Livin’ The College Life – Is This Normal?

February 20, 2009     Posted in Reality

keg-stand.jpg


By Lauren

It’s amazing how universal the college experience is and how readily we all accept it as normal. Talk to any college student on any college campus in the country and you will easily find common ground: in the drinking games, in the fake ID horror stories, in the theme parties, in the hook ups.

It is only when an outsider (Read: An Old Person) looks in and comments on the college scene that we take a second look and realize that our choices really aren’t that…acceptable.

My friend recently sent me this article, in which some old dude jumps into the college scene and reports what he finds. And what was it? Just your typical weekend at any college campus: parties, makeouts, puking, etc. Only, when he talks about it it sounds a lot different than when we share our stories in a typical Saturday morning recap.

To any college student, this article is nothing new (except maybe that whole Girl Goyle thing…I have never heard of that!), but seeing it from the outside makes it seem so different.  So wrong.

When we are sitting in the college bubble, putting a garbage can in front of a drunk person not only seems normal, it seems responsible. But to an outsider, it is ludacris.

To a college student, grinding up next to someone at a college party is the universal sign for interest. But to an outsider, it is almost barbaric.

And how many girls have you seen giving impromptu lap dances to friends at a party? Or making out with some completely random guy at a party for 10 minutes before heading back to her friends? Or blacking out for a night only to get up the next day to do it all again.

It’s all normal, standard and expected as part of the college experience, but it all seems so shameful when seen through the eyes of someone else. I mean, stop and think about it for a minute: why do people to Keg Stands? And why do we devote so much energy into bouncing a quarter into a glass? And why are we so consumed with sticking our tongues into random people’s mouths in a dirty, stinky basement?

College is supposed to be preparing us for the real world, but how often do you think professionals judge their peers based on their performance in a case race?

How did we get here and is it something we should be ashamed of, or just another case of older people just not getting us? Should we care? And, more importantly, have you ever done a Girl Goyle?!

15 Comments on "Livin’ The College Life – Is This Normal?"

  1. maddie says:
    Fri, 20th Feb 200912:25 pm 

    thank god someone wrote an article like that. i don't participate in the whole drinking/hookup culture at all and frankly it continues to baffle me.

  2. C says:
    Fri, 20th Feb 20091:34 pm 

    Yay DC :) That's GW for you…keeping it classy.

  3. grace b says:
    Fri, 20th Feb 20091:53 pm 

    Yea I agree. There's nothing wrong with drinking for enjoyment and WITHIN your limits but I know wayy too many people who can't control themselves. That's how articles like that get published when people go crazy. People would truly be preparing themselves for the real world if they learned to drink in a controlled manner. No one likes a crazy drunk when you're 35.

  4. Jessica says:
    Fri, 20th Feb 20093:35 pm 

    It took someone else writing an article about it for people to realize how trashy that behavior is? Wow…I thought people were a lot smarter than that by college.

  5. Jessica says:
    Fri, 20th Feb 20096:18 pm 

    Way to go CollegeCandy!!! Finally, a little logical thought. Clearly, college was developed as an institution to extend our education and prepare us for the professional world. Unfortunately, too many use it as a way to claim "independence" while failing to take responsibility for their own actions. Why do so many people want the freedom that college has to offer without the responsbility that it brings?

    CollegeCandy, I praise you for posting a blog that causes one to question the choices we make.

    Keep this coming!

  6. Rebecca says:
    Sat, 21st Feb 20093:47 am 

    Ludicrous, not ludacris. Unless you WERE referring to the rapper, in which case my bad.

    This article is very true, and it makes me think about how 'mature students' (those who start college when they're 21+ rather than 18) experience the 'college life'…do they actually partake in all of the weird stuff we do?

  7. Rebecca says:
    Sat, 21st Feb 20093:48 am 

    (but then again, I hate the drinking/hookup culture myself. I'd rather stay in and have a good time with my boyfriend sober rather than with some randomer)

    Good article :)

  8. Angie Marie says:
    Sat, 21st Feb 20095:47 am 

    This is the best CC article I have ever read (and I have read a lot)…kudos to Lauren for being bold enough to suggest that life should be about far more than partying.

    On that note, I just want to point out (in case any high school girls are reading this article and now freaked out about college !!) that there are many people who DONT participate in crazy behavior in college.

