An Interview with the Prom Chair for 2018- Vanshikaa Jain
Was there an election process for the prom committee and what was it like?
I would say there wasn't a voting system but just that everyone that was interested could sign up on a google doc form, the faculty thought that the opportunity of becoming a part of the prom committee should be for everyone, not just the student council. That is why this year in the committee we also had new participants like Vatsal and Anhad, and they were a delight to work with! I realized I had a skill for creative event management and went the extra mile when I pitched my ideas to the teachers in-charge, after a discussion with Dr Advani, they announced I was the prom chair! I was ecstatic!
How did you guys start planning? What were the creative blocks and clashes/obstacles in your way?
In the early stages, first and foremost we had to narrow done a theme so we set up an online voting poll for grade 12 where they had 10 options such as paris, florals, masquerade, met gala and there was a lot of brainstorming done from our side against each probable theme. I was in contact with last year’s prom committee and the organization that helped them out. Though we had a strict budget and the spring break also happened where everything stopped, the team lost touch and we had to make our budget and deadline so we decided to not handover the prom to an event manager and the committee itself worked as the role of the event manager. So I went to suitable caters, deejays, decor places to get suitable seating and the ambience, etc. We were running up close to our budget so we had to look for sponsors and we also had fundraisers in school, but the fundraisers were an innovative technique the team and I came up with in order to raise funds.
In retrospect, would you like to change anything about the prom itself or the run up to it?
If I had to go back in time, I wouldn't change anything. There were too many struggles and challenges but it was a wonderful learning experience where I handled accounting and finance which I haven't done before. I also learned how to be a professional where I was showing organizations our venue and our ideas, Mr Atul and Mr Henderson helped me a lot. We also had two different photoshoot areas this year which added that beautiful, simplistic touch. This year in order to save funds and paper an E invite and a card was created which Gaurja helped me with even though she wasn't in the team. Naman was a big part of the decor team where we had many meetings and many makeshift sketches of how our cafeteria would be dolled up and it all turned to fruition. It was also the first time we had live music at prom with our own school band, many new elements were introduced this year! The student council took on the role of entertaining the students with our hilarious emcees.
When it was prom day, what do you remember feeling?
I felt all sorts of feelings, I was very happy but also frantic and stressed because this was the moment. I was trying to anticipate the reactions of the students to the decor and prom in general because that's what matters at the end of the day, whether or not the people have a good time. I know the team put in their best and so did the teachers and members of staff that empowered us to take on this venture. I remember that when I finally entered, it looked absolutely stunning and what I visualised I could see right in front of me, black, golden, champagne, it was all prom!
