It’s the same scene, every weekend. Music blasts from behind closed doors, girls sloppily clomp around in heels and too-tight skirts, and shrieks of laughter ten times too loud echo down the hallways. Thursday through Sunday campus is transformed into a ghost town, at least until the sun sets. Then, the students emerge to once again indulge just a little too much and wake up the next morning wondering exactly why we continue to do this to ourselves.
In fact, according to the Core Institute, the nation’s largest statistics database on alcohol and drug use by college students, 73 percent of students drink at least occasionally. But the thumping music, pushy guys, and crowded basements gets old fast. Really fast. Which is why sometimes, you have to switch it up a bit.
Another Saturday night rolls around, and the familiar noises start to fill the hallway. My roommate and I have just finished our Chinese takeout – practically gourmet in comparison to the dining hall – and have basically cried our eyes out over The Notebook. It’s a classic girl’s night in, but for some reason neither of us is satisfied. It’s only 10 o’clock, and we’re bored. Bed isn’t an option, and there’s no way we’re changing out of our sweats.
Stymied by the situation, we sit around and discuss options. “We could watch another movie,” she chimes in. “Or we could not,” I respond, always the chipper one. She laughs, and we both start discussing how noisy the girls in our hall are. “I wish we could just watch people stumble around frat row. That would be so entertaining,” my roommate laments. And then it hits us. Why don’t we?
At first, we just joke about sitting in the cold and laughing at the costumed girls and ogling guys, but our joking turns to planning, and before we know it, we’ve got our coats on and are heading out the door. “First stop, Kimmel,” my roommate declares, and we walk over to grab hot chocolates and chips with salsa, mostly because we figure if we’re going to do this, might as well go all out.
Steaming cups in hand, we head towards frat row, trying to decide where we’re going to set up camp. We settle on the cement wall in front of Ernie Davis – perfect for scoping out all different party areas on campus. We settle in, and wait.
It’s not long before the party animals emerge. Buses roll in from South campus depositing students who then trip up the hill and make their way to their party destinations. It’s not long before my roommate and I are counting the weird looks we get as people walk past.
A group of freshman sees us, and amped up on liquid courage, strikes up a conversation. “Wait, are you eating chips and salsa?!” one boy exclaims. We offer him some, and soon have seven new friends all happily munching on Tostitos. Not long after that, another group of sophomore frat brothers stops to grab some chips and salsa as well. We also bond with a freshman who spends his Saturday nights long boarding down the hills of campus.
Soon though, our hot chocolate is gone and our butts numb, so we head back to our room, looking forward to snuggling down in our University-issued beds. The next morning the remnants of our night are evident in our room – the bag of chip crumbs sits on top of the fridge, and our trashcans smell like hot chocolate, but we agree it’s definitely better than waking up hurting and looking like death.
Now, I don’t mean to come off like your stuffy grandma, but sometimes, a night in is all you need to have a good time. Yes, it’s fun to step out in cute outfits and party like its 1999 on some occasions, but on others, you have more fun with a bag of chips than you would have ever thought possible. So go ahead, be daring and take a walk on the not-so-wild side. Because a night to remember is so much better when you actually remember it.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Syracuse chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.