A Night to Remember…if you can get in: Seniors get waitlisted for prom tickets
Prom, prom, and more prom. What else would students be talking about during this time of the school year? This year’s prom dance will take place May 6 from 7 to 11 p.m. at The Vineyards in Simi Valley, CA. The venue will house up to 750 students, open to juniors and seniors accompanied by their invited prom dates of any age under 21.
The junior class has been working for months to plan the event, and began advertising ticket sales at the start of March. As the deadline to purchase tickets drew closer, tickets sold out quickly. Daily announcements were made to remind students, specifically upperclassmen, that there were limited tickets available.
On April 21, all tickets were sold out. For those who bought their tickets early, this was not a concern; however, to many seniors’ dismay, they were unable to get tickets and were placed on a waitlist. Since then, many seniors have voiced their frustration towards the underclassmen attending prom.
“I don’t think it’s okay that freshmen and sophomores are going to prom, especially with such a small venue,” Fatima Salah, senior, said. “The school should have gotten a bigger venue to begin with, given seniors a 2-week period to buy tickets, or made it a senior-prom only.”
Along with the seniors, many underclassmen also acknowledge that the attendance of freshmen and sophomores at prom is arguably unfair.
“I’m going to prom, and I think (sophomores going to prom) is fine. But it does make it less special for the seniors,” Chris Bourdeau, sophomore, said.
Amongst their frustration, some seniors have argued that the invited freshmen and sophomores should return their tickets to make room for the upperclassmen.
“It would be the respectful thing to do, but I don’t think they would,” Salah said.
However, not all seniors are on board with this idea.
“It’s unfair. If they were a sophomore, and a senior told them to return their ticket because they didn’t get one, that’d be unfair to them and the seniors [are] being selfish,” Jack Walsh, senior said. “If you are on the waitlist, you bought a ticket the last day or you tried to get it after, that’s on you. You can’t really complain about that.”
The junior class has also stood by their management and advertising decisions, not backing down to the backlash they’ve received from upperclassmen on social media. Luis Tun, Junior Class Treasurer, defended their decision.
“We know it happens, that seniors get senioritis during senior year. But, it’s not our fault and our intentions that we didn’t want seniors to go,” Tun said. “We’re not going to refund someone’s ticket because they bought it ahead of time.”
In agreement with her fellow board member, Aliya Sciamanna, Junior Class Secretary, advises her classmates to stay on top of their deadlines to avoid these conflicts.
“Bottom line, my motto is always if you want something plan ahead for it.”
