Belles and their dates entered a decorated aquarium for their annual “Belle Ball.” Heavy rain outside starkly contrasted the light atmosphere inside. The night began with a diver in a fish tank welcoming the guests and ended with an energy-filled last dance.

The Belles fundraised all year to put on this event. Each belle needed to reach a quota of 500 dollars.

“Belles gave us a lot of opportunities to ensure that we were all able to reach the fundraising mark,” sophomore Sarah Nitsun said. “This allowed us to have an amazing time celebrating our accomplishments and the seniors at Belle Ball.”

Not only did the entire team work towards this common fundraising goal in anticipation of Belle Ball, but the Belles social officers have been working on plans for the event since June of 2022. Up until April 14, the day of the ball, the social officers worked on finding a DJ, planning a budget and creating a menu for the night.

“I think the hardest part was probably when the month before rolled around because we had to figure out, like all of the small things that we may have forgotten,” junior and secretary Ryan Rexford said. “I’m so proud of all of the officers and I loved how everything ended up looking.”

Freshman Audrey Cheng attended the annual event for the first time. She spent the most time on the dance floor.

“The dancing was the best part, I really enjoyed doing the worm,” Cheng said.

While she enjoyed dancing the most, she found the senior’s parting speeches meaningful and emotional and wished to hear more of the speeches, especially since her older sister, Laura Cheng was graduating.

“I would probably change the shortness of the senior speeches because a lot of them had more to say and they all were really sad,” Cheng said.

Senior Asia Alexander attended this event for both the first and the last time, which allowed her to experience it in a different way than the other Belles attending.

“This was my first experience at Belle Ball and I loved it,” Alexander said. “The music, the people and the vibe were just amazing. I’m sad it was my first and last Belle ball.”

Alexander tried out for the team the previous year, made it and decided against joining the team. While she celebrated her time on the team at Belle Ball, she regretted not getting to spend as much time as she wanted to on Belles.

“Being a Belle gave me more people in my life that I didn’t know I needed, more sisters,“ Alexander said. “This team welcomed me with open arms, laughed at my jokes, gave me a shoulder to cry on when I needed it and cheered me on whenever I’m dancing.”