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Prom Economics
posted (June 7, 2013)
It's graduation time and thousands of students are learning a lesson that school never taught them. You can call it Prom Economics - how to find the hundreds of dollars to pay for the biggest party of your young life. It's a lesson many 4th Form students have been learning all too well in the past few weeks and Monica Bodden found two very different sides of the same story today. Here's her story.

Monica Bodden reporting
Today we found one prom queen who explained what it's like getting ready for the big night.

Kadine Gongora - Graduate of Sadie Vernon High
"First of all we were all there, about 20 of us and they selected that I was the Prom Queen because of my elegant dress that I had on. It was a lot of things - I had to call my sister from the US so she could have sent down the dress for me and we were here, there and everywhere - preparing hard for Prom because it's one in a life time."

19 year old Kadine Gongora is a recent graduate of Sadie Vernon High. Only two weeks ago, she got the chance to enjoy her fairytale ending after 4 years of hard work. But that ending came with a price tag for Kadine and her family.

Kadine Gongora - Graduate of Sadie Vernon High
"Yes it was very expensive, my dress cost $350usd and $180usd to ship it down so it was very expensive."

Monica Bodden
"And how much you guys had to pay to attend the prom?"

Kadine Gongora
"We had to pay $75 for the Prom."

Monica Bodden
"Is that for you and your prom date or only for one person alone?"

Amalia Chel - Mother
"Well at that excited night it was a bit nervous because we called for the dress and her size. Her sister was getting it over there and she said she didn't know about the dress because they were looking all around but she went and bought a dress, the best she saw and she sent it down and we were scared that it wouldn't reach in time. She said that she would send it express for us and she sent it May 10th and it got here on June 3rd and thanks to the Post Office it was very quick."

Monica Bodden
"Were you guys a little nervous that she didn't do any fitting for the dress and if it would fit her properly?"

Amalia Chel
"We were a bit nervous about that but her sister is very excellent in fitting because she knows her size."

For Kadine's mother, it took an entire year to save up for this one special night. But in the end, behind the glitz, glamour and dollars spent it was a well-deserved reward for her well deserving daughter.

Amalia Chel
"Well the expense from she went into fourth form I realized I wanted her to do everything for fourth form. I personally called Ms. Baptist and asked her about the prom. We wanted a special meeting with the parents so the kids could have gotten the opportunity to say who wanted to go and who didn't. But sadly I couldn't make because I work on Bannister Island but then her big sister, Christina, went and did that part for me. Her step-dad stood there for it and they came back and told me what needed to be done but it was quite okay. We had on and off about the kids because it's very expensive and some said they couldn't make it and some said they would have tried. I told Ms. Baptist we had to make it through and we did."

Monica Bodden
"How important do you think it is for a young person to experience Prom night."

Amalia Chel
"It's very important - it's once in a lifetime. Because they work for what they are getting - they did it hard and by pushing then others will take that push to go as far as that because education is everything."

Monica Bodden
"You had a date with you?"

Kadine Gongora
"No m'am, I didn't have any date - it was only me."

Monica Bodden
"You had fun at your prom?"

Kadine Gongora
"Yes a lot of fun - we danced and we just enjoyed ourselves."

Monica Bodden
"Would you have changed or done anything differenly."

Kadine Gongora
"No I wouldn't have changed anything because it went okay, it was a nice experience. Thanks to my sister in the states, Ara Daniels, Chritina Blair and my mom Amalia Chel and all the rest of my family and friends."

And while Kadine wouldn't change anything about her prom memories, her classmate Lloyd Gill has nothing to remember. He was one of the many students who just couldn't afford the cost of prom.

Lloyd Gill - Graduate of Sadie Vernon High
"Well I decided no to take part in my prom this year because of the financial problem that I am going through right now and that my mother is struggling so that's why I decided not to take part in Prom. My mother is a single parent plus she had to pay my school fees and my graduation fees, so I told my mom that I wouldn't go to Prom because I didn't want to bring a burden on her and when I graduated then she wouldn't have had any money in her pocket. Best thing was that I didn't go to Prom and she saved a little money in her pocket."

Monica Bodden
"Did you feel any way on Prom night Lloyd that you were not there with your friends?"

Lloyd Gill
"I felt a kind of way because that was my only time that I could have gone to but I just have to leave it like that because I have to make sacrifices for my mother too. Because if I didn't made that sacrifice right now I wouldn't have had money in my pocket and my mom would have probably not have money to go to work so I had to make a little sacrifice. I think it paid off."

Monica Bodden
"But you did feel a little sad that you weren't there?"

Lloyd Gill
"I did because when I went on Facebook, I saw the pictures and those things and Sadie Vernon Prom was looking awesome so I had a lot of thoughts in my head and said 'If I went I would have been in this ride' or maybe I would have been prom king. I told myself in a negative way 'maybe I wouldn't have looked good and people would have looked better than me' and at least I saved some money because if I had stressed about it I would have gotten upset so I just thought negativity and said 'it wasn't good' but although it was good I just thought it wasn't good for me."

And at the other end of the triangle is the company that rents all those prom suits – next week, we'll take a look at their operation.

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