Winter Formal Askings

Misha Bandi + Divvy Atakari

Senior Misha Bandi based her winter formal asking on food places that

senior Divvy Atakari enjoys eating at. Taco Bell stood out to her and her

pun for the poster was “Let’s taco bout wf” and she bought him some

Taco Bell to top it off. Said Bandi, “And then just for fun I used one of the

bad puns [we thought of] on another poster with his last name, Atakari

‘I’ll attack-ari you if you say no’ this one was not related to the theme but

just because.” To create the post some of Bandi’s friends bought supplies

including posters and sharpies. “We also raided the De Anza Taco Bell

sauce supply to make the word ‘taco’ on the poster out of the sauce pack-

ets” said Bandi. The entire process took about 2 hours to put everything

together and finish the posters. As for plans for Winter Formal, Bandi has

a soccer game at 6 pm the night of the dance. “The same thing happened

sophomore year! He came to my game and then to my house after. We got

ready together and met our friends for dinner before going, so a similar

thing might happen this year.” In terms of outfits, Bandi and Atakari plan

to match colors and Atakari plans to buy the corsage.

Ashvin Logashankar + Saloni Mahajan

To kick off winter formal askings, senior Cade Jordan lined up an incredible performance to ask

senior Melody Lou to the dance. The performance started off with a dance from several of the

ASB and council members and incorporated a poster at the end. Jordan decided to make the

theme of his asking a mix between paper cranes and Stardew Valley, a game which Jordan and

Lou enjoy playing together. During the five days leading up to the main asking, Jordan gave a

paper crane to Lou every day. These cranes had the words, “Will you go to Winter Formal with

me?” written on them. Jordan said, “At the final asking I had everyone hold out a paper crane as

I gave her the final one,” along with a poster that said “Stardew you want to go to WF w/ me?” In

preparation for the asking, Jordan spent a couple of hours on making the poster and a couple

of hours in making the cranes, saving time with the help of his friends. Jordan asked Lou to the

dance because he really likes how energetic she is and he has a lot of fun when he spends

time with her, such as going to Main Street to grab food and going to popular viewpoints with

their friends. Jordan mentioned, “I think in previous years it’s pretty normal for people to go with

close friends as dates to formals.” Jordan felt that it was easier for him to gain courage to ask

the other person since he has experience asking people to do formal dances. He said, “Melody

is a really close friend so it was really easy and not awkward at all. I was definitely very anxious

and nervous about the asking just because it was so public and in front of a lot of the school right

after the flash-mob.” But when it was time for the asking, everything was planned out beforehand,

which helped the performance go smoothly. At the dance, Jordan plans to match his tie with the

color of Lou’s dress, as well as having a friend make their corsage and boutonniere. With Jordan

having a role in the Spirit Commision, he will need to arrive at the venue early to set up, restricting

pre-formal plans, but the pair plan to have a lot of fun at the formal.

“I didn’t know he was going to ask me, so I was sufficiently shocked in that

moment,” senior Saloni Mahajan said about her 2021 winter formal asking.

Senior Ashvin Logashankar asked Mahajan to the winter formal with flowers

and a sign, which included a play on her name: “Don’t be saLONELY. Be w/

me at WF.” When asked about the process of the asking, Mahajan added

that Logashankar thought of creating the poster for a few weeks and spent

the night before the ask creating the posters and decorations with the help

of their friends. The ask caught Mahajan by surprise since she was not

expecting such a big proposal. She was overcome with joy during the ask

due to how beautiful it was. Mahajan stated, “I don’t think he was particu-

larly nervous considering we were already going together.” After becoming

close through mutual friends and joint activities, the couple dated for about

a month and decided to attend winter formal together. At the winter formal,

great time together! FEATURES | 15