Youth Talk

It's the biggest event on any student’s calendar and simply mentioning it invokes strong memories for those of a working age.

Summer Ball, Prom, and Leaver’s Dinner: call it what you may, the annual end-of-year senior student celebrations have always been a hallmark cultural event. I still remember the high levels of anticipation building up to my first ever Summer Ball, back when I was in Year 11.

For almost a month it was all my peers would ever talk about. All conversations revolved around who would be going with who, what the event would be like and what people were wearing.

Looking back it seems slightly silly to have spent so much time and effort discussing this event, what with our final GCSE exams looming in the horizon. I remember feeling quite disappointed when walking out of my first Summer Ball: a sentiment shared by most of my year group.

Quite honestly, it was extremely boring and not worth all the hype. Nevertheless, it is impossible to disregard the massive significance such an event holds for students. It almost acts as a unifying force within a diverse student body.

For almost a month students put their mutual differences aside in order to discuss dress and suit preferences or what their plans before the Ball are. It serves as a great occasion for students to unwind and frankly, given the increased stress school provides, this is necessary.

It is a great feeling to see students who normally wouldn’t talk to each other interact in a friendly manner. And, of course, what’s not to love about dressing fancy? It was only last year that my somewhat dismissive opinion of prom changed.

I had the privilege of helping organise my school’s Summer Ball in my role as Deputy Head Boy. Seeing the final results on the big night was extremely rewarding and definitely compensated for all the hours spent on planning.

Our organising committee had made a conscientious effort to make this year’s event livelier, and I can happily report it was definitely a successful night.  And so it is with a mix of excitement and sentiment that I look forward to attending my final Summer Ball.

I know this might seem a bit premature considering the event is in April but the girls have already set up a Facebook ‘dresses page’. Looks like I’m already behind schedule.