Thursday rolls around once again and while I was one of the few people that usually stayed at home and studied, most people were heading to nickel night at Ted’s or Huskies. Granted, I was never one to drink before I turned 21 anyway, so I gladly stayed away from the bars. Once I finally turned 21, however, I had this sense of curiosity: what is nickel night actually like? My friends and I decided to find out for ourselves and thus began the journey of how we all lost our nickel virginity together.
Place: Ted’s
Day: Thirsty Thursday
Why: Because are you really a UConn student if you don’t go to nickel?
1. The pre-gaming
Although I didn’t take part in any pre-gaming, I can see why people would want to do that now. Half the fun is showing up to the bar already too drunk to care what you do. Since I showed up sober, clueless on what to get for a drink and half the size as everyone there, it took me probably 15 minutes to get to the front and finally get a drink for me and my friends.
2. First Impressions
When I walked into the bar, it was much smaller than expected. Since I had no idea what I was doing, seeing a giant mob of people fighting their way to the bar was pretty intimidating. Making my way up to the bar was interesting to say the least, and uncomfortably sweaty.
3. Halfway Through
Like I said before, I was never much of a drinker before I turned 21 so I started feeling buzzed about two drinks in. By this time, I was too drunk to care about letting other people get their drink. I gladly just shoved my way through to the front of the crowd.
4. Party Time
At first glance, the bar seems pretty intimidating with all the people, the shoving and the unfamiliar drinks, but once I got my sea legs, it was probably the most fun I had all semester. It’s no wonder that people did this all the time because it’s a blast going out with your friends and getting hammered. I also have to say, the music selection was on point. I was afraid it was going to be 100% rap music, but was pleasantly surprised when I heard songs like “Mr. Brightside” and “All the Small Things.” I’m not a huge fan of rap so being able to rock out to those early 2000’s anthems made my night that much better.
5 Quitting Time
After about four vodka cranberries in, we decided to call it and head home. Once we did get home, I didn’t feel like I reached my limit just yet. We took a couple more shots and just relaxed in the apartment. We were (and still are) newbies, so while some of us were drunk Facetiming, others were playing “Wonderwall” on guitar and I was failing more miserably than ever trying to play Grand Theft Auto.
6 The Next Day
The more I drank, the more the voice in the back of my mind kept telling me to not worry about the fact that I had class and work all day on Friday. Although I probably could have been much worse off, dealing with the Friday hangover made me never want to go out on Thirsty Thursday ever again. I’m a super lightweight and I’m pretty sure I woke up drunk the next day, so if you saw a girl stumbling her way through campus looking hungover and drunk at the same time, I apologize.
7 Overall Thoughts
Going out on Thirsty Thursday was such a fun experience, I’d be lying if I said we didn’t stop at the other bars again that Saturday. Although I probably wouldn’t ever want to go that hard on a Thursday night again (at least not while I have work and class the following Friday), I would definitely go out again on the weekend. I don’t regret deciding to not drink while underage, but I can’t deny the amount of fun I’ve been missing out on for years
Thursday at Ted’s Overall Rating: 7/10
Saturday at Husky’s and Husky Tavern: 9/10
Take my ratings with a grain of salt. Most people enjoy Thirsty Thursday when they don’t have anything to do on Friday’s, and I agree that I would have had a lot more fun if I could skip all my classes and call out of work. I’ll save the drinking for the weekends from now on, but Thirsty Thursday was a lot more fun than I was expecting.
Do you have a ~crazy~ nickel experience? Tweet us @UConnHC!!