The biggest event of senior year is almost here. However, the fun begins weeks before prom even starts. Almost everyone has the inner desire to be asked to prom, especially senior year.

Promposal, coined by Zosia Bielski, the reporter who first called it that, is the art of asking someone to be your date to prom in a fun and creative way. Some people ask their date through fun activities, others use food, and some even use cute puns to help them out. There are plenty of ideas floating around the internet, ranging from dog puns to the use of pizza. Click here to see a few.

“My best friend proposed to me using my favorite thing: dogs. Not a real dog, but a stuffed dog and a sign that said ‘Kate, prom would be Ruff without you!’ It was super cute and thoughtful and I’m thankful to be able to go with such a sweetheart,” Kate Mangum, senior, said.

No one knows when the craze began, but according to TheWashingtonPost.com, the first reported promposal was in 2001. Kids were asking each other to prom over the speaker using lyrics from a song in “The Wedding Singer.” As the years went on, the proposals grew more elaborate and more public.

“When he did it, I was completely surprised. My friend helped him plan it, and they surprised me when I went over to my friend’s house one night,” Madison Tipton, senior, said about her boyfriend’s promposal. He decorated the garage door in sticky notes spelling out prom.

In 2007, promposals went viral. Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube allowed teens even more creative ways to ask their dates to prom, even beginning to ask celebrities.

Promposals can be done by both genders. Most of the time, the guy will ask the girl, but if a junior and senior are dating, it is respectful for the junior to ask the senior, no matter the genders. No one really knows why that is, but that is how it is.

Many people think promposals only recently started, but the idea of a cute and romantic way to ask someone a question has been here since the beginning of time.

On a side note, here are some important details for Etowah’s prom. It will be held at Mason Fine Arts Gallery on Saturday, April 22, from 8 to 11 p.m. The theme is Paint the Night Away. Tickets are on sale online now and in the C-Lobby on April 14 for $75. If you want to bring a date who does not go to Etowah, there are guest forms available at Etowah East. Your date must be between 15 and 20 years old, and must provide a photo ID on the night of prom.