It’s Saturday, October 3rd, and Ozzy Marten waits on his rooftop nervously. Yes, he is asking a girl, Malia Kellerman, to Homecoming. Ozzy has spent hours on this proposal, choosing flowers, making a poster, and praying for a yes. Why do high school students suddenly feel the need to go big?

“The poster and flowers just gives it more pizzazz; it gives it more of a purpose instead of going up and asking them,” said Marten.

Most people these days are asking with flowers and posters, just like Marten did. Why is there so much hype over homecoming? Teacher Danielle O’leary explains her reasoning, basing her perspective on what homecoming was like when she was in high school.

“The homecoming proposals never happened. That is a very new thing. It would be ‘do you want to go to homecoming, go to Red Robin and go to the dance?’ It was way simpler and way easier on the guys,” said O’Leary.

So, why do we as high school kids want to make that poster? Why do we willingly put so much pressure on ourselves? O’Leary explains it perfectly.

“Social media. Us as girls love posting about it; we love showing the world our experiences. It’s basically a snowball effect. If one girl posts a picture with one guy, another guy sees it and wants to go bigger,” said O’Leary.

As a result, boys are feeling the pressure to ask, and girls are feeling the pressure to get asked. However, some people feel more pressure than others.

“For me, there isn’t any pressure to get asked, but it is really nice to get asked. If you don’t get asked, then it’s not that big of a deal,” said Malia Kellerman.

Still, just thinking of the word ‘homecoming’ triggers jitters and excitement. It will always be the same: boys ask girls, and there will always be hype.