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Dinner and Dances: Catholic Noles Formal
The dance floor at the FSU Alumni Center was crowded as soon as the music started - and it stayed that way all night.
Over 110 Catholic Noles students gathered at the FSU Alumni Center for this year’s Catholic Noles Formal. The night consisted of dinner, dance, and lots of fun. This was the first year of trying out a new type of end of the year celebration. Traditionally, Catholic Noles have had a banquet to end the year. The banquet contained much more structure – dinner, followed by speeches and awards, and then music and dance to end the night.
This year, the idea for formal was to increase the fun and just let the students have a good time. The setup for the night was simple; arrive, eat dinner, and dance. Pretty much all the students did just that. Oftentimes college formals are awkward…a bunch of students standing around, scared to dance, worried of what they would look like if they got on the dance floor. Not this formal, not Catholic Noles.
Sophomore Alyssa Haisman said, “That was definitely a memory that I'll remember for a while because it was really fun and everyone was involved. There was no one that wasn't dancing.”
Moving the awards from the banquet/formal to the Baccalaureate Mass was likely a move that allowed formal to shine in the way it did this year. With the awards given after the final student Mass of the year, the formal was able to shine in a new way. It was a unique opportunity for the Catholic Noles community to gather as a large group and enjoy some time together (especially on the dance floor).
The formal this year also offered a change of scenery in terms of the venue. The Alumni Center is located just across the street from the Co-Cathedral, and was a great centrally located spot that people loved.
“I really liked the location that they picked, especially outside of the venue where we were all taking pictures” Alyssa said. The Alumni Center was a great place to host formal, and Catholic Noles plan to go back next year.
Junior Andrew Herzog was in charge of planning the event. When asked about what he liked about the location and what went well, he said “It was definitely a lot bigger and it was really nice. It was just really fancy and they helped us a lot with setup.”
For Andrew, one facet stuck out in his mind:
“I mean kind of one thing in particular was just dancing with the guys. We were all just getting into it.”
Lastly, formal also just provided a way to cap off the end of the year for Catholic Noles. It was a great way to bring all the students together to celebrate a successful year. Andrew said “It's a great way to kind of end the year and say goodbye to all of your friends that you made that year.”
As the night wound down and students made their way back outside for a few last pictures, it was hard to imagine going back to the old banquet format. Catholic Noles has a new tradition — and they're already looking forward to next year."
