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How to Survive Your First College Bar Crawl

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UWM chapter.

If you’re newly 21, you have lots of (bar) doors opening up for you. Some of those might include those infamous college bar crawls that we all have to experience at some point. Whether it’s the fact that I go to school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and spring days that are above 50 degrees are celebrated only in the form of dartying (day partying) and keg stands, or the fact that all college students love a full day of just being drunk, it sure is fun. But drinking for 12 hours isn’t only hard on your bladder, but your entire body, mind and soul. Here are some tips I learned at my first bar crawl!

  1. Feast the night before: Make sure you eat a dinner full of protein, carbs and other yummy vitamins the night before your big day of drinking. You need to be ready for battle.
  2. Eat a high protein breakfast: Ever heard of eggs and kegs? Well it’ll keep you full for a while and give you enough energy to last through those questionable hours.
  3. Drink LOTS of water the day before
  4. Your hangover will hit at 2 am and your head will feel like it’s about to explode.
  5. Don’t get too drunk before noon. You still want to socialize a little bit before you completely make a fool of yourself.
  6. If you get too drunk and know you’re about to get sick, be a good friend and uber your butt home before your friends have to carry you home in a couple hours. This also increases your chances of rallying.
  7. Your shoes are going to get dirty and you’re going to have to be okay with that.
  8. By the time 3 o’ clock rolls around, everyone is going to start to get weird and dancing all over each other and kissing people, places and things they shouldn’t be.
  9. Ever heard of vodka waters? They’re delicious and nutritious. Not really either actually, but they hydrate while they intoxicate… which is my kind of drink.
  10. Try having your name somewhere on your outfit. It’s a great conversation starter and if you get lost people can help by shouting out your name.
  11. Don’t get lost.
  12. If you’re drinking nine to five, make sure to eat something after if you’re trying to stay alive…
  13. That one popular food place near the bars that is cheap and quick will not be cheap and quick that day and you will be drunk and upset.
  14. PACK SNACKS. Drunk you will never be happier.
  15. Take a bunch of vitamins the next day because there’s a 95% chance that you probably caught a cold that day.
  16. Don’t be too hard on yourself the next day. We all make mistakes. Chances are nobody even remembers or noticed.
I'm a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee studying marketing and international business. I spend most of my time traveling, writing, interning and hanging out with the most inspiring people.