by Michelle Brooks | sports editor

For most students, prom night can be the most spectacular and anticipated night of high school. Some view it as a magical dance spent with your closest friends among the senior and junior class, while others may view it as an expensive event that requires students to stay in an overheated area with people you can’t stand. A few students choose not to attend prom because of the expenses or because they don’t want to be conventional. Here are a few alternatives for students to enjoy prom night away from school:

A night downtown

This option is for students who can afford to go to prom- but just don’t want to. Downtown San Antonio is more than just walking around the riverwalk. On prom night, you and your friends can dress up and go downtown to eat on the Riverwalk, get on a horse carriage ride, observe the Alamo, take a boat tour, or checkout Dave & Buster’s.

A trip to somewhere you’ve always wanted to go

Another option for students who don’t want to go to prom for various reasons is take a trip together. Preferably, it should be another state and not country because we wouldn’t want another Taken. A place that a lot of people go to is Colorado for year round ski lodges (yes, it is a thing). You could also visit a Miami beach, Disney World in Florida or California, or experience the empire state of New York. You could even keep things closer to home and visit Galveston or Houston.

Movie night/sleepover with your friends

Here’s an option for most of us struggling students: a simple movie night with your boyfriend/girlfriend or friends. You can even have a sleepover afterwards! Rent out a movie at a local Redbox, go through Netflix, or a classic DVD you own. A few movies I suggest are Black Panther, The Greatest Showman, Love and Basketball, Friday, The Conjuring, Everyday, and the High School Musical trilogy (because all of us would like to imagine our lives are just as eventful as Troy and Gabriella’s).

Date night

This is for the young lovers who would like to enjoy their night outside of a humid hotel conference room with a bunch of hormonal teenagers. You and your significant other can get dressed up or dressed casual, if you’d like,and go to a restaurant like Piatti’s or McDonald’s. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re enjoying the other’s company.

Rent one hotel room for you and your friends

Another option is just having a sleepover with your friends at a hotel. It’s away from your house and gives you freedom. To make the most of it, I would choose a fancy hotel downtown and do what most teenagers do: explore the hallways, go to the pool, maybe knock on a few doors and say hello to random folks you don’t know (except you only knock- then run).

iFly

This one is only for the people who love taking the most outrageous risks in life, but with a little protection. Two years ago, an iFly was built near Six Flags. Although it is a little pricey, it is a great way to simulate skydiving without having to go through the fear of falling 33,000 feet in the air.

Drive to Austin

San Antonio is cool and everything, but there is just something about Austin that everyone loves. It could be that it contains the closest Waffle House to San Antonio or it can be the graffiti wall that everyone goes to to make their mark. Also it’s another vacation that is away from home but still close to home, ya feel me?

Get concert tickets to one of your favs next concert

This may not be on prom night, but you can use the money you saved from going to prom to buy tickets to your favorite artist’s tour stop closest to you. Attending a concert is just like going to prom, besides the fact that you’re in the room with the celebrity you love and listening to music that you love every second.

Get a ticket to one of the Spurs’ first playoff games (if they make the playoffs)

The Spurs are not having a spectacular season this year, but they can still come back to be able to compete in the playoffs. Since they’ll one of the bottom seeds, they’ll most likely be paired against a high ranking team. This might be the time you can watch the Spurs play against upper level teams, such as the Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, or the Houston Rockets.

Watch a movie (or two!) at the Stars and Stripes Drive-in

Take the term “throwback” to a whole new level by visiting the drive in movie in New Braunfels.  Hopefully it doesn’t rain, but sitting in the bed of your truck’s trunk can be both relaxing and fun. Plus, for only $8, you gain access to two different movies.