As Conroe ISD seniors grapple with canceled proms and distance learning, some are taking matters into their own hands.

The fight for prom

Somia Rania, a senior at Oak Ridge High School, is coordinating a student-organized makeup prom for her peers. Although the date is still up in the air due to the current restrictions of large gatherings, she hopes to have the event in June or July.

“Honestly, in a time like this with a pandemic and everything, we can’t really predict if it will or will not happen. I mean, we’ll push it back if we need to,” Rania said. “But people seem so enlightened and moved by the idea of it that they really want it.”

Rania said she has heard from about 260 people interested in attending or helping with the prom. She said she and her friends have budgeted for a location, theme and decorations so as to not cost any student more than $30 to attend.

Rania said her mantra going into this project is ‘let’s take our senior year back.’ Although her team has none of their projected $3,000 budgets, she has hope that her peers will want to experience this milestone.

“We want the big moments and we want to take it back,” Rania said. “We won’t let anything stop us.”

Fellow ORHS senior Mya Briones said she was upset when she heard prom was canceled. Although she’s heard of Rania’s efforts, she was unsure if she would attend.

“Obviously it’s not the same as prom, but I’m interested in how it will turn out,” Briones said.

Conroe High School senior Nicole Bokanyi said there has been some discussion among different friends groups to get together and celebrate prom, but no larger celebrations have been planned. She said the cancellation of prom and the potential cancellation of graduations have put a damper on her senior year.

“I’ve been waiting to go to prom and experience this last quarter of high school for a very long time and it sucks that it’s all come to this,” Bokanyi said. “But it’s also that I’ve learned from that I can’t always take experiences for granted.”

CISD Director of Communications Sarah Blakelock said the district is not aware of organizational efforts but "understands the students’ desire to experience events such as prom."

Staying connected

Briones said distance learning has been a setback as she feels like she’s teaching herself through notes and videos, even with her teachers being available for questions.

“It doesn’t really feel like there’s a point anymore cause I’m a senior,” Briones said. “I still want to go back to school but at that point... I would have a week or two of school left and then I would be done.”

In order to keep connected, Briones said she and her friends have been connecting via Zoom to play games, and her softball team met just to chat.

“It’s just nice and refreshing... to hear their voices. Cause these are people who I see every single day for hours at a time and you never really like to think like, ‘Well, I’m not gonna be able to see them for a month and a half’ and then it happens,” Briones said. “Even if they’re not like your best friend, you still love and miss their presence.”

Teachers and counselors have been incredibly supportive during the outbreak, according to Bokyani. However, she said preparing for AP tests and dual credit courses has been difficult without in-person instruction.

Although the magnitude of the outbreak did not hit her in the early days, Bokyani said she now feels like part of a historic event.

“You think of history lessons... And you’re like, ‘Wow, I’m gonna be one of those lessons,’” Bokyani said.