High School West hosted one heck of a Spirit Week party on Friday night. I attended the homecoming dance with a group of my friends and made plenty of interesting observations throughout the night.

To start, would it be possible for me to make “reverse déja-vu” a term? Because I’m certain that I’m experiencing it.

In sixth grade, I got myself all dolled up for my first school dance, and practically everybody showed up in his or her gym clothes. So for my first dance of my high school career I decide not to try so hard, and everybody looks like he or she just came off the runway. I can never get it right as a freshman, can I?

But hey, it’s a party, not a fashion show. Who’s judging?

The cafeteria looked just as nice as its guests. Colorful lights flashed on the ceiling above the dance floor, impressive without being overwhelming. Tables were draped with purple cloths, and black, white, and violet balloons hung in bunches at their centers. The silver streamers around the snack stand and the DJ’s table were also a nice touch.

Speaking of whom, judging by the great time I saw everybody having, the DJ at the event put on an excellent show. He mixed the music and put his own flair on the set really well. To get us pumped for the rest of the night, he played “Uptown Funk” and muted the track at specific times so that the crowd could fill in the lyrics. The man had most everybody dancing, not just the party animals! (Hint: the author of this blurb is not a party animal.)

The DJ also made a point of playing today’s hot hits as well as some older favorites. For example, I heard “Gangnam Style,” “Party Rock Anthem,” and “DJ Got Us Falling in Love” all for the first time in ages! Gosh, the music business is painfully fleeting these days…

On another note, the photo booth set up at the back of the cafeteria attracted scores of constant traffic. I was surprised to find that eighty percent of the time there was a decent line outside the booth! It took some time, but my friends and I eventually got in and made ourselves a pretty cool picture strip.

At 9:30, the music was paused and the lights came on, setting the stage for Dr. Morton to announce the homecoming court. I’m sure he read off 10 names for this honor, but only six of them were present to accept their sashes. Seriously, I counted! I find it so ironic (and admittedly hilarious) that all these people who couldn’t care enough to come out to the dance won seats on the court. Or maybe they just didn’t think they’d win…

Ah, who knows? The important thing is that the dance was a great success. Plenty of food and fun with friends–who could ask for more? I’m definitely looking forward to attending this event next year!