Spring Quarter is winding down, which means two things. First, the weather is amazing, making it nearly impossible for us to focus on studying for finals. Second, this means that there are a ton of spring events that are taking place, which make it even harder to study for finals. It’s worth it to take a few hours off of studying to go have fun with your friends at one of the formals going on around now, but there are a few stipulations that come with these events.

On one hand, there’s the classic wardrobe issue. This is relatively easy to solve; if you have no idea what to wear, you can hit up Crossroads, Francesca’s, rent something if you’re a guy or check out NU Closet Recycle. On the other hand, you have the opportunity to bring one other person to this event with you. It’s up to you to figure out who to ask; there’s no store that you can go to that will tell you what exactly to do.

That’s where I’m coming in.

There are several different approaches you can take to picking a formal date. The first question you need to ask yourself is what type of an experience you are looking for at your formal; it is, after all your night and you get to tailor it however you want.

There’s always option of bringing someone who knows a lot of people who will be at the formal; that leaves you the option of being autonomous and doing whatever you want, while still having someone to sit on the bus with. This is great because you can hang out in a group of people the entire time and not be tied down to one person the entire night.

You could take someone you could be potentially interested in but don’t know that well. That option is exciting, but you’re taking the chance that you guys won’t click and have to spend time together the entire night anyways. If you’re up for the risk, go for it; it’s a fun way to get to know that kid in your foreign language class outside of class time.

It’s possible to ask that person you’ve been crushing on all quarter, especially if the formal is at the end of the quarter; you probably won’t see them next quarter anyways so you have nothing to lose. If they don’t know people at the event, though, keep in mind that you’d probably have to hang out with them the entire night.

You could take the good friend approach; bring someone that you’re completely comfortable with and with whom you know you would be able to be absolutely ridiculous with at the event. This is bound to be fun; the only downside is that you probably only have one formal event for the entire quarter, and you may have wanted to try asking someone new for some excitement.

There are definite advantages and disadvantages to each choice of formal date. Personally, I think the good friend approach is the best one; you’re guaranteed to have a good time and you don’t have to worry about complications. Regardless of which option you choose, however, you’ll figure out a way to make it a fun night. While you shouldn’t put too much pressure on yourself to find the perfect date – it is just one night after all – you only have so many formals that you can go to during your college career. Be sure to make the ones you do go to nights that you’ll remember.

Meera Patel is a McCormick junior. She can be reached at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected].