Revisiting the Montrose Semi 2019

Revisiting the Montrose Semi 2019

The Montrose Upper School Semi Formal was Friday, January 25th. Seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen were all invited to come together to celebrate. Celebrate what, exactly? I’m not really sure. Perhaps, the end of first semester. Let’s explore the opinions of the Montrose Upper School about everything from the food, to the music, to the photobooth, and even to the venue itself.

Montrosians were big fans of the chicken. One Montrosian said, “It tasted good and was easy to cut.” Although not everyone loved the chicken, it did receive a lot of praise according to the people who filled out the survey. Another girl explains, “The chicken, definitely the chicken. It was breaded and sweet and I’m still dreaming about it.” And, “Lastly, I really enjoyed all the food served, I think the chicken was the biggest hit though, but I think the rest of the food was great too.” Also, my personal favorite, people enjoyed the ice cream sundaes.

However, Montrosians were not the biggest fans of the music. For example, one student shared “the D.J. played R. Kelly and Chris Brown and that was 100% not ok,” in reference to the assault accusations against both men. A good amount of the songs played were objective towards women, and I don’t think that is what Montrose was aiming for. In addition, many people complained about the DJ’s transition between songs because they were not smooth or fluid. Also, people complained that the DJ played a limited amount of recent songs and needed more variety. As one Montrosian put it bluntly, “The playlist has been the same all four semi’s I have attended. Could have had more than just one recent song in that playlist.” It is also important to note that the DJ did not take any requests, which was a bummer. One Montrosian sums it up perfectly. “Although the music was good this year, StudGov did work really hard on compiling a playlist of songs with students requests and making sure we found clean versions of every song so that students and the school would be happy. I think the DJ kind of went off and did his own thing without using the playlist StudGov worked really hard on.” In the future, better communication between StudGov, the MPG, and the DJ would be much appreciated.

Many people wish the photo booth was a little bit bigger to include more people. Overall, students enjoyed how fun being in the photo booth was and the excessive props. Montrosians only wished they could have the photo in hard copy as well as with the magnet, as one girl explains: “[the photobooth had] high quality photos, [I] wish I could take a hard copy and not a magnet.” A couple people did miss the old photo booth which they expressed through #bringbacktheoldphotobooth.

When asked what the best part of semi is, Montrosians replied unanimously: the people. One girl said: “Being together with friends, eating and dancing. It is a great time to be social with people, and get all dolled up.” Many people wish the dance was just a little bit shorter. This respondent says: “Maybe make the whole thing a bit shorter, because a lot of girls (including me) were exhausted halfway through and we weren’t allowed to leave early.” Another reiterated, “the food was really good and so is the venue – next year I would make it shorter (have it start at 7:30 instead of 6:30 [because] a lot of people felt it was too long)!” However, many people did not love the fact that semi was on a Friday. One girl commented, “it was stressful to be on a Friday, since I live really far away from Montrose/Lakeview Pavilion.” The day of the week was a common issue in regards to semi preparation.

However, Montrosians continue to enjoy the perfect venue, Lakeview Pavilion: spacious and beautiful. One girl remarked,“I like the openness of the room, the decor is really pretty, and there are different areas to lounge if you want to.” Many people like the bathrooms due to their fluorescent lighting. In addition, one Montrosian especially appreciated “the consideration put into the girl’s restroom, and the basket of refreshing supplies was really nice. The lighting was also really cool.” Also, we love the fuzzy socks. A senior sums up her experience at Lakeview Pavillion beautifully, “Lakeview Pavillion is always so beautifully decorated and it is spacious so that no one is crowded or cramped. The food is always amazing and (I) have loved having semi there these past four years.”

All in all, the semi formal was a successful event. As every Montrosian recognized, nothing beats spending a night with your friends, dancing to music, and eating delicious food.