I am one of 45 seniors in my graduating class, and we’re the fourth class to graduate from my arts-centric charter school. With college around the corner, I started questioning if I should have gone to a larger, more traditional high school.

There’s a lot that’s good about my school. I have never had to break up a fight or be afraid to go to school. Since it’s so small, I’ve gotten to know every student. Like my friend Tony, who loves Disney musicals, or Catherine, who wears Dungeons and Dragons dice for earrings. These are people I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have hung out with if I’d gone to a huge, clique-y high school.

While these are some great benefits to a small charter school, there are a lot of traditional high school experiences I feel like I’ve missed. So I decided to infiltrate a nearby high school where my best friend Imani is one of 747 graduating seniors.

At the beginning of the year, Imani and I went to homecoming—my first football game ever. No one was watching the football players. Instead the crowd, dressed in gold and red, danced to blasting music and cheered on the homecoming king and queen. The teenage royalty circled the field in a convertible, with a train of cheerleaders following on motorcycles. I didn’t enjoy it, and don’t think I’ll do it again. That took care of sports.

Next, I wanted to check out a big school’s prom. After passing two security checks, I reached the dance floor, which was more like a giant mosh pit. I was having so much fun until a fight broke out. But 15 minutes later people started dancing again like nothing happened.

My art school’s prom is this weekend. And I still plan to go to it. But the dress I wore to Imani’s prom was a lot cuter than the one I’m wearing to mine. Mainly because her senior class has hundreds of boys. Mine has 10.

Still, as I look forward to graduation, I realize it’s my tiny charter school that’s home. And I’m glad to have been part of a community that tries to educate differently. Because even if our prom might be lame, our refusal to play by the standard school rules is pretty cool.