Senior Moments: Preparing for prom, including finding the perfect dress, is half the fun

The culminating experience of high school existence, the "and-they-all-lived-happily-ever-after" moment when, afterward, we all ride off happily into the sunset, is coming soon.

No, I'm not talking about graduation. I'm talking about senior prom.

It seems like just yesterday I was a freshman making a pact with one of my best friends to attend all 10 high school dances. Now it's time for the 10th and final one -- the last time to find an amazing dress, the perfect hairdo, and matching shoes and accessories. The last high school dance to have a great night with friends, dancing to sometimes cheesy and slightly cliched music that DJs seem to think never gets old. But really, what dance would be complete without "The Cha-Cha Slide"?

Looking forward to and getting ready for dances is half of the fun and my favorite part of formal dances. I guess I've never grown out of playing dress-up, because looking like a fairy-tale princess for a night is always my favorite part, along with the endless number of pictures with every possible combination of friends. Smiling until the cheek pain comes is never as fun as it is during the expectation-filled predance party.

Compared to the build up, the actual dance is always a bit of a letdown. I guess I dream of some magical transformation happening. I hope for a Hollywood moment, complete with mysterious strangers and jaw-dropping moments of walking down a huge central staircase as everyone stares, open--mouthed. I'm always a little bit disappointed when I get to the dance and realize the people there are the same ones I see every day at school, just in dress-up mode -- and there's never a staircase.

After the dance my friends and I always manage to end up at Walmart, walking through random aisles reading magazines and laughing endlessly as we're tortured by heels that weren't comfortable at the beginning of the night and definitely aren't after six hours of pictures and dancing. Then we have a sleepover at my house and talk about all the details of the dance and whatever else happens to come up. We roast mini marshmallows over the stove's flame to make s'mores, always a great ending to any event.

During this, my senior prom, despite my previous hopes for Hollywood moments, as I arrive in my perfect, much-sought-after dress and make my entrance, whether jaw-dropping or not, I'm glad that I'll know everyone there. I will enjoy spending one last night with the characters that have been part of my fairy tale for the past four years, helping not to write a "happily ever after" but rather, a beautiful opening "once-upon-a-time" scene for this princess' fairy tale.

Senior Mia Pohlman is writing a monthly column chronicling her final year at Perryville High School.