, “[At] the other dances, nobody really knew what we were listening to, and just didn’t know how to dance to the songs, but these songs at prom got people really hyped, so it’s just better music in my opinion.”
Matteo enjoyed playing music for Aragon as well. He says, “When I see you guys coming in the door and I’m setting up and got the first record on and I’m just watching everybody come in, you guys have such energy and excitement about you….I feed off that…. so the more you guys [are] dancing and more you guys have a good time the better I play.”
Like past years, the prom was held at the San Francisco Design Center’s Galleria building. Despite the long commute, many students enjoyed this location because it is spacious and gives the students the opportunity to explore the city. Senior Brandon Leong explains, “I think [the Galleria] is just perfect because it’s big enough that you can sit down and relax and you don’t feel like you’re at a dance, but you can still hear the music and you’re still a part of it. I also love that there are five stories, because each one has something else to do.”
One of the main goals of the Prom Committee was having prom be an inclusive environment to all different types of students, regardless of their interest in dancing. Senior Carolin Jia, a member of the Prom Committee, says: “The first [floor] was obviously catered towards students who actually want to dance, but the second [floor] we had a lot of games and options for other students who would want to sit back and relax.”
The activities available at prom included board games such as “Connect Four” and “Apples to Apples,” as well as giant “Jenga” and “Tic-Tac-Toe” games.
For most students, Aragon’s 2017 purpose did its job. Junior Evan Andriola finishes, “Prom lets you dance, let’s you have fun. You get to let loose and not worry about schoolwork or tests.”
