For many seniors, prom is a rite of passage. But senior citizen Ray Svejnoha was called to serve in World War II before he could have his prom experience.
Eighty-two years later, at almost 101 years old, he got his chance thanks to six high school girls.
Svejnoha missed prom for the army
“During my younger age, I had a choice of going into the service. And I took two exams, one for the Navy and one for the Army Air Force, and I passed both of them, and I didn’t expect them to be until after I graduated, but they the Army come before that, so I didn’t have too much choice. I was supposed to report for duty, so that is what I did. I never made my prom, so it was sort of secondary in a way, but that’s the way it was at that time,” Svejnoha said.
Metea students invite the veteran to prom
He shared his story with Cary Peterson, the advisor of a Metea Valley High School club called Tech Connect, which helps seniors with technology issues.
“That’s where my little lightbulb went on, and I thought, ‘I think we can help him out with that,’” Peterson said.
She enlisted her students for help: sophomores Ela Kshirsagar, Prakriti Kashyap, Aasvi Chokshi, Niia Lopez, Medha Kotagiri, and freshman Zoe Zhao.
“We were all very excited about it,” said Kshirsagar.
They made a promposal poster and asked him at their next visit.
Sponsors prepped Svejnoha for the big day
Ahead of the big day, Svejnoha got a haircut, manicure, and tux fitting…all courtesy of sponsors who’d heard about his special day.
When the long-awaited Friday night arrived, Svejnoha got to experience all the prom musts. He rode in a trolley to the dance and made sure that his dates got their flowers for their efforts.
“I said, don’t you think that would be nice if the girls got some flowers? Because they’ve gone through a lot more than I have, and I think that was a nice gesture. And the gentleman or company that donated the flowers, I really like to thank them personally, because I would have bought them anyway too,” Svejnoha said.
A warm welcome at the dance
Arriving at the dance, Svejnoha was greeted with cheers.
He was announced and honored by Metea students, got a warm welcome, and they danced like it was 1944.
A prom better than he imagined
“It’s so beautiful to see the connection between generations, and I love that Ray is rightfully getting his prom. Words can’t describe it, honestly,” Peterson said.
“It never approached me that the prom was that important in my lifetime. But when they approached me about it, and the way they said it, why them girls were more excited than I was, but after I heard them, well, I was just about as excited, too, but it was so nice of them to even think about it,” Svejnoha said.
As for whether it was what he expected…
“No,” Svejnoha said. “It was better!”
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