In the first High School Musical movie, Gabriella and Troy meet at a party in a ski lodge on New Years Eve. Gabriella and Troy, both high school Juniors, are randomly selected to sing a karaoke song, “Start of Something New”, together. They exchange flirty glances throughout the song and trade cell phone numbers before leaving the party. The two meet again when Gabriella coincidently moves into Troy’s town and transfers to his high school. If only it were that simple!
Many teenagers approach non-family holidays, such as Valentine’s Day and New Years Eve, with unrealistic expectations. Some teenagers fantasize about meeting their Gabriella or Troy on New Years Eve; Others expect to attend the biggest and best party ever on New Years Eve. Some dream about meeting their perfect match or going on an exceptional date on Valentine’s Day. These unreasonable and high hoped expectations may seem enjoyable at first, but surely take a turn towards unpleasant and disappointing when they don’t come true.
Holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa etc. don’t usually have super high fetched expectations because the majority of people spend these holidays with their family. A new layer of expectations is added to non-family holidays due to the fact that most teenagers spend these holidays with their friends who are influenced by similar messages through the media. The media perpetuates teens to have exceedingly high expectations through movies or articles that present “17 Things My Perfect Boyfriend Would Get Me For Valentine’s Day” or “4 Simple Steps to a Magical, Perfect Valentine’s Day”. The media creates these unrealistic expectations that rarely ever occur.
These unrealistic and intangible expectations are unneeded. Maceo Dunn ‘16 says, “If you think about it, [Valentine’s Day and New Years Eve] are just the same as any other day.” Patrick Clark ‘16 insists that instead of holding exceedingly high expectations for non-family holidays, we must “approach [non-family holidays] with low expectations. If you expect to have a mediocre time, you won’t be as disappointed when you do have a mediocre time. You will also be more satisfied if your event turns out to be fun.” Riele Short ‘15 mirrors this same laid back and level headed attitude toward Valentines Day and New Years Eve. She encourages others to “treat yo self, hang out with your friends [and] watch comedy films.”
If one does approach non-family holidays in this manner, disappointment will most likely be scarce and the night may turn out to exceed one’s expectations in a delightful surprise.
