“No! Don’t turn it that way!”

That single quote could be heard whispered through the gathering of the junior class on stage on Thursday, March 18 at Ring Ceremony.

Even though we were told specifically not to talk during the ceremony, we did anyway.  However, nervous chattering is to be expected, especially when you have to walk across the stage to Principal Paul Barker in front of all of your friends, family and who knows else in 6 inch platform heels.  But I won’t linger on that.

Everyone made it across the stage in one piece with one or two people tripping or making a “notable” appearance on stage.  As soon as I had received my ring, I realized that I only had one more year here on campus.  I was finally a true upperclassmen.  With this, part of me became sad, while the other part was screaming “SOMEONE TURN MY RING.”

The next day of school consisted of a Mass with my family, a delicious breakfast with my friends, and tons and tons of pictures taken outside in the courtyard.  Yes, no work took place on Friday at school for the juniors .

The next day was the dance and I could not wait.

I woke up nervous, but excited.  In fact, I could not eat anything and felt quite sick to my stomach, so I did what anyone else would do in this situation: make a check list.

Get my hair done with my friends. Check

Rush home before my date arrived at my house with his mother so I can do my makeup and put my dress and incredibly uncomfortable shoes on.  Check

Take pictures with just my date at my house and try not to look stupid.  Check (maybe)

Go to my other friend’s house to take group pictures.  Check.

Arrive at school.  Check.

As I walked into the gym with my date, after he grabbed me a beautiful flower (adorable I know) we chose our seats.  This in itself is a major decision because as soon as you sit down, you basically become labeled, which will decide the remainder of your evening.  This is sort of like the cafeteria scene in “Mean Girls.”  Luckily, I sat with my friends and had a wonderful time.

Let me give you a quick rundown of the whole dance.  We sat down to eat the average cafeteria food, courtesy of Sage Dining.  I sat with my friends, talking until someone decided to make the dangerous “first move” to get up and dance.  Finally, someone gathered the courage to do it and not long after, everyone was on the dance floor getting their groove on.

It was really an amazing night.  The decorations looked great, the music was okay, and the good times were priceless.

Ring Week was absolutely amazing. It was filled with excitement, combined with a little bit of nervousness.  So from the practice for ceremony, where no one knew what they were doing, to the dance, where everyone knew what they were doing, it was perfect.

So here’s something else I can add to my check list: Have a great ring week.  Check.

Hilary Weidner can be reached for comment at [email protected]