The movie screens paint a widely interpreted picture when it comes to the life of a college student; wild keg parties, drugs, excitement, and sex are all possible situations popping up in the minds of eager high school seniors and expecting college freshmen once they set foot on a college or university campus.
The reality is that these expectations are mostly true, but it all depends on the college, the maturity of the students, and what stakes they are willing to risk.
I was placed in this situation recently when visiting my number one dream college, Long Island University Post, in Brookeville, Long Island. It was Homecoming, and the Pioneers beat their opponents – some unfortunate college football team – 27-24.
Very clearly in the college world is the correlation between victories and celebrations. Myself and a few friends were invited to an after party to be held in the dorms (the time and location was and is still unknown to me), and we, being the eager high school seniors as described before, jumped at the chance to “turn up” at a college party.
While the party-to-be was hours away, my friends and I faced some hard choices and questions to determine how our night would end. Is this a college party? Yes. Will there be drugs and alcohol? Most likely. Is there a chance that we could be taken advantage of? The chances are too close for comfort.
Is there a possibility that the party would get busted? What consequences would we face? Would we ruin our chances of getting into LIU?
These were the stakes we were unwilling to risk. While the allure of attending a college party was strong, the allure of attending the college itself was stronger. So in the end we made the best decision to stay in the Career Bar at Hillwood Commons. We “turnt up” to our own dance party using the portable Bluetooth speaker LIU gave us as welcome back gifts, drank Vitamin Water, and actually worked on a few V.E. related things on the computers.
Instead of going out and getting wasted, we wasted our time productively, a waste we are proud to have made.
The Gypsy Journal 