If you walked out of the Schoolhouse on March 29 around 11 a.m., you most likely witnessed the most dramatic “promposal” you’ve ever seen.

While senior Sophie Weed was walking out of Schoolhouse and heading to lunch at noon, Sophie and her friends were greeted by a pleasant surprise down the street right by the Fire Department. Her boyfriend, Vikram Dalmiya, a senior at Williston who works at the Easthampton Fire Department, was standing on the lift of a firetruck over 15 feet in the air with a huge sign saying one word: Prom?

This may have been the most extravagant promposal to ever be done at Williston, and Vik’s unique idea didn’t go unnoticed. However, way more planning went in to the proposal than people might think.

When asked how he pulled it off, Vikram said: “So I came up with the idea just by wanting to do something big and special for a promposal, and thought that doing something with the fire department would make a statement.”

He continued:”It took a few days to plan. I had to find a day that it would work to ask Sophie. I also had to go through my captain and chief to get permission to use the apparatus. I had to ask the deans and security if I could do it on campus but was denied due to the fact it could disrupt the school day and be detrimental for young kids on campus.”

The most worrying part proved to be the timing and whether Sophie was going to come out at exactly the right time.

“It was hard to pull off because I had to get everything ready in time for her to get out of class,” he said. “Along with that, we were swamped with emergency calls so if got a call during that time, the promposal wouldn’t have worked.”

His hard work payed off; his plan went as smoothly as possible and he said it was all worth it in the end.

“I felt good because it was amazing to see how happy Sophie was,” he said.

Vikram was not alone when it came to his promposal. Senior Emily Rosenberry was an eyewitness account and played a role in planning the event.

“When Vikram first asked me if I thought it was a good idea I was hesitant, because it seemed really over the top and I wasn’t sure how Sophie would react,” Emily said. “But in the end I think he pulled it off.” His original idea, Emily said, “was way more extra than what he actually ended up doing.” She did not say what the original idea was.

“I had a free and I knew when Vikram was going to do it because he had asked me for advice,” Emily said. “Me and a couple of my friends were in the dining hall and we all walked over to the fire station before Sophie got out of class so we could see her reaction ”

In the end, Emily agreed that the proposal went as smoothly as it could have.

“I did think it was good, I thought it was really funny that Vikram got dressed up in his whole uniform and a lot of people stayed to watch,” Emily said. “We were all worried because we didn’t know where Sophie went, but when she came out of the schoolhouse she was really surprised and happy.”

The girl on whom all the time and efforts were spent could not believe the response she got.

“My initial reaction was absolute shock,” Sophie said. “I was just leaving English class at the time and as I was walking down the stairs I saw a big clump of people standing near the senior parking lot. And I was wondering what was going on.”

“When I was crossing the street, I looked to the left and saw the firetruck with its flashing lights and the banner that said prom, and Vik on the ladder, and I just thought ‘wow.’ I was just overcome with awe and happiness because I could see how much effort he put into this and I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time.”

Vikram’s goal of making it unexpected also proved to be successful. Sophie said:”I wasn’t expecting it at all. I had no clue that he was going to prompose at that moment.”

She continued: “Vik had told me to meet him outside the schoolhouse after English, but I didn’t think that this was anything out of the blue until I saw the promposal. It turns out a lot of my friends knew that It was going to happen for a while, but they did a really good job of keeping it a secret. It was an amazing surprise.”

“I thought it was cool that so many people were there to watch it,” Sophie said. “And of course I said yes! “