A Night Of A Thousand Lights

The 2024 Prom Royalty open up the dance floor | Photo Credit: Katja Radovic-Jonsson

On May 24, the Class of 2024 arrived at the Pan Pacific Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom to celebrate this year’s prom, A Night of a Thousand Lights. 

Hours of preparation and stress went into planning the event, Grad Committee Chair Nina Mazzucco (12) shared. “There’s only so much you can do in advance. A lot has to be done last minute,” she said. “There were definitely a lot of aspects [where] curveballs are thrown at you, random issues that you have to deal with [come up] and then something else has to give.”

Despite this, however, the evening ran smoothly. “We knew what we were doing, we were there, the students came to have some fun and I think the evening unfolded really well,” Grad Committee sponsor Ms. B. Panesar (English Department) said.

Prom attendee Ethan Soo (12) reflected on the beginning of the night. “Before the start and before the food, everyone was walking around and talking, [and] it just felt so surreal.” 

Mazzucco felt the same. “My favourite part of the evening was definitely first getting there, chatting with everybody, [and] seeing everybody’s dresses.”

The buffet was a highlight for many, but was deemed somewhat subpar overall. Christy Wu (12) considered it “good, but not a five-star restaurant.” Still, it proved to be her favourite part because of the variety, especially in the desserts. 

Mazzucco and Genisha Yang (12) found the wait for the buffet to be a notable issue. Tables were called to the buffet individually, making for an extensive wait time, and Yang mentioned that after a long day of getting ready, “waiting on an empty stomach was not the best move.”

Those among the last to be called were disappointed by the selection as there was not enough food left, according to Mazzucco. She noted that this was not under the Grad Committee’s prerogative and was up to the venue to address.

Mazzucco said that the grad slideshow stood out to her as a moment to remember. “The best part is to go back into the past and look through all the photos of all the videos and memories,” she said, adding that it was a “really cute, bittersweet, nostalgic moment.”

Grad Committee member Ava Low (12) reflected on the opening of the dance floor by the elected prom royalty. “People seemed really into it, and I think the royals were very very happy they got voted,” she said.

Upon seeing the prom royalty beginning to dance, many grads flocked to the dance floor to show off their moves. To Low, the stamina and energy of the grads was surprising. 

“People were on the dance floor from start to finish [and] most people were always on the dance floor or taking photos, so I think just the fact that people had that much energy for that long was pretty special,” she said. 

Wu reflected on the music, saying that “some songs didn’t match and then the vibe would change and it was hard to adjust.” However, she noted that the DJ allowed grads to request songs, and although the requests did not always blend together well, they displayed the diverse music taste of the attendees.

A Night of a Thousand Lights proved itself an amusing cumulating grad event; despite its challenges, it will certainly be a cherished memory for much of the graduating class. 

The event was so successful, students were hesitant to leave. “In the past, we used to go until 12:00 AM, [but] it was reduced to 11:00 PM. I could tell people didn’t really want to leave at 11:00, but we had to check people out,” said Ms. Panesar. 

Despite the earlier-than-hoped-for checkout, however, she said, “the big thing that stuck in my mind is the amount of fun that all of you young people were having.”