This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UNH chapter.

As the semester comes to a close there are sorority and fraternity formals every weekend. This means that for three to four weeks in April and May you will see this hashtag constantly in Instagram captions

With #FormalSzn comes an infinite amount of struggles. These are just a few:

1. First, you have to find the perfect dress online

You search Tobi, Lulu’s, Hello Molly, and all those good sites and FINALLY find the perfect one for your formal. That is until you get it in the mail and it looks nothing like the picture online.

2. Then you have to find a boy to ask to formal.

Can I say scary?? Unless you’re dating someone or have a boy that you always take to formal, it can be intimidating to have to ask someone to be your date. We are all terrified of that possibility that they say “no”.

3. Ultimately then you have to find another boy to ask a few weeks later because that first one ditched you.

Now you’re thinking “I should’ve just brought my best friend instead.” And now the process of finding another date continues because your first date just “wasn’t feeling it anymore.”

4. Then you realize you don’t actually have another boy to ask, so you get set up with your friend’s friend from high school.

Sure he’s cute and he’s tall enough, but you’ve never actually talked to him before and the rest of the night becomes AWKWARD!!

5. Then that random boy who sits next to you in class asks you to his formal and you have to try to find an excuse to say no without sounding mean.

You really don’t want to go, I mean you’ve never said more than two words to this kid, but you also don’t want to break his heart (you know how much courage it takes to ask someone to formal!).

6. Then you see another girl on Instagram wearing the same dress you bought from Lulu’s to her formal a week before yours.

If only your formal had been first, then she would be feeling this way!

7.Then all your friends are getting invited to 3+ formals and you’re not.

Sometimes it pays to have more Frat friends, but hey that just saves you from having to agonize over finding another perfect dress.

8. But then you get asked to a formal THE DAY BEFORE and have to scramble to find an outfit.

Boys are literally clueless when it comes to timing like now you don’t have time to get a dress, get your nails done, or get your tan. How inconsiderate!

9. Then you’re trying to take cute pictures before you get on the bus to formal but you just can’t get a good one.

When the house is just too crowded and random people’s limbs are in the back of your pictures it’s just too hard to get a good one.

10. Lastly, you have to keep your stuff together even when someone spills on your white dress to avoid being ‘that girl’ who’s crying in the bathroom at formal.

Just dab, don’t rub the dress and dry your eyes because tonight is supposed to be the BEST night of your semester.

The Struggles of Formal Season