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A PROMising Night
Justine Bautista Staff Writer
On May 7 , OCSA held its annual prom , the senior ’ s last dance , at the Harborside Ballroom in Newport Beach . Amenities included high-class food items complete with a chocolate fountain , a full service mocktail bar , and planned yacht rides .
Senior Ila Corcoran ( ID ) said , “ The chocolate fountain was my favorite .”
Not all students were too thrilled about what the yacht ride had to offer though . Senior Reid Lemp ( CAH ) said , “ My least favorite part was probably the yacht and how disorganized it was .”
While the concept was great , the execution seemed to create a problem due to conflict between OCSA and the venue .
Unforeseen circumstances included the fisherman ’ s boat which shared the dock with the prom yacht , causing a large delay for students who wanted to get on . Junior Madi Bartlett ( ACT ) said , “ The line was so long for the yacht . The system became disorganized and discombobulated .”
Despite the yacht problem , many enjoyed the venue and all it had to offer .
Said Bartlett , “ The DJ was a lot of fun and was fresh with the music . They kept it continuously playing . I loved the venue because there were a bunch of windows so you could see the water , the boats , and the lights .”
The night culminated as seniors Tamar Rubin ( ACT ) and Claire Somers ( PD ) were named prom queens .
Rubin said , “ I really couldn ’ t believe it . Honestly , up until that , I didn ’ t really care if I won . It didn ’ t matter . It was a very happy , happy moment . It was just really
News June 2016
cool to see my friends clapping . It was such a nice moment .”
As the last dance event for the seniors , the evening pulled at their heart strings .
The seniors could be seen sprawled throughout the dance floor , laughing and embracing all night .
Lemp said , “ It was a really sentimental thing to see all of my friends dance with each other for the last time . The whole experience was unforgettable . I think I ’ ll remember that for the rest of my life .”
Mr . Dion , coordinator for prom , said , “ Overall , Prom 2016 was great . I like the space , the venue provided , and the view over the water . I also think OCSA students were very well behaved and had a good time .”
Even with the slight hiccups , prom was a memorable experience for all who were involved .
Confessions of a Teenage Prom Queen Reject
Bridgette Blankenhorn Staff Writer
Since I was in kindergarten , one dream has always remained with me : to be named prom queen , to sport the sash or crown and cement myself as the most powerful girl in school . Yet , at this year ’ s prom , that dream almost came true . Almost .
I started my prom queen campaign early , as soon as second semester began . I convinced my running mate , Claire Somers , to use the hashtag -- # bridgetteandclairepromdictatortots2k16 ( a little long , but whatever ) -- at the end of her daily Someries ( see page 4 ) to spread the word . Never in our wildest dreams did we think we were actually going to be nominated , but when ballots came out in April , the possibility of becoming prom queen became frighteningly real .
My fate was sealed when Claire and I received our little slips of paper in Block 2 , which revealed we had gotten places on prom court , along with Timmy Hughes , Jeffrey Nguyen , Tamar Rubin , and Michael Wells .
Maybe we would be # promdictatortots after all .
When the night arrived , I was looking fine as all heck , dancing and freaking out about court . I ’ m not even going to lie : I was terrified . When the clock strikes nine , how could I handle not winning ? Would my Cinderella moment end then and there ?
Before long , the DJ called all of the nominees to coat check to round us up . I looked around at the other five funny people standing with me , people who probably never thought they would be on prom court either . We took a selfie in front of the huge mirror by coat check and posted a few Snapchats on Michael Wells ’ s story before we headed up to the stage .
Once we were up there on the stairs , I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders . As we stood around cracking jokes about what to do with the crown ( rip it off the winner ’ s head ? Break it up and throw it into the crowd like in “ Mean Girls ”?), I realized how much I liked everyone on that court , and that I would be completely fine with any of them taking home the title . We decided to all hold hands before the announcement , so the winner could fall to the ground like they do in Miss America .
