The Complete Guide to Spring Weekend

Hillary Coombs and Jessica Kline Student Contributor, Bryant University

Hillary Coombs Student Contributor, Bryant University

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bryant chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Warm sunshine, KanJam, ice-cold coolers, and then finals—Yup, it’s that time of year again, Spring Weekend. As the United States jumps into Spring, thousands of campuses across the nation will be celebrating “Spring Weekend”. Bryant will be hosting Spring Weekend April 27-29th but we all know if the weather is nice, this will all start on the 23rd. What is Spring Weekend? Well at Bryant, it’s the one weekend a year that SPB takes over and provides campus with free stuff, concerts, food, games, events, and a ton of other fun activities. It is also the weekend where the whole campus can be seen sunbathing on the lawns, grilling at the townhouses, and going crazy with friends! So how do you survive this weekend? Should you go to the concert? What games should you play with your friends? Is studying necessary? What do you wear? It may seem like all smiles and sun, but this is a college campus so drinking is just as inevitable as having fun. What should you do if your friend drinks too much? These questions and more will be answered here. This, Bryant University, is the Ultimate Guide to Surviving Spring Weekend…

Sunshine
The location of Bryant may or may not benefit us this year. Why? Well because we’re in New England. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then think back three weeks ago when we were all in shorts and tank tops lying in front of Hall 17, then think back only two weeks where our gloves and scarves came back out. This weather is constantly changing!!! Hopefully “Mother Nature” blesses us with 80 degrees and sunshine (instead of 40 degrees with gusting winds and rain). If “Mother Nature” is awfully kind to us, there are a lot of things we should know about the sun:

A sunburn can happen within just 15 minutes of exposure to the sun

Repeated sunburns can lead to skin cancer

Light or pale skinned people and people with freckles are at a higher risk of skin cancer

Put on sunscreen at least 15 minutes before entering the sun and anything with UVB and UVA protection with a SPF of at least 15 is great

Let’s face it, nobody really looks that cute with a peeling back and a Rudolph nose. Lather up with sun screen, you’ll thank us in your old age!

Tip: check out the bookstore they’ve got a good selection of sun screen for a good price!

Food to Fill
We know most people will be drinking so instead of avoiding the topic we are going to jump head first into it and make sure everyone is safe! One of the most important things to do before you drink alcohol and while you are drinking it is to make sure you have a full stomach and to constantly drink water! Why? Well drinking on an empty stomach will have you hung over the toilet, and not drinking water will result in the worst hangover the next morning from dehydration. Think about that time you took that tequila shot and five minutes later, after licking the salt off your lips, you realized, “holy cow, I’m drunk…how?” Well you probably didn’t eat that day. During Spring Weekend, Salmo has a lot of great food to fix all of this! He may not admit it but the chef definitely purposely cooks a lot of “un-healthy” foods this weekend…and guess what? WE GO CRAZY FOR IT! The chicken nuggets hit the spot just as the ice cream cools us down. The greasy bacon the next morning soaks everything up so nicely. Take advantage of any pizza, falafel, pasta, ice cream, and grilled cheese that Salmo offers!

Pizza holds a lot of bread and cheese which are great alcohol absorbers

Falafel allows for easy digestion and gives your body the protein it needs to last the whole night

Pasta is your best friend when it comes to preparing your body for drinking-carbs, carbs, carbs!

Dairy helps your stomach in neutralizing acids so sucking down an ice cream sandwich isn’t such a bad idea!

Grilled cheese shares a lot of the above—bread for carbs and cheese for dairy! You can do the math

Tip: Food is a must but make sure you continually drink water!!! Fill up a few bottles at Salmo but shhhh don’t let the workers let you see you do it!

Outdoor Games to Play
If the weather is gorgeous we better see every single one of you outside! If SPB events don’t interest you, there are tons of great games to play in the sun so take advantage of the weather!

KanJam is a fun Frisbee game! Have a group of four, two KanJam cans, and a Frisbee? Then you can play! Here is a great illustration (below) from www.KanJam.com that pretty much sums up the game. First person to reach 21 points….wins!

