Before I begin to explain why I don’t have any regrets about spending the second semester of my freshman year at parties, I want to make it very clear that I have the utmost respect for anyone who has decided to spend their weekends at college staying in their dorms or even going home. Hell, that was me first semester. So please, anyone who spent their Friday and Saturday nights in their room watching Netflix, you keep doing you. Just because we choose to spend our free time in different ways doesn’t mean that I disagree with how you do it, or that you should disagree with how I do it.

First semester I came into college a single girl freshly out of a long-term high school relationship. I spent a few weeks getting a feel for the college life. After a month or two, my high school boyfriend and I decided to get back together. I started spending my weekends going home to see him or even just sleep in my childhood room. First semester I spent my weekends either on Netflix or at home in my own bed.

By the time second semester rolled around life was a lot different for me. I was single again and completely interested in meeting new people and broadening my horizons. My best friend is on the basketball team at school and she has a lot of friends because of that. I started to spend my weekends going out with her off campus at house parties.

When you attend such a small school, it doesn’t take very long to meet almost everyone on campus. Every time you go somewhere, you see a familiar face. When I went out on the weekends, I always saw people I knew, but also got introduced to new ones.

Eventually I got introduced to a guy who really caught my attention. We started talking and hanging out a lot and even attending parties together. Even though we came from two completely different worlds, he was the most amazing guy I had ever met. He and I just clicked. We continued talking and as the weeks turned into months, we spent more and more time together just getting to know each other. We would repeatedly see each other at parties. We became really close and even started to date. To this day he’s still the greatest guy I’ve ever met. Now we even attend summer parties together!

Throughout the school year, partying was an escape for me. School work and classes consumed my weekdays. On the weekends, going out and meeting new people was my break from it all. College is a time to make all kinds of friends; friends that will last a lifetime. College is a time to surround yourself with the best people you will ever meet. For me, college parties are the places where I would meet these people. Without a doubt, partying in college can easily be overdone. It can set you off track and even become a huge distraction. However, I think that if college partying is done in moderation and you know your limits, it can really make your college experience enjoyable. For me, college parties have brought me my best friend who will be my roommate next year and my boyfriend; the best guy I’ve ever met. I have no regrets about spending my freshman weeks at school partying and enjoying my friends' company.