East Carolina University has endless opportunities to have a good time, but that comes with some difficult decisions to make.

As much as we love being pirates at ECU, here are some challenges and problems we face or just like to complain about.

1. Making it to 21 years old without getting a drinking ticket, or several.
With the ridiculous amount of ALE officers in Greenville, it's almost impossible to dodge them for three years.

2. Attending a Friday morning class
Sometimes you can't avoid the dreaded Friday morning class. There are actually some teachers who declare "No Class Fridays" due to the lack of attendance.

3. Choosing between a pool party and attending class
It's a gorgeous 80 degree day here at ECU and all of your friends are headed to the pool. The last thing you want to do is sit in a classroom for hours. You just can't get a beer or a tan in a classroom.

4. Drinking on a school night
The endless drink specials downtown are hard to pass up, even when you have an 8 a.m. 

5. Finishing a degree in four years
Whether or not you walk under the cupola, a degree in four years flat is not that easy. Taking more than the bare minimum of classes really cuts into your free time.

6. Convenient late night eating spots really make you broke
When you're downtown where Michaelango's and Sup Dogs are just a stumble away, it's hard to tell your drunk self that you probably shouldn't be spending the money.

7. Drunk people tend to be stupid
We all love to drink and party, but at times people in Greenville go a little too hard. For example, someone thinking it's a good idea to play with pepper spray in the middle of a crowded night at Sup Dogs was not the smartest decision.

8. Actually making it into the stadium for a football game.
We tend to tailgate a little too hard at ECU. Although I am in no way complaining, attending football games is a bit difficult.

9. Finding toilet paper downtown
This is probably more of a girl problem, but it seems like every bar downtown runs out of toilet paper in the first hour and never have any back up. They should really buy it in bulk to help us all when we break the seal.

10. Parking
It really seems like parking attendants are out to mess your day up when they are right there to give you a ticket the second your meter goes up. Rain or shine you can count on the attendants to leave you a nice yellow ticket for parking on campus without a pass.

11. Finding a decent landlord in Greenville
Especially when you're trying to live in the grid, finding a house with a decent landlord is near impossible. They will try to overcharge you, refuse to fix anything and overall not be that nice to you. Advice for the future: the landlords with a few houses rather than many will treat you a lot better.

12. Having or finding a relationship
In Greenville, where casual hook-ups are more common than relationships, it can be very difficult to find people that are looking for more. On the other hand, a lot of students come to ECU in relationships and find the party atmosphere hard to keep up with when you're tied down.

13. Deciding whether or not to join the Student Pirate Club
The decision is tough. Should you pay the $50, get a free t-shirt and access to all of the home games that you may or may not make it to? Will there be that day when you actually want to go to the game and say to yourself, "I wish I got a pass"?

14. Staying out of the hospital
This can be very difficult. Downtown is always covered in broken bottles, girls in ridiculously tall high heels and the ability to get hurt. Whether you go to the hospital for second degree burn from making macaroni and cheese like my roommate, or from face planting downtown, you'll probably make a visit there at some point.

15. Wanting an animal
I had to add this in here because I want a puppy so bad. Realistically, getting an animal in Greenville is not the greatest idea. We have so many opportunities to go out and do things, we barely have time or energy to do our laundry or go to class never mind take care of an animal. Still the struggle is real when we see others walking by our house with their dog or in my neighbors' case, their goat they bought off Craig's List. Even the boys figured out quickly that as college students it's tough to take care of an animal, especially a goat.

So there is my pirate rant for the day. Whether you are running from ALE, fighting with the parking attendants or finding a house just remember: there are a lot more perks of being a student at ECU than there are challenges.