Why you don’t have to drink at the #1 party school in the country
Drinking at U of I is all fun and games until you’re ‘that drunk person’ at a party
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard the phrase “take a shot” in my past three years at U of I, I’d probably have enough money to open my own bar on campus. All right, that’s totally a stretch, but I’ve definitely heard that phrase too many times to count.
Going to U of I, I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew the reputation it had, so my experience my first night out didn’t come as much of a surprise. Mini plastic shot glasses filled with half Burnetts/half off brand soda lining some sticky counter in some senior house I’d never been to.
My first night out freshman year with my roommates
After being asked to take a shot at least five times, I took one. I hated it just like I knew I would. This went on for the first couple months of school: choking down nasty watered down alcohol or a warm beer when I would go out, trying to not throw up while I drank a cranberry vodka from Kams. Then one day it hit me.
If I don’t want to take a shot, I don’t have to. When I go out, I don’t even have to drink. I’m a 20-year-old woman, who is some random person to tell me to take a shot? Then I tried that wild idea out one night, spoiler alert, you don’t need alcohol to have fun at U of I. People think that at the number one party school, everyone drinks, every night, all night long. But that’s not the case.
Documented proof of sober fun I’ve had, even at barn dance!
I can’t lie though, the first time I told a frat boy that I didn’t want a shot, he looked at me like I had seven heads or something. He couldn’t believe that I didn’t want a shot. Is that hard to comprehend? I could tell from his reaction that he thought I was totally lame, and this exact same thing happened for a while. Eventually though, I realized I didn’t care . . . at all.
I realized that most nights I was only drinking because everyone else wanted me to drink. I would start a night out knowing I didn’t want to drink, yet somehow I would end up with a drink in my hand. I think people at U of I assume if you go out, you want to drink, and if you don’t have a drink in your hand something’s probably wrong with you.
A smarter more mature me who doesn’t force herself to drink
And yeah, I still get weird reactions when I tell people I don’t like to drink. Is it really that strange to not like forcing hard alcohol on yourself when you know you’re going to get sick? I realized that it wasn’t worth it to end up hungover the next day to the point of not being able to make it to class. I promise I’m not lame though. I do drink – sometimes. I’ll have a beer or two, maybe even a mixed drink if I’m feeling ambitious.
Call me crazy, but a night out at U of I can be just as fun when you’re sober. It’s entertaining enough to see all of the other drunken people. I can say from first-hand experience though, you don’t have to take that shot to have a good night.