Dear Future Prom Goers, Alright, so get this. I was taking a trip down memory lane the other day with my bro Mukund Premkumar, and then I remembered high school. Then I remembered senior year. Man, those were the glory days. Sure, not ever doing homework, chillin’ 24/7 with the boys, getting those varsity letters, and being on homecoming court was sweet and all, but I’d throw it all away for that one magical night. You know what I’m talking about. Oh man, Prom was so magical. There is literally no other word that could be used to describe it. Memories are flowing through my being like beer from the nozzle of a keg. Dude, beer. It’s almost like taking a trip down memory lane or something. But I digress. From the moment I bought a five dollar corsage from Hy-Vee to that final slow dance with my girl (yeah, you know who you are), I realized that this would be the best night of my life. Believe me, it’s all downhill from Prom. I’m serious. I am in college spending time writing a letter to a high school newspaper. Listen to me. Please. So on that fateful night, I was in the zone. You don’t even know. Me and my buds hit up the most romantic restaurant we had ever experienced. Seriously, there were candles, cloth napkins, and those nice glasses. I even pulled the chair back for my girl. I felt like I could do no wrong and well, I did no wrong. So after dinner, I took my girl in my Ford Taurus (5-star crash test rating), pulled up to Scheman, and danced the night away. Slow dance, fast dance, I did them all as though the ghost of Patrick Swayze had inhabited every cell of my being. Without a doubt, my favorite part of Prom was dancing to the cha-cha slide. It was the culmination of practicing the cha-cha slide in every dance since 7th grade. It was then that I realized that all of my previous dances, along with my then 18 years of existence, were a preparation for this magical night. I danced that cha-cha slide the only way I knew how—from the heart. Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted. Would you capture it or let it slip? Well, not to brag or anything, but I captured it…and never looked back. Well, except for now, I guess and every day since. As the night neared a close, I realized it had to be indicative of the rest of the night-magical. I told the DJ to play my favorite song. Ten minutes later with “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith playing so auspiciously in the background, I grabbed my girl (literally), swayed to the music, and looked straight into her soul. At that moment I knew she’d be a part of me forever. Still livin’ the dream, -Eric “Crankin’ that since 1988” Foley and Mukund “Yeah, I got a beard now.” Premkumar P.S.: I hope to be at Prom this year and every year to come. You’ll see me there.