Junior Samuel Young created a mini prom for his date who couldn’t attend the real junior prom
Bring prom to the girl.
That’s exactly what junior Samuel Young did at lunch on March 25 during lunch. In the midst of the "Take on your Teacher Week" cook-off in the rally court, the music suddenly stopped, and the sounds of someone being serenaded could be heard. There was a girl sitting on a chair surrounded by a group of boys singing a beautifully arranged number.
"First, one of his friends brought me really far back in school and he pretended he was mad at me so I was in a sad mood, and then they blindfolded me and brought me there and then he started singing to me," Young’s date freshman Kimmy Lin said.
Young and some of his friends from Variations sang their version of "Kiss the Girl" from Little Mermaid to Lin in front of a rally court full of people. An endearing speech followed after in which Young explained what he had set up and asked others to join them in creating a mini junior prom.
"I was really happy because I had this opportunity to show Kimmy that I really care about her and that I can have that junior prom that I really wanted even though she can’t go with me," Young said.
An area in the rally court that had been previously sectioned off with caution tape for the cook-off was turned into a makeshift dance floor. Young had talked to other couples in advance to ensure the dance floor would be full. For those five minutes, Young and Lin had the chance to experience their own magical prom-like moment.
Young came up with the plan during his unscheduled sixth with the help of his friend, senior Kevin Nguyen. Upon finding out that Young and Lin couldn’t go to junior prom, he immediately offered to help.
"I told him, ‘you guys need to go to junior prom and if you can’t, at least do something special because it’s a once in a lifetime thing’, " Nguyen said.
Young’s mini prom also turned into a promo event for junior prom itself. In exchange for the chance to use the school speakers and make it okay for personal use, Nguyen asked Young to use his event as a promotion for prom. At the end of the dance, he thanked everyone and reminded them to go to prom on April 2.
"[I thought] after doing all this for me, I should give back. It was like payment," Young said.
The days of planning, arranging music, gathering people to come to the Rally Court and arranging a speech paid off.
"It was pretty cool because no one has ever thought of it and I felt very special," Lin said.
The event gathered mass attention and was a success not only in creating the perfect prom for Lin and Young, but also in bringing attention to junior prom—a once in a lifetime opportunity.
