At the mention of the word “prom”- up comes a flurry of panicked thoughts, sappy songs, and cheesy movie scenes. The dance itself is seriously romanticized on every facet. What really stands to be asked is: what makes prom so special and why is everyone freaking out about it?

Is it the fancy dress? The hot date? The party? The food? A little bit of all of those, plus some weird psychological thing? Two girls who wanted to know exactly that asked around for answers to these questions. Here’s to cracking the code and delving into the prom mystique. PROMystique. Get it? No? Ok.

The integral question is: what makes prom so special? Mohan Suddabattula, senior, says people think prom is special because they’ve been told that it’s special. Basically, we as high school students are brainwashed to love prom.

Along those same lines, Terrell Baker, senior, says, “Prom is honestly just another dance that’s more expensive than all other dances.” It is a lot more expensive, and why is that? Oh, because it’s prom of course! The name alone adds an instant 50 bucks onto the cost! It’s like the name-brand dance.

Senior Carla Swensen feels differently. She thinks prom is special because it’s an opportunity to celebrate your high school experience. This is the aspect that is focused on in movies, namely Disney PROM. It’s a night to party hard with your friends and rejoice in your fun-filled, carefree lives.

Matt Sorensen, senior, takes another stance, saying prom is an opportunity to have a romantic day with that ‘special someone.’ Senior Josh Medeiros agrees, his thoughts being: “you go… and you dress up in a tux and go with a smokin’ hot babe and have fun.” Of course, that is all anyone can really hope for.

Pyper Thorn, senior, goes with the more traditional approach, saying prom is special because you get a big dress for it, and because it’s the last big dance of the year.

This sparks the real question that is even more real than why prom is special, which is what girl is not looking forward to wearing her princess dress and dancing the night away with Prince Charming??? (Prince Charming is loosely interpreted here).

Everyone undoubtedly has an ideal prom with certain characteristics that would make it great. Finding out what those are is a fun step in discovering the PROMystique. Senior Jake Parks says there’s got to be a good breakfast, “cause you gotta start it out good.” How true is that? After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

CJ Gomez, senior, says his ideal prom would include a progressive dinner at different restaurants. This would be an instance where the astronomically high price of prom Terrell was talking about would come into play. That girl better be worth it CJ!

Josh says ideally he would eat lots of food, there would be ice cream, and the music would be fantastic so he could dance his heart out. Senior Nate Naylor said his ideal prom would include a date that can appreciate his “style of dance”. Really though, we all want to get down and boogie, (a big feat in a poofy Cinderella gown, might all the girls add).

Many schools have prom at the state capital building amidst stately columns and winding staircases, (though not the case in Bingham’s situation – this year’s prom will be held at the Salt Palace in downtown SLC).

Another question stands to be answered: If prom were not taking place at the aforementioned venue, where would you want to have it? Pyper said prom at the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, because it would just be one big party. Nate would like it to be in Atlantis or at the top of the Eiffel Tower, to which Josh also agrees.

Terrell wants it to take place in Hogsmeade, (The Three Broomsticks maybe?), and Carla leans toward having it at Disneyland in Beauty and the Beast’s ballroom. CJ would like the setting to be the Shire, while Mohan is rooting for a rockin’ party aboard the glorified Death Star. The dream destination is pretty much just a reflection of your fandom. Nerds unite!

After hearing feedback from different students, Prom doesn’t seem as complex as the movies and our imaginations make it out to be. Ultimately the mystique surrounding it is caused by extremely high expectations and levels of excitement.

A good rule of thumb is to come with low expectations so you’re always pleasantly surprised. Kind of sadistic, but it works. But when it’s all boiled down, the perfect prom is a great time with a fun date – partying the night away to jam-worthy music and making memories at the last big hurrah of the school year.