By Leah Brady, Tricoci University at Glendale Heights
We arrived at Naperville North at 9:30 p.m.; tools in one hand and coffee in the other. Prepared for a long night ahead, we walked through the auditorium doors to check-in at the volunteer station. As a NNHS graduate, I had an idea what the night had in store for us. When I graduated in 2009, I went to a very similar senior celebration. I walked in curious to see what the moms of the home and school board came up with this year while the rest of the girls from Tricoci University were eager to see what the event was all about.
We walked down a hallway decorated in blue and black colors. I have walked through these halls a thousand times, and I still got lost in the maze of decorations surrounding me. We walked past a caricatures station, spray tanning, dance floor, and ice cream parlor. We finally navigated our way to the Glamorama – our station until 3 a.m. The room was full of bright colored Hawaiian decorations. The students had the option if getting their hair, makeup, nails, eyebrow threading and henna all in one place. They also had a professional photographer for the glammed-up-seniors to remember the night.
Everyone set up their supplies at their station, and we snapped a photo with the photographer. We were ready for the seniors to arrive. One of the moms came on the intercom and said that the senior celebration countdown had begun. The students would be released from the contest gym in one minute. Before long, the room was filled with students waiting to get services done. From 10 until 2:30, the stylists were booked solid with different styles. Once one person got cornrows on the side, everyone was asking for that. By the end of the night, all the stylists were exhausted with raw fingers, either from braiding or curling iron burns.
They stuck it through the night and had a blast! It was so fun talking to all the students, hearing about their plans for next fall or their plans for prom the next weekend. All the seniors were so appreciative of the stylists and were even “tipping” them with coffee and snacks.
When I was a student, I didn’t realize how much energy and work it took for the people who volunteered for the event. From the moms who organized the whole thing to the people who were there the night of working and supervising. It was fun to go back to my high school and see the whole event from a different perspective. I’m so excited for each of the seniors we had the opportunity to work on. We wish them all the best of luck as they walk into this new, exciting chapter of their lives.