Formal season comes but once a year. Read below to find out how San Dieguito’s students celebrated, whether or not they attended the main event.

Formal:

“The lights were really cool.” – Freshman Jessica Walsh

“It was the best Formal out of the ones I’ve been to. The DJ didn’t remix everything and so the beats were hella fly. And also I got to dance with my main homie Kelly Heard. Shout-out to Belly.” – Senior Sarah Gallagher

“It was the first time I’ve ever slow danced with a horse. And it was magical.” – Senior Cole Teza

“[The best part was] definitely the location. It was really cool.” – Sophomore Austin Keillor

“I really enjoyed the laser lights and the open space. I thought it was really cool.” – Senior Amairani Palacios

“When we walked in, my friend said, ‘Welcome to the place where I can’t hear anything you say.’” – Freshman Evan Brownell

“The best thing about Formal was sticking my head out of the sunroof on the party bus.  The city lights were really cool and everyone would wave at us.” – Senior Avery Finden

“I loved the dancing! It was really awesome and the music was really good! I had so much fun!”— Freshman Bekah Sullivan

“I like the magician. He had really cool tricks.”— Freshman Riley Glatts

“My favorite memory was when it was raining outside.” – Freshman Andrew Kenney

“My favorite memory from Formal was the ride back on the party bus.  Everyone was dancing and having a great time and it was legendary.” – Senior Jon Viles

“How I looked was my best memory.  Wow did I look good in my tuxedo!   Dang!” – Senior Jack Hagen

“My favorite part about Formal was the dancing.” – Freshman Sophie Henry

“I liked the photo booth, and I liked that there was a separate dance floor from where people were just talking.” – Freshman Sanaea Cowasjee

“I went on a party bus with a bunch of my friends. We were all dancing and it got super hot. Everyone was freaking out trying to call the driver until I tapped on the little divider that separated us from him. I asked him to turn on the air conditioning, and when it came on, all of us sighed in relief.” – Senior Kerri Dobson

“The magician had a lot of really cool tricks that I couldn’t figure out, like making coins appear out of thin air.” – Junior Allison Thompson

“It was fun going out on the pier and looking at all of the lights.” – Sophomore Natali Poalillo

“My favorite part of Formal was how pretty the venue was and seeing everything finally come together after months of hard work in ASB.” – Sophomore Kennedy Anderson

“I really enjoyed being able to walk out on the pier outside and seeing all the lights from the boats and downtown along the water. It was really pretty.” – Sophomore Natali Poalillo

“My favorite Formal moment was being out on the dock because it was really pretty. The water outside was really pretty with the Midway, even though there was a U-Haul out there and stuff.” – Senior Nicole English

“It was all just so great, but I did like when they played ‘Scream and Shout’ and everyone was singing to it.” – Junior Ryan Romero

“The dance-off was really cool. I didn’t know so many of those people were such amazing dancers.” – Senior Sara Rodas

“The cartooning was fun and there was always something to do outside if you didn’t want to dance. The music wasn’t that good, but the music on my party bus was awesome.” – Junior Ashlie Davis

“Slow dancing with my date.” – Sophomore Natalie Cox

“I believe the cookies were the best part of Formal because they were very tasteful!” – Junior Shea Renteria

“The terrible caricature thingy, that the lady drew! It made me look like a drag queen!” – Senior Hope Budman

“The most memorable part was the pier outlook over the water outside of the building.” – Junior Shelby Olivas

“My favorite part of Formal was the limo ride.” – Sophmore Ian Braski

“The way it looked inside. It was so pretty. Trying to do the Gangnam Style dance in high heels. I was really proud that I didn’t fall.” – Senior Taylor Sills

“The amazing dance off. It was freaking awesome.” – Senior Kelly Heard

“Slow dancing to Jason Mraz.” – Senior Alejandra Budar

“I think my favorite part was the beautiful view off the pier. And my date.” – Junior Sarah Kochanek

“My favorite part about Formal was dancing spontaneously amongst the flashy galaxy lights.” – Junior Karen Vela

“My favorite part about Formal was seeing everyone all dressed up and having a good time! I think that is what makes every Formal so great. Everyone who comes has an awesome time and you can see that because everyone is smiling and laughing and joking around. Overall, it’s just a grand experience for everyone.” – Junior Ty Gibson

“Formal was awesome. I liked that it was on a pier so if it became overly stuffy inside, you could step out and see the bay. One memorable moment was the dance off that took place, where one guy was doing flips. Also, if I could give girls some advice; don’t wear high heels, even though you want to. Stick with flats.” – Freshman Sarah Wolfe

