Senior gala fulfills promise of high school tradition

Elise Hsu

Senior and ASB President Noah Camerino only carries positive memories of his time at prom in 2019, when he and many other Carlmont students danced the night away at the San Francisco Galleria Design Center.

“You could definitely tell that people wanted to be there. It was more than just your average school dance. There were food and games. You could tell that people put thought into what students would actually be doing,” Camerino said.

Little did anyone know that 2019 would be the last year any Carlmont student would experience a traditional prom for a while.

When it came time for prom in 2020, Camerino was looking forward to attending and celebrating the end of the year. However, the dance would take on a virtual format due to restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once this was announced, Camerino changed his mind.

“I had to rethink what I wanted to get from prom because Zoom prom and in-person prom are different things. Ultimately, I decided that virtual prom wasn’t what I was looking for,” Camerino said.

Camerino wasn’t the only student that had qualms about attending prom that year; senior Turkan Kartal also decided not to go.

“A lot of my friends weren’t going to prom because they were going to wait for their senior year, so I didn’t really see a point in going as a junior,” Kartal, the head facilitator of ASB’s Publicity Committee, said.

Although junior Katelyn Gambarin did not have the opportunity to attend last year’s virtual prom, she understood why its new format turned students away.

“The whole point of having a dance is human interaction and spending time with people, which is a bit difficult to do over Zoom,” Gambarin said.

Kartal shared a similar opinion, noting that physically being at prom enhances the experience.

“It’s nice to have the option of a virtual prom, but I think it’s a different experience when you’re surrounded by an environment where everything looks like prom,” Kartal said.

Even though last year’s prom was anything but normal, a similar event will soon be taking place. According to Camerino, a senior gala will be taking place on May 21; it will be located on the Carlmont campus in the outdoor area of S Hall. Measures will be taken to ensure the event follows health and safety guidelines.

“ASB has been working with different organizations and companies that have put together events that adhere to CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines. Safety guidelines will be followed to the best of our abilities. Otherwise, we would not be putting on this event,” Camerino said.

However, even with the promise that the senior gala will be as safe as possible, Kartal believed that safety risks may accompany its attendees.

“It’s worrying to go to an event when you know that there are people who aren’t taking the same precautions as you. You could stay safe in every way possible, but unless everyone does their part, you’re never going to be completely protected,” Kartal said.

For Gambarin, when asked if she would have attended prom this year had it been an option, she said that she would prefer going to an in-person prom, but it would take more than that to convince her to buy tickets.

“It really depends on safety, where it is, and the experience overall,” Gambarin said.

Meanwhile, Kartal hopes that she can have an experience similar to senior prom; she has been planning it since last year.

“I had planned which friends I was going to drive with, who I was going to hang out with, what I was going to wear, who was going to go with me… Prom is something that I really wanted out of my high school experience and my senior year,” Kartal said.

Camerino anticipates experiencing the senior gala, recognizing that it would not be the same as prom was in 2019. Regardless, he believes that although the traditional prom experience will change, everyone will be able to enjoy it.

“In the eyes of current students and future students, they will be able to experience what they consider a traditional prom. What that might be, I have no idea, but I think that at the end of the day, they will be satisfied with the outcome of their prom,” Camerino said.