Prom season. Filled with anxious searching for the perfect dress, the perfect accessories, but most importantly, the perfect date. Is it any surprise we also expect the perfect promposal?

The very first promposal to be documented happened back in 2001, and ever since high schoolers have jumped on the idea of asking their prospective dates in a funny and creative way.

Lake Forest High School, however, does not really participate in this phenomenon. Promposals have not been a major thing that happens for as long as I have been a student at LFHS, and for the longest time I never questioned why. 

The trend in Lake Forest has been that the freshmen are the only people to ever ask their dates in an extravagant way for any school dance. So when students become upperclassmen, it’s considered weird and cringey.

I, however, think that the fear of promposals is dumb.

Prom season is one of the most exciting times of year for all juniors and seniors, and it’s an event that people have looked forward to ever since they were young. Promposals can be funny, cute, or even subtle. The festivities would do nothing but add fun and anticipation to the weeks leading up to the big night. I think we should all get off our high horse and stop thinking about their “childish” and “cringy” aspects of promposals since that’s a stereotype we have built ourselves.

This year, I have heard of a few more people looking to pop the question in a big way. Most people that are planning to ask their date with a promposal happen to be those in relationships, so they know that their significant other will say yes.

Since LFHS tends to stray away from promposals for every single dance, some seniors decided to switch their perspectives since they won’t get another opportunity to do so. Senior Sam Larson, who refused to reveal his big promposal ask because it has yet to take place, is one of those people.

“I just think it’s a really fun idea, which is something my sophomore year self would laugh at,” Larson said. “It’s my last high school dance, and I think asking Lauren (Larson’s girlfriend) in a big way will commemorate the moment for me.” 

And although the majority of those asking their date with a promposal are seniors, some juniors have warmed up to the idea also. 

Junior Mary Carter’s boyfriend, Charlie Gish, pulled out all the stops to ask her. For the two varsity sailing team members, Gish’s ask made perfect sense. To write prom on the sail of the boat they were sailing on, this ask was both creative and sentimental, all while avoiding the “cringey” aspects of promposals. 

“I loved it because I had never seen anything like it before, I could tell he put a lot of thought into it and I was super surprised he was able to keep it a secret,” Carter said. “He really outdid himself, he planned it really well.”