College is such an impactful time for young adults. They are on their own for the first time, discovering who they are and what they want to do with their lives. During this period of self-discovery, students end up experimenting with new things such as partying and substance use. Now I’m not here to say that this is an inherently bad thing, instead I’m posing the question you read in the title: has college party culture gone too far?
College FOMO (Fear of missing out):
At many schools going out and drinking can sometimes feel like the only option for socialization. It can feel like you’re missing out if you aren’t going out every weekend. It is almost as if you won’t get the real college experience unless you experienced it with a liquor bottle in hand.
Now this is not to say it isn’t fun to go out and have fun with your friends, but I think it becomes a problem when this becomes the only way you can have fun with your friends.
Going Out:
Sometimes there’s no better feeling than going out with your girlfriends after a long week-dancing, laughing, not caring about anything besides getting the DJ to play your favorite song. However, the fun becomes a bit diluted when you carry out the same routine week after week. Pregame in someone’s dorm, go out to whatever frat is throwing, repeat…repeat…repeat. In my opinion, the best part about going out is the social aspect. You can meet new people, laugh and chat with friends, see the girl who sits next to you in class, and you bond over not doing the homework yet, flirt with your crush. I’ve made so many great memories on my nights out.
dealing with The repurcussions:
Going out and going wild every weekend is all fun and games until every weekend starts to become the weekend plus Thursday, then Wednesday, then Tuesday, then Monday then its the whole week. I’ve seen too many of my friends get attached to substances as they creep their way out of the weekend and work themselves into a daily activity. What used to seem fun and cool now just makes me sad and miss my old friends. The amount of people who go from going out and just drinking to getting addicted to cocaine in college is actually insane. Pregames where we would all have a few drinks now turn into certain friends leaving every twenty minutes to go do a line in the bathroom.
The sad and scary part of all of this is that most of these people are in complete denial that they have any kind of problem. The number of times I’ve heard people say “it’s not alcoholism until I graduate” is incredibly concerning. People think that somehow as soon as the diploma hits their hand, suddenly all of their dependencies will just vanish.
Takeaways:
I hope this makes you reflect on your own choices and habits and think about how they could affect you in the long term. It may sound lame or cheesy but don’t be afraid to do your own thing. Don’t feel pressured to do things just because the rest of your friends are. You’ll be much happier that you had a moment of not fitting in temporarily than sever your relationships because you chose substances over your friends and family.