I’d say an analogy that gets thrown around in regard to college is the following:
Would you rather be a small fish in big pond, or big fish in small pond?
For many of us at Michigan, the answer is simple: Be a big fish in a big pond.
Correction: be a big fish in a big, drunk pond.
The prevalence of alcohol on campus is by no means a trend solely belonging to our university. In fact, four out of five college students drink alcohol, and about half do so through binge drinking. Partying, if you so choose, is part of college, and I think that many would agree that the underworld of alcohol consumption is one of the many facets of our collective American college experience as it’s widely known.
That said, my personal view of alcohol has changed dramatically since I stepped on campus seven months ago. I have changed dramatically since I stepped on campus seven months ago. I came to college with an expectation I think many of us once had: a picture-perfect playground of academic brilliance and prolific nightlife. I expected the ultimate conjunction of simultaneous scholastic and social success. I prepared for the promise of working hard and playing harder – everything we had hoped for in the depths of our adolescent need to fight boredom, socially and intellectually.
Here’s what I expected, and got: the mind-blowing, overwhelming, exciting and appalling ecosystem that emerges when you throw the leaders and the best into a frat basement on a Thursday night or a backyard on a Saturday morning. I expected the parties and tailgates. I expected the inebriated hook-ups, loud music and occasional police encounters. This is what I was primed for, and though you can’t really fathom it until you’re part of it, I cannot deny it nor chastise it.
I’m not a critic of drinking on campus. I fervently back consent, moderation, medical amnesty, legal regulations and law enforcement, but even with my moral compass intact, I can’t say that I am in the position to judge or even dislike the nightlife here. In fact, I think it’s fun.
My problem is not with partying itself. My problem is with the dissonance that’s begun to seep in these past few months, as we’ve started to outgrow the initial amazement of the infallible social vivacity of this school. My problem is with the nagging feeling that, in spite of everything this university has to offer, there’s something we might be missing.
We come to school here as, more often than not, small fish in a big pond. Yes, we are encouraged to think big. We are prided as the leaders and the best. We, as students at the fourth top public university in the nation (US News), are here for a reason. I’d like to think the majority of us came here to learn as much as we possibly can, both academically and about ourselves.
My fear is that within our desire to prosper socially, we risk neglecting parts of our identities. My fear is that, in attempt to fit in, whether it be by making a name for ourselves or simply following the crowd, we might flatten ourselves out. I worry that, without realizing, we rob ourselves of our own dimensions – the complexities of the hobbies, concerns, interests and quirks that make us interesting. I worry that we dismiss our pasts, and are shy to speak openly of our future aspirations. My fear is that we use alcohol not as a means to enjoy ourselves, but as a method of self-medicating when we’re uneasy at a huge party or reeling from a draining week. And as someone who has never strived to be the biggest fish in the pond, I’ve found that sometimes the drunken, crowded moments are ones that can make us feel impossibly small.
My fear is that, at most turns, it’s so easy to be subtly allured away from taking intellectual risks and towards taking physical ones. Of course, it goes without saying that part of what makes college so liberating is our freedom to make these choices. The ability to party with reckless abandon and minimal consequence is something exclusive to college that we should take advantage of. I just fear the possibility of losing the curiosity and dedication that led each of us here. I fear that, at times, the passions that exist within each of us are not extracted or valued in their entirety when class is done and we are left to our own devices.
Here we are. This is our playground. This is our pond, our chance to work and to play, to lead and follow. This is what we signed up for, and this is what we get.
I am the last person to pass judgement of party culture on campus. I truly believe that having fun is a fundamental part of collegiate life. I will continue to go out and enjoy myself. But, I encourage us all to remember the richness of intellect and potential for growth that exists in ourselves and in each other. Strike up a conversation with a stranger. Study with the kid in your class that you met out last night. Join a club sport or a social justice club or a book club. Do something that intoxicates you besides drugs and alcohol.
Let’s all find the balance between work and play, and let’s walk out of this place one day with the sobering knowledge that we came here to grow, and did so.
Images courtesy of: Emily Stillman