It’s that time of year again when the weather is warmer, the sun is out, the days are longer, and everyone’s laying out on T-Hall lawn. After being in class all morning, I can honestly say that there’s nothing better than sipping on a nice cold beer after class. As college students, we are all too familiar with day drinking, whether it’s pre-gaming before a football game, drinking after class, or partying on Young Drive. My friends and I always say, “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere”. In other words, it’s never too early to start drinking!
But for some reason, and I can say from my own experience, that many of us always go too hard too early. By 5pm, you’re hungover and you find yourself in struggle city. And when your friends want to drag you out at night, you’re thinking, yeah that’s not happening… So, with spring coming up, I thought I’d give everyone some helpful tips for how to survive any daytime drinking!
Do:
–Start your morning with a mimosa, or two. Grab some OJ and your favorite champagne. It’s classy, refreshing, and you won’t feel so guilty drinking really early.
-Load up on your carbs! It’s really important to get as much food in your stomach so you can drink longer. This will also help the next morning not be as rough.
-Hydrate! Remember to drink water between drinks throughout the day. It is one of the best things you can do to minimize that awful hangover the next day.
-Pace yourself: day drinking is an endurance event. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Listening to your body is one of the most important things you can do. If it tells you, “I’ve had enough”, well you had a good run.
Don’t:
-Start the day off with a keg stand at 8AM. You don’t want to be riding the struggle bus by noon. Instead, save this for later at night, and end your night with the grand finale!
-Set a limit if you’re at the bar. We all know that when we’re out, for some reason we just think we have all the money in the world and keep buying drinks. Even though drinks are cheap in Durham, it definitely adds up! And, in the end, the reality is we’re just poor college students.
-Mix drinks! As tempting as that tequila shot is, fight the urge to switch to hard liquor. Try sticking to one form of alcohol because we all know things never end well when we mix drinks. Remember the saying, beer before liquor, never been sicker.
-Try to keep up with your friends. It’s not a contest, and everyone has a different tolerance. Some hold their liquor better than others.
If you keep these tips in mind, I can be sure your day drinking will be successful. Remember to have FUN, drink responsibly, and keep calm and drink on! Cheers to the last one standing!