School Dances

It's hard to believe that junior high was nearly 15 years ago for me already. I would say my middle school experience was an okay time for me, certainly nothing glamorous yet not dull. I guess one of the highlights for me during this period of my life was going to school dances. Honestly, I don't even know how I got suckered into going to school dances. I think it became one of those deals that if a friend of mine was going, then I planned on going, too. And that became the norm throughout each middle school year. And you know what? Those school dances ended up being a blast! They were a lot less torture than I thought they'd end up being.

It's actually quite comical how kids behave at these dances, especially in junior high. The boys are basically there to goof off and attempt to show off to the girls. More often than not, they aren't interested in dancing, but rather just to be a wall flower. Meanwhile, the girls stick together in little groups, even dance with each other (mostly just the upbeat songs). Yet, they look out for a boy with whom they can reel in and get a dance in with. Back when I was in junior high, I ended up being the guy that all the girls wanted to dance with. And you want to know something? That made me feel pretty darn good.

I remember the first dance I went to, all of the boys in my class were sitting in the bleachers. We weren't even close to the dance floor. Heck, we weren't even interested in dancing. I mean eventually, we'd probably dance a few times with the girls. But we didn't plan on making it an all-evening affair. I was sitting on the lowest bleacher of our group when a girl from my class grabbed my hand and pulled me to the dance floor. No matter how much I protested, she wasn't letting go until she got her dance in with me. And so we danced to a slow song, my hands around her sides and her doing the same with me. I remember my hands being sweaty because I was nervous - heck this was the closest I got my hands on a girl through much of my grade school career. And especially in junior high, when the hormones are going crazy, this was a pretty big deal. When one slow song ended, so did my turn with that one particular girl. Yet, a new slow song would begin and I would start dancing with a new girl. This went on all night and I ended up becoming the dancing stud, at least in my class. It wasn't long, however, before many of the other boys in my class took my lead and started dancing with the girls, too. I guess they saw how such a minor deal it really was.

That's how school dances were for me throughout middle school - and I don't recall ever missing any (except maybe one or two). Once we entered high school, dances became few and far between. I don't even think one dance was held for the entire high school during my junior and senior year, except for the prom. I went to my junior prom which I considered to be a total disaster, so I basically wrote off even attending my senior prom. During my freshman year, I was "elected" by my class to be involved in the high school formal court. I think my class didn't really take it all that serious and elected me as sort of a joke candidate. I wouldn't have necessarily considered myself to be all that popular during my freshman year. I was probably in the middle of the popularity chart. Looking back at the experience, it was definitely a worthwhile event to attend, yet I am somewhat insulted at my classmates perception of me at the time. Whatever the case, at least I got to spend a wonderful evening with a girl I had a major crush on throughout high school. I even got to dance with her! Now that was pretty cool.

All in all, the whole school dance experience was fun for me. Looking back, I probably wouldn't have done much differently because I at least went to a majority of the dances that were held at my school. It's one thing to look back and regret some of the decisions you made at the time. However in this instance, I think things worked out quite well for me.