Do not wear heels to the President’s Ball.

In many ways this is the most obvious advice someone could give. And yet, absolutely no one listens to it. Every girl on campus gets fancy shoes that will look cute in all the pictures, only to have intense regret once they actually have to start walking. 

You may be thinking, well in high school I wore heels to homecoming/prom/some other school dance and I was totally fine, I can handle it. Well, my little first-year friends, your prom night didn’t start with the lengthy and entirely uphill hike from your dorm room to Bellarmine Hall. Then, you have hours of dancing, probably getting stepped on by at least three or four people around, maybe visiting some friends’ rooms after and the long hike back to your room at the end of the night.

Last year I made this fatal mistake. I bought shiny silver heels. They looked gorgeous with my dress. The pictures came out beautiful. My dress was sparkly, my shoes were shiny, I was living my best life. The confidence level was high. The night was spectacular.

Well, that ended fast. The starting point for my night was the walk from my old room in 47 Mahan Road to my friend’s room in Barnyard Manor. Barely even a walk, and the backs of my ankles were already bleeding. I took a few Band-aids from my friend, reconsidered my life choices and came to a conclusion. 

I gave up then and there. I went back to my room, abandoned my gorgeous heels and put on some Vans. Little did I know that this would be the best decision of my night. 

The best Pres Ball experience means hours of dancing. You’re going to be mashed into a crowd of your friends, jumping up and down on a hard dance floor. You don’t want to be thinking halfway through the party about how much your feet hurt. The more comfortable the shoes, the longer that dancing stays fun. 

There will be people around you that you don’t know, and they will step on your feet. Open-toed shoes are simply an invitation to disaster. Last year a stranger in stilettos came down so hard on my foot that she actually broke one of my toenails. And that was with sneakers on. If I had worn the heels I had originally planned I might be down a toe right now. 

Put on your fabulous shoes. Take all the adorable pictures your little heart desires. Prove to the world you had a gorgeous perfectly planned outfit with the fancy shoes to match. Then take them off and actually go have a fun night.

The idea that wearing sneakers with your fancy dress is pick-me-girl behavior is so 2012. Making fun of people for that should have died along with Tumblr when we were all preteens. It’s about time we get over it. During the pandemic, we abandoned anything that didn’t live up to the standards of maximum comfiness when it comes to our outfits. Let’s keep that energy going on our feet. 

Put the heels back in the box, and go have a fantastic Pres Ball!

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-- Senior | Opinion Editor --

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