One of the highlights for many high school students is prom. For many UIL competitors, their worst nightmare has come true: district UIL competition for academics will be on the same day as prom. This could pose a problem for UIL competitors that wish to attend the event.

“I feel like it’s going to be irritating for a lot of the other kids who do want to go [to prom],” senior Shekhiynah Larks said. “It’s an opportunity that a lot of seniors want to take and to not be able to do that, to take that chance for that opportunity, you have to choose between your opportunities because prom is a once in a lifetime event versus something I really want to do for the rest of my life like debate.”

This could pose a problem for UIL students as they will likely have to prepare for a possible limited amount of time to get ready for prom.

“If debate was that day, I’d have a lot to choose,” Larks said. “I’d have to choose because it’s an obligation, but both have obligations: one of them is super, super important to me for the rest of my life and one of them will be really important for me because it’s an opportunity that I’ll never get to have again.”

The prom committee used the district calendar to pinpoint the best date to have prom; they also had to meet booking calendars and the only month that was free was April according to the committee. Many students still feel that prom should be moved to another day.

“You can’t really move UIL because that’s a whole entire district thing that conflicts,” Larks said, “but I really do think they should move prom. I’m just glad it’s not in conflict with the AP and IB testing this year; that was difficult.”

Prom and district UIL will be on April 11.