Happy Weekend, senior collegiettes! With thirty-something days to go, senioritis and nostalgia have completely taken over and literally every adult on the planet feels a need to tell us that “This is it!” or “You’ve made it to the homestretch!” or “This is the final leg of the journey!” when you’re just trying to spend a week at a time doing nothing but eating Pinkberry on the steps. Never has the expression “all of the feelings, all of the time” been more true than it is for us seniors right about now, which makes it dangerously easy for some very bad senior spring behavior to emerge. You want to be the fun-loving, wise yet relaxed senior soaking up some rays on College Walk or laughing with friends over Happy Hour chips and guac at Amigos, not the senior bragging about her bajillion job offers a little too loudly or drunkenly weeping into her mimosa (at 10 am). Don’t be that senior! Read on for five of the most hated behaviors to avoid as we enter these final few weeks to ensure that you’re taking on this crazy, last hurrah stretch of senior spring in classy collegiette style.
1. The “Ugh I’m like so over this” senior.
Frat party? As if. Conference that starts at 9am? Um, no. Leaving your bed basically ever for activities that don’t include wearing pajamas, drinking, or watching TV? I think not. Sound a little too familiar at this point in the semester? As much as it’s totally understandable to skip a night out for movies and R&R, or to resent sitting in class on a gorgeous day when you just want to lie in the sun, there are amazing events taking place on this campus literally every single week and those opportunities are time limited. Netflix is forever, but the chance to hear Anna Quindlen speak or shmooze with Gloria Steinem or support an amazing philanthropic cause while dancing your ass off? We’re lucky enough to go to a school where those moments can be just as “college” as day drinking is, so hold off on permanently taking to your bed until May 22nd.
2. The “Ohmygod this is THE LAST TIME we’re gonna ___” senior.
What if this is the only day it’s nice out for the next three weeks and I miss my chance to eat Mr. Softee on Lehman Lawn?? OMG guys, this is our last Diana pizza consumed at 2pm on a Thursday EVER! Let’s all calm down for a hot second. We’re walking across the stage at Radio City to graduate and earn a diploma, not to fall into a black hole and cease to exist. Yes, senior spring is full of lasts and I’m the first to admit that The Last Sprit Day and not registering for classes again stopped me in my tracks. I mean, I almost passed out in line at Pinkberry when we got the 40s on 40 invite. BUT, that doesn’t mean you want to be the friend no one will eat meals with for the next five weeks because it just might be your last Bento Box or chopped salad ever, ever in life. Try to save the “Last ___” urge for really big moments like a formal, the end of classes for the semester, or Senior Week!
3. The “As if I care…I already have a job!!!” senior.
Why would I go to class when I’m already spending my starting bonus on shoes and alcohol?! If there is a surefire way to make people hate you, this just might be it. It’s incredibly exciting to finally have a job lined up and to know exactly what next year has in store for you, and you absolutely deserve to celebrate and be proud. Go to dinner with your parents! Get drinks with your friends! I just caution you against celebrating all over Facebook or in the middle of the Diana Café 1pm crowds when those of us who are still barreling towards a 100% uncertain future feel like throwing our salads or white pizzas at you.
4. The “I just love you guys like *sniffle* so much” senior.
One minute you’re taking mirror selfies and devouring pizza at the Koronet’s counter when next thing you know: “What if I never see you guys *sob* EVER again?!” Uh oh. “Will you guys, like, promise to be my bridesmaids one day?” “I just love you so, so, so much and no one will everrr be this patient with me.” This offense is committed most frequently in conjunction with a few too many shots or perhaps drowning senioritis sorrows with a bottle of wine (or three). Senior spring is an incredibly nostalgic experience. Your friends become moving pieces around you who may or may not land on their feet in a location that is remotely close to your own. Of course you should tell the people who have shaped your college experience that you love and appreciate them! That sentiment, however, is so much more meaningful when shared over dinner or a mellow movie night. When sobbed into a margarita or Tom’s milkshake at an inappropriate time, genuine feelings get lost in a major hot mess moment of runny mascara.
5. The “Guysss, I don’t even know how I got so drunk” senior.
I’m not gonna get blackout, I just wanna have funnn! Oy. This is not NSOP. I repeat: this is not NSOP. It’s totally normal to have a few drinks and want to be silly and margarita crazy during these last weeks of college. Who wouldn’t want drunch or a little bartending practice pre-Bacchanal?! But do you know what’s not cute? A soon-to-be real world employee getting CAVAed as if it was freshman fall and she didn’t know her limits yet. You want to be the life-of-the-party senior who can keep it together while having a great time, not the girl who needs her hair held at every party.
We’re all guilty of these senior spring bad behaviors from time to time, it’s just a matter of reining it in enough to be the cool friend everyone wants to hang out with as the semester winds down.
Go for this:
Not that:
Don’t be that senior!