The unwritten rules surrounding dances at MA are a new obstacle for freshmen

When freshman Grace Diersen woke up that morning in the week before the Sadie Hawkins dance, she knew she was going to ask freshman Justin Evenson to the dance; she just wasn’t sure how. She eventually came up with a clever idea.

“I asked Justin Evenson with a puzzle,” said Diersen. “I tore up a piece of paper and wrote ‘Sadie’s’ on it.”

It was not anything elaborate, but it was an attempt at making it special. She is only one of many girls at Minnehaha who searched for creative ways to ask boys to the Nov. 2 dance.The methods by which people were asked ranged from taping candy to poster board in a cleverly arranged note, to filling lockers with cheese.

To many it seems that there is a sort of unwritten rule that when one asks someone to a dance at Minnehaha, he or she must be elaborate and creative with his or her proposition. For freshmen arriving from Minnehaha’s middle school, this unwritten rule is a new occurrence. In middle school, the dances were school-sanctioned parties with pizza, soda, dancing and basketball playing. Students usually did not ask other students to the parties, and just went to hang out with their friends.

“You don’t want to be the one person that doesn’t do something big, and then the way you ask looks really lame,” said Diersen.

Others agree, but say it isn’t a total necessity. Some see it as a creative outlet for them.

“I personally think that it makes it fun,” said Diersen of the pressure to do something big. “But I can see how it would scare off other people.”

In both cases, a big deal is made about asking someone to a dance. This can also contribute, in some cases, to a person shying away from asking. If they feel they can’t put themselves out there, they will not ask.