There was a lot of chatter where a drumroll should have been , and finally ... Tamar Rubin and Claire Somers were crowned prom queens .
I couldn ’ t have been more happy for them . I ’ m pretty sure I screeched and hugged Claire a little too tight . That was it . I went back to my date , who tried to console me despite my feeling completely fine .
“ If you want to cry , just let me know ,” he said .
“ Dude , no , I ’ m seriously fine .”
“ Your parents are going to be surprised you didn ’ t cry .”
So I danced , and went on a yacht , and danced some more , and got a McChicken sandwich ( and a water ) at McDonald ’ s . The next morning I had bagels . It didn ’ t feel like a lifelong dream had crumbled . I didn ’ t care anymore . And that ’ s when I realized ...
Kindergarten dreams are stupid .
The Start of Something New ... Again
Nina Cereno Staff Writer
On May 14 , huge and ever-growing numbers of “ Wildcats ” waited in line for the live open casting call for the Disney movie sequel , “ High School Musical 4 .” Hundreds of people , including myself , waited inside the Anaheim Convention Center for the a chance to be part of the iconic film series .
Disney , after ten years , has decided to bring the successful “ High School Musical ” ( HSM ) series back onto the scene . Although the original cast--with lead actors Zac Efron , Vanessa Hudgens , and Ashley Tisdale--would not be returning , the fourth movie will continue to have the same style as the beloved HSM movies , with big musical numbers .
The story will break from some HSM traditions though , notably the storyline of Gabriella leaving Troy . Instead of having two main leads in love there will now be a love triangle of characters as the center of focus . The character base will also expand to include not only the East High Wildcats , but also the rival school , the West High Knights .
With more characters anticipated to be involved , there seemed to be better odds at being in the movie to everyone who was in line . However , when I arrived a half hour early at 7:30 a . m ., I was met by a few hundred people who had arrived hours earlier . There were countless auditionees with their families ; some I overheard had come from as far as New York . We were all shuffled from auditorium to auditorium to the next stage of the audition process . I passed people practicing their dances , singing , and even reciting to the wall the monologue we were required to memorize ( a classic actor thing to do ).
It was overwhelming to be among all these people auditioning , but I considered myself lucky coming at the time that I did . If I hadn ’ t been number 334 , I probably would not have gotten to see Corbin Bleu , an original HSM cast member who played Chad .
Everyone in the room was bursting with excitement as Bleu shared his experiences in HSM . He also told us that he was actually auditioning for the part of Ryan Evans Sharpay ’ s brother in the movie . Regardless of who he was , Bleu added that he is so grateful to have been part of this popular movie series .
After a couple hours , I was put into a group of ten kids , also auditioning , and waited outside one of the rooms with one of the sets of casting directors . It was then that it finally hit me : I was auditioning for one of my favorite childhood movies , and I could possibly be the next Vanessa Hudgens . That probably wasn ’ t the greatest time to be thinking that because I got really nervous . I could feel these tingling sensations running throughout my body .
When I entered the room along with the other nine people , we lined up in front of two casting directors . They gave us some advice before we auditioned in order to make us feel less uncomfortable , saying they just wanted to see what type of energy we give off and our true selves .
It helped to listen to their comments , and I felt relieved that they said it was fine to keep our scripts in case we forgot a line or two . My confidence was building when they started going down the row . But when it was time for me to step up , they skipped me .
I realized I forgot to hand them my headshot when I entered the room .
I started to freak out . I was honestly thinking “ Come on Nina , get your head in the game !” My heartbeat was racing .
Thankfully , I wasn ’ t the only one who didn ’ t hand one of the casting directors our audition material . The two last people in my line made the same mistake , and we all got our turn .
I ’ m still crossing my fingers that I will get at least a small part in “ High School Musical 4 ,” but I ’ m grateful to have had the opportunity to fulfill that Disney dream of mine to be a wildcat .
Once a wildcat , always a wildcat .