Have you heard any screams in the student center lately? Maybe you have seen flowers in the student center or even received a poem in your mailbox? No, don’t worry; this is not Valentine’s Day in April. It must be social club formal season.
The conception of this trend is unknown. The only thing that seems to be clear is the fact that everyone is asking about who you are asking to formal and how.
Sophomore Zeta Rho member Brianna Burcham met her current boyfriend, sophomore Russell Ward, their freshman year, but they did not begin dating until March of this year. Burcham played tennis in high school, and her friendship with Ward naturally formed on the tennis courts.
When Burcham began planning how to ask Ward to her formal, her friend, junior Tracy Mare, suggested she ask Ward on the tennis courts. She spelled out the word “formal” using tennis balls in the fence on the tennis court. Next, she carefully lined 50 tea lights along the base of a fence on the tennis court and used the other 50 to form a heart, and then lit them all.
Ward said he had never been asked to formal before. The night Burcham asked Ward to meet him on the courts, Ward said he initially had no idea what was happening.
“She was acting a little fishy and, at first, I didn’t know what to think,” Ward said.
Ward said he felt special when he realized what Burcham had done for him. Burcham said she wanted to think of an exciting and fun way to ask her boyfriend.
“I really did it because he is a special guy and I wanted to go to special lengths to make sure that he knows how excited I am for the formal,” Burcham said.
While Burcham and Ward’s example was special to their relationship, popping the formal question can be equally sentimental in small and personal gestures.
Junior Chris Meyer has been dating his girlfriend junior Emily Burks for a year, but Meyer said Burks always finds unique ways to ask him to functions and formals. This time around, Burks had a custom Jones Soda designed, which featured a photo of the couple along with a personalized message. Burks then gave the drink to Meyer at a family lunch Spring Sing weekend.
Meyer said he appreciated the gift and the thought that Burks put into asking him to formal, but said he believes what really matters in a friendship or relationship is the everyday consideration people show for each other.
“Do it to be nice to the other person and do it because you care about that person, not because you are trying to get something in return,” Meyer said. “Love doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, but it also doesn’t necessarily keep a record of all the good things you do.”
Maybe your story could be added to this page, as you could be another social club member who has been creative in order to get a date. Bottom line, the process boils down to the care you show for those you love, or even those you are interested in.