Washers is a game where you attempt to toss your washer into a small box to score points! A circle in the middle of the box is worth more points than anywhere else in the box, and teams play to a set limit (you choose!) It’s a good game for 2 or 4 people.

Disc Golf is a cool game that mixes Frisbee and Golf! Set a few different targets, like a golf hole, and start throwing your Frisbee to the targets. Players take a point for every throw made before reaching the target.

Tip: take advantage of the volleyball courts, basketball courts, and open fields on campus! They can waste away hours of fun with some sporting equipment and friends!

The Concert
Big Sean, a rapper, will be stomping on our grounds this Spring Weekend. To attend, or not to attend? DEFINITELY ATTEND! IT’S FREE! Whether you love rap or hate it, you know you’ll try to squeeze to the front row, hands in the air, screaming. Embarrassing but it’s inevitable. Big Sean, also known as Sean Michael Anderson, has a few top songs you should definitely know for the concert:

Dance A*$

My Last

What U Doin

I Do It

High

Fashion Advice
For most of us are girls, what we wear is extremely important to us! Whether you want to look cute or sexy Spring Weekend, or a little of both, it’s important to look good doing it! You need that outfit that will look rockin’ while you beat all of your guy friends at KanJam, cute when you’re sun-bathing, and sexy when you attend those late-night parties. So what should you wear?

Sun Dresses: These are an absolute MUST for Spring Weekend. If it is as warm as it was last year, you are going to want as LITTLE clothing on as possible. And a sun dress saves you the hassle of picking out an outfit because it is just ONE PIECE. Check out this little number from Forever 21, just $11!
Rompers: Much like sun dresses, rompers allow for a quick but extremely cute fix for Spring Weekend. If you are going to be doing a lot of sitting/laying out on the lawn, you will probably want to opt for a romper, so you don’t have to be concerned with your toosh hanging out all day. Check out BCBG for adorable rompers but if you’re looking for a cheap alternative, Target and Forever21 have a huge collection!
Colorful Shorts: Just like bright colored jeans are in this year, so are bright shorts! Especially for Spring Weekend when you want to show off your fun energy through your clothes. And what’s better than throwing on a comfy pair of shorts? Depending on how bold you are feeling, pair your shorts with a contrasting bright tank, or try a simple nude or white tank. Adding some funky bright jewelry to this can easily turn your outfit into concert attire. Charolette Russe has a variety of colors and styles to pick from (starting at $18)! Pair them with a peach or yellow colored tank and you’ll look totally cute!
Fun Sandals: Everyone needs a pair of fun sandals. To dress up a simple colored dress, romper, or shorts combo, add a fun colorful pair of sandals to the outfit. If you mix some matching jewelry to the mix you could turn a plain black romper (that you could wear as a beach cover up, as I do) into a cute summer look or even into a cute concert outfit! For a cute girly pair of sandals try these from Charlotte Russe, only $20.

Drinking
It’s difficult to talk about drinking so I turned to collegedrinkingprevention.org for some safety tips….

We want all of your Spring Weekends to be fun but by drinking too much, the “fun” is completely taken out of the equation. Nobody wants to spend their weekend hanging over a toilet or worse, in the hospital. Take the information on the side seriously and do not forget to use our on campus resources of RA’s, DPS, or anyone else if things become out of hand. It is better to be safe than sorry and nobody will get upset with you if help! Another thing to keep in mind is “YOLO!” Yeah you totally only live once, so do it right. Live, the main word being live, every Spring Weekend to its fullest and don’t ever forget a single memory! These are the best years of your life, enjoy them because in the blink of an eye they will be gone.

So what else are we missing in this “Survival to Spring Weekend Guide”? Come on, think of stuff! We tried to cover everything but everybody views this weekend differently! Voice your opinion, concerns, or your handy-dandy tips below! We’d love to hear from you!

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The Complete Guide to Spring Weekend

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