    I, for one (as well as the vast majority of my friends) have fun going to frat parties some weekends, going to movies and restaurants others, and even occasionally going to a university-sponsored event or even staying in to do homework. We are all pretty, fun girls who get plenty of attention from guys and have a good time without making stupid decisions. In fact, I've never even been tipsy…I occasionally have a few sips of alcohol at a party, but I limit myself to a tiny bit. I haven't hooked up with anyone because I personally am waiting for marriage to have sex, but I definitely get hit on by plenty of cute boys.

    haha…so all that personal experience and bad grammar hopefully wasn't obnoxious…I just wanted to point out that there are some college kids being responsible!

    Anyway, great article!

  9. Max says:
    Sat, 21st Feb 20093:57 pm 

    It seems like the OP is trying to agree with the writer of the article, but I read the entire article and I didn't get any of the same opinions. Barbaric? Ludicrous? The article simply followed college kids around and presented what it was like. They didn't really take any stance.

    http://ratales.blogspot.com/2009/02/much-ado-abou…

  10. Jennifer says:
    Sat, 21st Feb 20098:35 pm 

    During my first semester, I too was totally baffled by the "college lifestyle." As Maddie puts it,I do like to let loose sometimes, but I'm not down with the whole "hookup/drinking" culture.

    But this article does bring up another interesting point…lots of college students feel like this behavior is acceptable, because their simply "in college." But what happens when you graduate and enter the real world? Surely you wont get away with that kind of lifestyle as a 30something &/or parent, and maybe eventually your former hard partying ways catching up to you in real life [ie, a boyfriend who finds random hookups unclassy, alcoholism, credit card debt, etc...]. There arent any "free passes" in life…just something to think about.

  11. Max says:
    Sun, 22nd Feb 20091:51 pm 

    Jennifer,

    I think it's the people who successfully adapt to the "real world," post college, who achieve good things. Those people who keep trying to relive college are the losers in life. I see it at every frat party I go to – the guy in his 30s (or even 40s!) who has his hat on backwards, his letter jacket on, and 3 days of stubble, trying to score with the college girls. These guys are the first to get laid off from their landscaping jobs.

  12. Lucy says:
    Mon, 23rd Feb 20095:59 pm 

    Wow, I didn't know everyone hated party people! Frankly, I'm not surprised nor offended. This IS the one time in your life when you can be a drunk idiot (to an extent). It's after college that you are indeed, a fool. I'd say to stop critizing the ones that are out having..fun.

  13. Steph says:
    Wed, 25th Feb 200911:20 am 

    I would just like to add that I know both types of college people…those who criticize the party culture and those who partake in it…and I can totally understand where they all are coming from.

    I am one of those who enjoys the fun/freedom of these years. Of course college is meant to get you ready for later in life, but as Lucy said, you won't be able to enjoy the partying later without being viewed negatively (even more so than in college). I am a 3.9 GPA honors student who frequently participates in the above-described college experience–I think it's all a matter of one's personal views/values/behaviors how the party culture should be taken into account–for some it's perfectly appropriate but not for others.

  14. Nick says:
    Sun, 21st Jun 20095:57 am 

    I am trying to figure what the term "college life" really means. It is especially hard in trying to figure it out while dealing with depression like I am currently dealing with right now. I am trying to be responsible and stay away from the party people because I believe in the saying "you are what you hang with". Do I miss partying, of course, but at some point, you have to look down the road to see what road you want to take and that is what I am trying to figure out now and really need help.

  15. Smashed says:
    Mon, 31st Aug 20093:02 pm 

    A few years ago i read a book called Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas. I recommend this book to anyone who is going to college, in college, a binge drinker, or sick of binge drinking. I picked it up the other day to reread it and everything she explains is right on. We make friends by drinking. We act emotionally immature. We can't walk. We slur. Somehow this is fun, and even ACCEPTED because we're in college.

    I'm a fifth year senior at a notorious party school (WVU), and I'm officially done partying. When I say that people gasp and reply with, "BUT WHAT WILL YOU DO?" and you know what? I have absolutely no idea. The party isn't over, but the blackouts are. My love for alcohol is officially over.

    And in the article posted, the writer is trying to show what college is like. It's supposed to show the "joy of college" which is ultimately the downfall–excessive use and exploitation of alcohol, sex, and drugs.

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