Partyin' it Up

As a college student, the most fun that we get on a Friday night is going to a party at the nearest college dorm room or apartment. The worst part about Friday night parties, however, is the Saturday morning hangover. This seems to be a common problem that many freshmen encounter: not studying enough and partying too much.

As a freshman, I’ve noticed that I’m slowly becoming what society calls "a party girl." Not only because I’ve been frequenting Friday night parties for the past couple of weeks, but also because, for some reason, I just can’t stop going to them!

In high school, I was never a "party" anything. I went to one high school party, and that was only because my friend was dying to get her hands on some booze and nobody else wanted to drive. Go figure.

But now that I’m in college, I go to parties, clubs and anything that involves a social gathering every weekend. What happened to me in the couple of months that I’ve been here? I’m supposed to be studying... not partying!

In fact, us college kids deal with anything through partying and binge drinking. If you get an A on a test, you go out and party. If your significant other broke up with you, you go out and party. If you’re bored, you party. Whenever we find an excuse, we party. That’s just how some of us roll.

The problem is that partying not only affects your studies and your work, but it also affects your health. (Yes, there are things that are more important than Jell-O shots and playing beer pong.)

According to Healthy Minds, a Web site that specializes on talking about physical and mental health, young people between ages 18 and 25 have the highest percent of binge drinking with a shocking 38.7 percent.

Partying is fun, but how far is too far? It’s not fun waking up the next morning regretting things that you might have done while you were drunk. Or even worse, it’s not fun waking up the next morning without remembering what happened the night before. It's also not fun waking up on a random couch half naked with Sharpie drawings all over your body.

There has to be a balance between partying and school work. But most importantly, there has to be a balance between knowing how much your body can take and how much you drink. Just because you think it’s fun feeling a little dizzy and being completely careless for a couple of hours doesn't mean it's good for your body.

As much as I’m growing to like partying, I’m definitely trying to be careful in the way I carry myself at my social gatherings.

Partying is fun, but death isn’t.

If you’re becoming addicted to the party scene like I am, here are some tips to try to balance your school life with the party life:

1. If you really can’t wait to go that Friday night party, then work your butt off during the week and get your work done before the party! Nobody likes to work while hung over.

2. Try to limit your partying and beer pong play-offs to just one day per week, preferably a Friday or a Saturday night. Don’t pick random days in the week or you won’t be able to stay awake during class.

3. If you party hard, then work hard. Classes and books deserve your attention, too!