My all-time favorite quote from a tweet would have to be: “If you are not a freshman or 21, going out is so not lit.” I could not agree with this statement more. When you are a freshman in college, you have the entire world in front of you and you don’t realize how crowded the smelly fraternity house is, or how many guys aren’t actually interested in getting to know you. When you are of legal drinking age, you can bypass all of this treachery to spend your time and money at Midtown in some of the finest bars Gainesville has to offer. So what do the people who reside in this awkward middle ground do? Stay in bed or on the couch.
I have found that staying in bed on weeknights (and let’s be honest, weekend nights) is becoming more and more appealing. I’m not necessarily more productive in terms of schoolwork; I just enjoy binge-watching Netflix shows and falling asleep before 11 p.m. rather than staying out until 2 a.m. and falling asleep with a Jimmy John’s sub still in my hand.
Most people are reading this and probably thinking, “Who is this grandma?” Well, dear reader, I am an upstanding member of the UF community who used to enjoy partaking in late nights beginning with fraternity pre-games and ending in final call at Swamp. All of this exponentially decreases in appeal when you realize waking up for your 9:30 a.m. class is much easier when you are well rested, and no boy is worthy of your time anyway.
Going out is still super fun when you are with your friends and the night is guaranteed to be a good one. My best advice for all of you stuck in that awkward age range, along with me, is to pick and choose the nights you decide to go out. Freshman year is a time for going out every night regardless of what is going on, and after all of those disappointments, you should definitely only go out when something is going to keep you entertained for the longest amount of time.
Moral of the story: Do your homework ahead of time, prioritize sleep, stay in when nothing is going on, go out when something really fun is going on, and don’t be afraid to embrace your inner grandma. Because let’s be real — does it really get much better than watching Netflix and eating cookie dough with your roommates?
Photo credit: sleep-paralysis-info.com