Yes, I go to a party school… No, I’m not a dumbass
Time management is key
First and foremost, isn’t every college a party school?
Yes, some may be more wild then others, but no matter where you go there will always be ample amounts of parties to attend. It’s college man. *cue Asher Roth’s ‘I Love College’*
Quasi football shaped jello shots
However there’s no doubt the University of Iowa is up there on the party scale (ranked #2 currently). We’ve also seen loads of media attention from the vast tailgates we host for our beloved football team. And the fact that bars in Indiana ran out of beer when the Hawkeyes were in town for the Big Ten Championship is pretty tell-tale.
BUT I bet you didn’t know that we’re also ranked #1 in the nation for our graduate speech-pathology program and #2 for our nursing administration (US News, 2012). Our Nonfiction Writing Program is also ranked the number one nonfiction program in the country for the fifth year in a row by the magazine Poets and Writers. The University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop is also a world renowned program.
Unfortunately, our party school ranking is the one that gets the most publicity and is our biggest identifier, which ultimately leads to a lot of misconceptions about the school and its’ students. This makes it incredibly easy for people to assume that we spend a majority of our time playing beer pong instead of studying (Yes, we DO play a lot of beer pong, but we also study a lot as well).
Just like almost everything in life, it’s all about balance.
This is considered balance, right?
In 2014, NerdWallet ranked Iowa as one of the “Best Cities for Work/Life Balance”.
I think I can speak for a majority of the students here in saying that going to a party school actually HELPS with learning how to manage your time effectively. It also teaches us how to take special care of our dear ole’ livers. By the end of our crazy four years we will be masters in getting our shit done AND having a kick-ass social life. And yes, it can be hard sometimes, considering there’s drink specials downtown almost every day of the week, but you get used to it.
Along with “Thursday slursday”
How to do it…
The way I balance everything out is instead of taking two hour breaks to watch Netflix during the week, I use that time to get ahead on studying so that when the weekend rolls around I have more free time. And let’s be honest, going out and drinking during the week when you have an un-finished assignment due the next morning is not very enjoyable… okay, it may be a bit enjoyable during the night, but the next morning you will be feeling more than just regret.
Of course, there are those people that party all the time and don’t study, but that percent at Iowa is smaller than most people think. Our main library, as well as Starbucks and Java House, are ALWAYS packed during the week. You can’t even dream about getting a table when finals roll around.
Honestly, when I first came to Iowa I thought the same thing as everyone else. But after being here for almost two years I’ve come to realize what an amazing school it is. There are so many opportunities here and so many students who utilize and make the most out of them.
To say the least, the University of Iowa has a lot more to offer than just parties.
We’ve got mad brains too.