Thursday rolls around once again and while I was one of the few people that usually stayed at home and studied, most people were heading to nickel night at Ted’s or Huskies. Granted, I was never one to drink before I turned 21 anyway, so I gladly stayed away from the bars. Once I finally turned 21, however, I had this sense of curiosity: what is nickel night actually like? My friends and I decided to find out for ourselves and thus began the journey of how we all lost our nickel virginity together.
Place: Ted’s
Day: Thirsty Thursday
Why: Because are you really a UConn student if you don’t go to nickel?
1. Â The pre-gaming
Although I didn’t take part in any pre-gaming, I can see why people would want to do that now. Half the fun is showing up to the bar already too drunk to care what you do. Since I showed up sober, clueless on what to get for a drink and half the size as everyone there, it took me probably 15 minutes to get to the front and finally get a drink for me and my friends.
2. Â First Impressions
When I walked into the bar, it was much smaller than expected. Since I had no idea what I was doing, seeing a giant mob of people fighting their way to the bar was pretty intimidating. Making my way up to the bar was interesting to say the least, and uncomfortably sweaty.
3. Â Halfway Through
Like I said before, I was never much of a drinker before I turned 21 so I started feeling buzzed about two drinks in. By this time, I was too drunk to care about letting other people get their drink. I gladly just shoved my way through to the front of the crowd.
4. Â Party Time
​At first glance, the bar seems pretty intimidating with all the people, the shoving and the unfamiliar drinks, but once I got my sea legs, it was probably the most fun I had all semester. It’s no wonder that people did this all the time because it’s a blast going out with your friends and getting hammered. I also have to say, the music selection was on point. I was afraid it was going to be 100% rap music, but was pleasantly surprised when I heard songs like “Mr. Brightside” and “All the Small Things.” I’m not a huge fan of rap so being able to rock out to those early 2000’s anthems made my night that much better.
5 Â Quitting Time
After about four vodka cranberries in, we decided to call it and head home. Once we did get home, I didn’t feel like I reached my limit just yet. We took a couple more shots and just relaxed in the apartment. We were (and still are) newbies, so while some of us were drunk Facetiming, others were playing “Wonderwall” on guitar and I was failing more miserably than ever trying to play Grand Theft Auto.
6 Â The Next Day
The more I drank, the more the voice in the back of my mind kept telling me to not worry about the fact that I had class and work all day on Friday. Although I probably could have been much worse off, dealing with the Friday hangover made me never want to go out on Thirsty Thursday ever again. I’m a super lightweight and I’m pretty sure I woke up drunk the next day, so if you saw a girl stumbling her way through campus looking hungover and drunk at the same time, I apologize.
7 Â Overall Thoughts
Going out on Thirsty Thursday was such a fun experience, I’d be lying if I said we didn’t stop at the other bars again that Saturday. Although I probably wouldn’t ever want to go that hard on a Thursday night again (at least not while I have work and class the following Friday), I would definitely go out again on the weekend. I don’t regret deciding to not drink while underage, but I can’t deny the amount of fun I’ve been missing out on for years
Thursday at Ted’s Overall Rating: 7/10
Saturday at Husky’s and Husky Tavern: 9/10
Take my ratings with a grain of salt. Most people enjoy Thirsty Thursday when they don’t have anything to do on Friday’s, and I agree that I would have had a lot more fun if I could skip all my classes and call out of work. I’ll save the drinking for the weekends from now on, but Thirsty Thursday was a lot more fun than I was expecting.
Do you have a ~crazy~ nickel experience? Tweet us @UConnHC!!