By: Erica Walker
LEESBURG, VA-  Tuscarora students always look forward to dressing up and going out on the weekend to dance the night away, whether it’s at homecoming or at a community dance. So, this year the Class of 2013 put together Tuscarora’s first ever Winter Formal: also known as the “Snow Ball.” Think about this: do students ranging from 14-18 years old want to go to an event sounding like something you throw at people? I didn’t think so. However, I’m not trying to put down the idea of a Winter Formal at all.
Another reason the name of the Winter Formal wasn’t intriguing is that students would rather have a Winter Formal without a certain name for it. The name makes it seem a little less interesting. The tickets for the Snow Ball were sold the week before the dance and the week of the dance, which made it difficult for students to actually remember to pay, and some students didn’t even bother. One recurring question is why students don’t want to go to the dance. The answer is no one is going. I find it funny that there were some students who were willing to go, but those same students changed their mind because their friends either talked them out of it or people spoke so poorly of the dance. 
I’m impressed that people signed up for the dance and went despite what others thought. I’m also impressed that the amount of tickets sold went from about 25 on the 7^th of February to about 60-70 by the end of the week. Why I’m so awed by these facts is because last year the drama department tried to hold a Valentine’s Dance at Tuscarora that might have included good food, photo booths, and much more. However, students rebelled against it because to all the single people at school, Valentine’s Day is a day to watch couples do cute things for each other while envying them from afar. For some people, such as me, Valentine’s Day is just another holiday when I can give my friends some candy or pastries for being a great friend. Students’ lack of interest led to the Valentine’s Dance being canceled. Only 7 people bought tickets, and 3 of the tickets were bought by members of the Husky Headline so that the dance would be covered. So in reality, only 4 people signed up to go to the Valentine’s Day dance.
The reason students didn’t want to go to the Valentine’s Dance was because they wanted to go to a Winter Formal. I find this pretty ironic since we had a Winter Formal this year and only 60-70 people wanted to attend; I really don’t understand why it makes such a big difference if a Winter Formal is called something else. People should’ve just gone and enjoyed themselves. As one of the 60-70 people who attended the dance, I will tell you what the dance consisted of, both good and bad.
The negatives of the dance were the lack of people, as I’ve mentioned. It made the dance awkward because some people could walk up to people and start dancing with them at Homecoming while barely knowing who they were, but everyone at the Winter Formal knew everyone else. Another thing about dancing with other people is that half the people there were with a date, which made it difficult to dance with someone new. I, however, danced with my small group of friends, which was fine by me. The dance took place in the cafeteria rather than the gym because of the amount of people. I found it kind of weird since people might have spilled their drinks on the floor while I was dancing barefoot. Not the best combination. I also noticed at the dance that since there was one huge group of people dancing, the teachers who were chaperoning the dance started to dance, and by dancing I don’t mean grinding. It made the atmosphere a little awkward.
I’ll end with some positive notes about the dance. First off, I’m glad it wasn’t canceled, because that would be a repeat of last year’s Valentine’s Dance disaster. The students at the dance seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the students enjoyed the music played at the dance. Students could request songs for the DJ to play. Lastly, the dance had tasty treats at the tables, such as goldfish, red velvet cupcakes, Oreos, chips, and a wide variety of drinks.
In my opinion, the dance would’ve been much better if more people showed up so students could hang out and dance the night away with their close friends. I also think that the students who did come to the Winter Formal wanted to get dressed up and have an opportunity to go to a dance similar to homecoming. At the end of the night, the Snow Ball ended with a snow like fog outside swirling on the roads to end the Saturday night at Tuscarora.