As the final few weeks of my undergraduate degree at Queen’s roll around, I’ve found myself reminiscing with my friends on all of the memories and anecdotes we’ve compiled over the last four years. This group reflection led to a lot of laughter and shaking our heads in total disbelief, exclaiming, “Did we really do that?” and, “What were we thinking?”
In the interest of full disclosure and in honour of completing my four long years at Queen’s, I’ve created a list of 15 questionable things that I did while in university that only seemed acceptable because I was in university. Regardless of whether I approached the whole university experience in the right or the wrong way, I certainly feel as though I left my mark.
1. Taking too many shots of alcohol before I even left the house to save money at the bar. We have to do what we can on a student budget.
2. Ruthlessly clearing people away on the floor to dance battle my friends. The most memorable of these nights ended in me picking my sister up off the floor from the splits.
3. Drunk texting boys who don’t deserve it, having it blow up in my face, and then ordering a few too many drinks because I’m mad at myself. #whocanrelate
4. Showing up to work on Sunday morning all green and sweaty with a hangover from hell.
5. Partaking in a Zumba class still inebriated from the night before. At least I was really able to let loose and shake it! 6. Using a pair of sweatpants as a towel because I’d been avoiding laundry day.
7. Convincing my friends to pre-drink during their night class because they are not free until late but they’re always down for a good time. That could be considered proactive and practical, right?
8. Getting in a cab with a group of relative strangers and speeding off to an unknown destination on a whim. Our mothers would cringe if they knew that all the cautionary warnings they instilled in us as children go out the window when cute people offer us food and a place to continue socializing…
9. Crashing a bachelor party… or two.
10. Having a fabulous photo shoot in the back of Stages… it’s shameful but it’s true.
11. Eating a complex diet consisting of eggs, oatmeal and carrots, because cooking actual grown up meals is too much effort.
12. Bringing my friend who passed out back to life with a lot of patience, love, and a junior chicken.
13. Falling down the stairs at Stages in front of my high school crush.
14. Running home with my friends, freezing cold from the bar in the middle of January, because we realized at 2 a.m. that our coats had been stolen.
15. And last but not least, my personal favourite: Getting my minivan stuck on a huge patch of snow while trying to Dukes-of-Hazzard jump my way into a parking spot. After calling a tow truck, thanking the kind man for his help, and briefly inspecting the vehicle for damage, I proceeded to drink a bottle of wine and make it out to Ale in time for line skip.
When I read the list above aloud, I realize how many bizarre situations I’ve gotten myself into and how spontaneous and irresponsible I can be. Evidently, I partied too much and slept too little. Yet, at the time all of these events were taking place, they seemed completely normal, often welcomed. There is something about the university bubble that distances us from our own actions. Even if we’re slightly embarrassed, we’re often more than ready to do it all again the next Friday night. University is such an innately paradoxical time in life. It is a time full of studying, high stakes, and intellectual advancement, but it is also a time of exploration, fun, friendship, and release. In the end, all of the lessons I’ve been taught, whether in a book or in the real world, have shaped me into the person I am and have gifted me with some great friendships and a handful of hilarious stories to tell!