Ah, MORP! The magical night that gives freshmen and sophomore boys alike the chance to ask that special someone from middle school to accompany them to the dance of the year.
The night starts out with a raging pre-party, full of selfies, “candid” photos, and fuel for the s0ph0m0re Facebook album. Then comes the grand ball itself, and after dancing the night away with the girl that sits behind you in second period, that ever-so-sweet goodnight smooch.
However, this is not always how the night goes.
“MORP is just kind of stupid,” said sophomore Alexa Samii. “I didn’t really find it enjoyable last year, and there weren’t that many people [at the dance]. There were a lot less people than homecoming and other Redwood dances, and it wasn’t very fun.”
Samii said that she will probably pass on attending MORP this year, and instead will spend the night hanging out with her friends.
“It’s not really worth going,” she said. “They’re trying to make it into prom for us, but it doesn’t live up to the standards at all.”
Other students, such as freshman Nolan Cassidy, look forward to attending the dance this coming Friday.
“I want it to be like the Back to School dance, because that’s been the best dance so far,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy also said although not everyone will be accompanied to MORP with a date, he plans on asking his girlfriend to accompany him to the dance.
“I’m not sure how I’ll ask yet, but I’ll probably do it a few days before [the dance],” Cassidy said. “I think people should ask people, it would make it easier and more fun.”
Both students thought the dance would be better if it were a little more formal.
“More people would be open to going if it were more formal and they were getting asked to go,” Samii said. “Marin Catholic has their Turnabout dance, and I know everyone thinks its really cute and a good idea. I think MORP should be more like that, it would be way more fun.”
According to Samii, one of the biggest complaints from last year’s MORP dance was the music, stating that it was enough of a reason to deter her from attending this year’s dance.
Kismet Kumar, sophomore class president, noted that as of late the DJ’s at Redwood dances have been fairly unsatisfying, and that it’s something the MORP committee has made a note of fixing.
“We were disappointed in the DJ for the Back to School dance and Homecoming,” Kumar said. “We had students recommend songs and we gave him a song list for this dance, so hopefully everyone will be happy with it.”
Kumar also said that ASB has focused on improving more than just the music aspect of this year’s dance.
“It should be a lot nicer than last year,” Kumar said. “The decorations are more formal, we’ve gotten food and black lights. It’s just going to be overall way nicer.”
Another problem that rose up with last year’s MORP dance, as stated by both Samii and Kumar, was the lack of proposals between students going to the dances together.
“I know people who are setting up the dance want people to ask each other, but it just doesn’t have that history of being a dance where people take each other, like Prom does,” Samii said. “People weren’t really expecting being asked last year.”
