As the title suggests, I recently attended my school’s prom! During the months leading up to it, I debated with myself about whether I should go since I often get overwhelmed at large social gatherings, but I ultimately chose to give it a try since I really didn’t want to regret not going. The event ran from about 7:30 to 11:00PM and had a really fancy vibe to it, the dress code was formal, so everyone was in suits / dresses, and the school even chartered special buses to ferry us to and from the venue. Upon arriving, we got plates of food and sat down at one of the white tables lined up all around the sides to eat: the fare was pretty good, with chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes being on offer alongside lemonade and sweet tea (no alcohol, however). I sat down with some friends and enjoyed a meal, but my anxiety started rising once I’d finished and people started getting up to dance. I wanted to get up and dance like everyone else, but I was terrified of embarrassing myself since I hardly know any moves, so I ended up just walking around and chatting with people. This made me worry that I was wasting my prom, which just made me even more nervous.
This continued for about 1.5 hours, until a couple asked if I’d dance with them. I didn’t want to be rude and say no, so I finally gathered the courage to dance to a song. The timing was excellent since a pop song came on right after that had an easy routine, so I didn’t need a partner and could just emulate the people around me. It was honestly pretty fun, and I feel proud of myself for breaking out of my shell somewhat! I wasn’t able to regain that courage for the rest of the night, but I’m still happy that I went. I’ve been wanting to become more outgoing recently, and successfully breaking out of my comfort zone like that is a huge confidence booster for me.