I want to tell you a story about a friend of mine who attended a larger public school’s prom this year. Here’s a little taste of her night. She and her date rode in a stretch limo to the site of the grand march. Now the scene is a school gym and the bleachers are full of parents and other spectators. But the sport is not the usual one tonight.

A guy enters from one side of the gym. He’s dressed in a tux and his eyes nervously scan the opposite wall. Then she, his date, enters and he smiles slightly. She’s dressed to the nines in a gorgeous gown that brushes the floor. Her hair is done to perfection and her face glows with the knowledge that tonight she’s beautiful. She knows that she’s the only thing he sees right now. They walk toward each other on a slightly raised platform until they meet. Her hand slips into place in his arm and now they turn and walk forward as a couple. Cameras flash almost as brightly as their smiles. This was the grand march.

Proms tend to be a huge deal for some, but others couldn’t care less. I don’t think either attitude is wrong as long as you’re not swayed by the opinions of your peers. Whether you go or not or whether you wear a traditional prom dress or tux or a funkier one, it doesn’t really matter as long as you do what you want. This year, for example, my dress was only eight bucks. I just wasn’t into spending a lot of money; and so even though it’s not the typical long dress with full skirt, I’m happy with it.

Not all students have the opportunity or the desire to attend their school’s prom, but for those of us at Lighthouse Christian Academy, we all go _ and I love that. Grades 9 through 12 show up for this night of music, intense decorations and dancing.

Our prom is actually today, May 19, and our theme is "Aurora Borealis." Erica Baldanza is our student council president, Caitlin Thurgood the treasurer, Janessa Card the secretary, and I the vice president. We, along with the help of the other students, hope to create an icy wonderland inside our church basement, which also serves as our school.

The entrance will be a cave and as you emerge you’ll be immersed in soft white light with a spray of color representing the famous Northern Lights.

A frozen river will run through one section of the room with a hand-crafted bridge over it.

LCA has a "no dating" policy, or rather a "no evidence of a dating relationship" policy _ which means we don’t have dates at prom. This may seem weird since for most schools, the date part is quite important to the essence of the night.

I like this policy, though, because it takes away the pressure of asking someone or the rejection of not being asked. There’s more freedom, I think, in that.

As a consequence of this policy, no kissing or making out goes on. Not only because it’s not allowed, but because it’s a small group of us and we all know each other very well. It would feel strange to have couples pairing off, so instead we all have a blast dancing it up.

Back to the story of my friend and her grand march; that was only the beginning of the festivities. The actual prom was held at an exquisitely extravagant place. Girls twirled fire batons and people came out balancing trays, offering specialty foods to the guests. Dancers sparkled on the floor beneath scintillating lights. After the prom, the kids went to an after-prom party complete with an inflatable obstacle course.

At our prom we don’t have fire batons and we don’t bring food out on trays (although that’s a fun idea). No one comes in a limo and our after-prom party is midnight bowling while still in our prom attire. It’s a totally different atmosphere.

High school proms can be made into a rather large deal for the average teen. It’s all in how you look at it. For this year, my main excitement about the prom is that I get to have a say in the theme, the music we play and the décor. It’s a lot of pressure but I’m confident that our student council can pull it off. So no matter what you did this year with regard to prom, I hope your decision was your own.

Jessica Baily is a junior at Lighthouse Christian Academy in Oneonta.