Written by: Jacqueline Teer, Year 12
Promposal: the amalgamation of the words “prom” and “proposal”, coined
by 21st century’s generation. As the word implies, promposals mimic grand and
elaborate marriage proposals, only without the lifetime commitment and the
ceremonious splitting of property. They are nonetheless just as spectacular and
also exist in many shapes and sizes.
In BSM, we are at the peak of prom season with only a few weeks to go
until the event; the air is filled with the scent of freshly picked corsages,
and crisp, ironed suits. With this atmosphere, promposals are becoming not only
more plentiful, but also more creative. It is no longer enough to simply ‘pop
the question’; it is evident that the boys of BSM have taken very inventive
approaches to personalizing their own promposals. They have impressively taken
their lady’s personal preferences into account and have come out victorious in
their courageous quests for their partners’ hand in prom. Here, we present a
collation of the best promposals so far:
The saying “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” doesn’t
only apply to men, as clearly shown by 2 promposals received by our year 13
foodies.
Taking a cue from Sabino, Joshua Whyte executed a promposal that was as
cute as it was delicious. To woo Georgia Mann, he simply utilized her
‘weakness’ for summer cupcakes. As she was confronted by the word ‘prom’
written on the box and the scent of sugary pastry, Georgia couldn’t help but
scream. The whole scene eventually concluded with her eventual acceptance. Josh
felt that he “didn’t want to freak her out with a huge promposal”, explaining
his relatively simple approach that left the whole IB common room in high
spirits.
This ‘sweet tooth’ approach, however, was not how Arsalan Shamsudin
decided to prompose to Siobhan Moylan. A simple gesture was not enough; this
promposal seemed to have almost come out of a movie. Shamz guided Siobhan on
with an intricately planned scavenger hunt, which consisted of their 8 closest
friends, including Shamz’s dad and some bodyguards. They gave her favorite
treats and items such as popcorn, flowers, and gummy bears and led her to the
helipad of Shamz’s apartment complex. It was there that she came across a
pathway of rose petals directing her to the sight of Shamz atop the building
next to his own, holding a sign with the magic word ‘Prom?’ against the Manila
skyline sunset. Needless to say, it took a lot of effort to prepare the whole
picturesque ordeal. Shamz had to attend 3 meetings to negotiate his position on
top of the building, simply to prompose. All efforts paid off when Siobhan said
yes, and they received a definitely insta-worthy picture via Paolo Vera.
Kai Stroem took a more private and laid-back approach when executing
Mika’s promposal. He arranged glow-sticks spelling out the word ‘prom’ that
elegantly floated in Mika’s house swimming pool. The promposal exuded
simplicity and privacy which lended a more relaxed and tranquil atmosphere for
both Kai and Mika. This modern twist to a classic proposal gained it rights to
her acceptance, and to this list.
However, privacy is an element lacking in most modern promposals, as
illustrated by the following examples. Usually, power in numbers- ‘peer
pressure’ - is utilized as a form of coercion and hype. The promposals below,
although different in character, found the exhibition method successful in
garnering positive results by taking advantage of the element of surprise.
First up, we have Osama Bin Aslam who promposed to Issabella Ver, of
12CT. In the midst of a regular History lesson, Issabella was completely
unaware of the hoard of business students that swarmed outside Ms. King’s
classroom attempting – miserably - to keep quiet. As Osama’s heart pounded,
clutching onto the poster that his more artistic counterpart, Nina Ti, had
hurriedly prepared, he barged into the classroom exclaiming the question “will
you go to prom with me?” urging the dumbfounded Issabella with his repetitive
“Yes? Yes? Yes?” After a long silence, she finally echoes him. “Yes?” she
finally says, and the two classes cheered together, loud enough to be heard
from Cluster D.
Next, we have Matthew Johnson’s more systematic and less dramatic use of
entrance to follow. He waited until the clock struck 12 at lunchtime, then had
Josh come to Sabrina with an iris, followed by a further 7 Iris holders. It
became clear that this was a carefully planned promposal unravelling before
everyone’s eyes. After Raine Yang handed the last iris, Matthew, with a bouquet
of pink lilies and white gerberas, finally appeared out of the corner of the
glass doors. A silent tension filled the cafeteria as Matthew waited whilst
kneeling; the tension fizzled as Sabrina stood up, gave Matthew a hug and said
the magical word “yes.” Sabrina described it as “unexpected” and she said he
had “the perfect timing,” which should always be considered by a promposer.
Third was Albert Rano’s heartwarming promposal to Jamie Harvey, 12NB. He
came running to her exclaiming “Oh my gosh, the boys were playing football, and
[Matthew] Campos got injured!” Albert’s continuous participation in drama
productions paid off as he sent the compassionate Jamie into a scurried fuss to
help. Both Albert and Jamie ran across the benches outside of the cafeteria and
ended up by the railings that looked over Don Jones field. Expecting to see a
crowd of concerned people and an injured Matthew, Jamie instead saw six boys in
t-shirts that spelt the word “Prom? <3 <3”, one of whom was the
not-so-injured Matthew. Jamie said yes, but took the opportunity to take a
picture before answering to Mr. Rano’s emotional rollercoaster ride of a
promposal.
From orchestrating promposing on the Don Jones field, to promposing on
the top of a skyscraper, it has been abundantly clear that the boys of BSM have
carefully thought-out and personalized their promposals. A good promposal takes
into account the personality of the one being asked, but a great promposal is
crafted in such a way that it accounts for the reaction of the one being asked.
We look forward to seeing how creative next year’s promposals will be and
whether they will top that of this year’s!
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