“Formal was fun, crazy, and loud; although I would have liked to have seen more variety of cupcakes, more lemonade, and more music of different genres.  Also, I think the photo booths were nice, but the lines for them were long so it would be nice to have more of them in future years. If I could give any girls advice for clothing, I would tell them to wear shorts under their dresses.” – Freshman Molly Shannon

“Formal was really fun. It was good and loud.” – Freshman Sam Blakistone

“My favorite memory of Formal was those two weird horse-headed kids… they made my Formal.” – Senior Max Zikakis

“[My favorite part was] the muffins.” – Junior Andrew Salsbury

“The Formal had a very enjoyable atmosphere to it, and the magician had some pretty mind-blowing tricks up his sleeve.” – Freshman Max Opferkuch

“The ability to go outside for fresh air and look over the water.” – Junior Jacob Gonzalez

“The dancing, but especially when Gordon [Yee] broke out some breakdancing moves.” – Senior Maximilien Bellier-Igasaki

“It was dancing terribly and having the best time.” – Sophomore Emily Templin

“One of the best parts of Formal was probably the various dance battles.” – Senior Stephanie Cigna

“Formal was awesome! The guys in the horse masks were the best! Nice job Maxes.” – Junior Johnny Anderson

“I really liked Formal. Although I didn’t go with a guy I still had fun dancing all night.” – Freshman Karina McSmith

“I went with a group of friends and even though none of us had dates, we still had fun.” – Sophomore Romy Beigel

Lamrof:

“We dressed up in half formal attire and then we went to Ultra Zone and went laser tagging.” – Junior Alana Primes

“I decided to go to Disneyland instead because I thought it would be fun to hang out with friends and it’s something different. It’s a lot less stress than Formal and it was cheaper.” – Junior Hannah Duncan

“The best part was the atmosphere of the dance, but I didn’t necessarily like the venue.” – Senior Kelsey Taylor

“I watched movies and ate junk food and made prank calls with my friends.” – Freshman Lindsey Stidham

“I had a friend who came over, and we watched Doctor Who and played Monopoly.” – Sophomore Samantha Laurent

“Instead of Formal I went to a Chinese New Year festival in Los Angeles.” – Sophomore Olivia Nguyen

“We went paintballing and I got caught in friendly fire.” – Senior Shawn Le

“I went out to dinner with a friend, watched a bunch of movies and baked some cookies instead of going to Formal this year. I kind of missed the social aspect of Formal but I definitely didn’t miss the stress that goes along with it!” – Sophomore Jaycelin Bert

“I didn’t go to Formal. This year I wasn’t really feeling it. I didn’t want to put in the effort, so I watched ‘How I Met Your Mother.’” – Junior Carly Strait

“I went to Six Flags on Sunday and there were no lines because it was the Super Bowl and we stayed in a hotel the night before.” – Senior Kayla McKeldowney

“Hanging out with my best friend Charlotte Dvorak. We went to dinner and we went to the beach.” – Senior Alec Smith.

“‘I didn’t go to Formal. I volunteered at the library, read a lot, and watched ‘Torchwood.’” – Junior Katrina Olsen

“Instead of going to Formal, I went camping at Joshua Tree with my family. We went rock climbing and I’m still a little sore.” – Junior Madeleine Karydes

“I didn’t go to Formal, I stayed home and played StarCraft.” – Junior Raffi Curtis

“Instead of going to Formal, I went to my grandma’s house for her 80th birthday and then I helped my friend get ready for Formal.” – Junior Gaby Catalano

“I stayed at home and didn’t do anything interesting; I wanted to go to Formal though.” – Junior Rachel Terry

“Instead of going to Formal I went to my friend’s house.” – Junior Lizzie Knox

“I didn’t go to Formal. I went to San Francisco and saw San Francisco ballet for my birthday!” – Junior Juliana Forrest

“I didn’t go to Formal. I played a video game, I was on a 2500 kill streak… just kidding. I was watching ‘Lost.’” – Sophomore Lucas Nathan

“My Anti-Formal had no dancing allowed, street clothes only, and not listening to any music from before 1950.” – Freshman Alec Maskiewicz

“I didn’t go to Formal, instead I stayed home with my friends in fancy dresses eating ice cream and watching movies.” – Junior Tasha Kismo

“Some of my close friends and I took it upon ourselves to dress up as felines and dine at the Ruby’s on the Oceanside Pier. I requested my water to come in a bowl, but the waitress said no.” – Senior Benjy Malings

“I was practicing teaching Kung Fu. I have no life outside of Kung Fu.” – Junior Sierra Zounes

“Well, I did calculus. Muahaha take that, fun!” – Senior Devin Murphy

“My favorite moment from Formal was towards the end when I was dancing with all of my friends and we were going all out and just letting loose to end the night on a high note.” – Junior Cassie Chung

“I did not go. I just did homework.” – Junior Coen Christian