Michael Jordan
mjjordan@usieagles.org
English 101.002
Essay #1
915 Words

The Truth About College

I remember the last few weeks of high school. Everyone was ready to graduate and enjoy the summer before going off to college. I worked the whole summer, and it seemed like it was going so slow. I just wanted it to be over so I could get to college and experience the atmosphere. I am now going into my fourth week of college and I have enjoyed every day since I’ve been here. People have this view about college that it is just one big party. Everyone thinks that it is the time in their life to go to parties every night and drink when they are underage. Now that I have been here I notice that the view everyone has on college is not true. I believe that you can have fun and enjoy college without partying.

I believe college is the best time of your life. It is the time you get to spend with friends and make many memories. Today, kids look at college as a way to get away from parents and do things they would not do if they were at home. College is way more important than people think it is. It is sad to see all of the people that are away from their parents for the first time in their life and how they act. Students think they can do all the partying they want and there will be no consequences. I’m not trying to tell everyone not to have fun at college, I just feel that you can have fun without partying. My friends and I have had a blast since we have been down here at USI. We hang out with each other every day and enjoy being around each other. People ask us all of the time, “why are you guys so boring?” Personally I think they ask us that question just because we are not the partying type kids. When I am asked that question, I just want to say, “is partying the only way to have fun?” It bothers me that people act like the only way you can have fun is going to a party and getting drunk. My friends and I have a great time just hanging out in the dorms, throwing the football, playing basketball, and just messing around. Everyone is always talking about parties and drinking during class. People ask one another, “do you know of any parties tonight?” I just enjoy sitting back and listening to all of the other people talk about parties they have been to and ones they may go to. I am just proud to see that I have great friends that are not all about going out and getting trashed every night. My friends and I have had many talks about how we feel about parties and drinking. We all agree that most of the kids at college are out of control. Everyone else believes that the only way to have fun is to go to a party night in and night out. I just feel that I have had a great time so far and I don’t have to have alcohol or anything to make me have fun. I just want everyone to know that they can have fun without going to parties every night. I hate when people tell my friends and I that we are so boring. I do not think that they notice that we are having fun just hanging out with one another. We are the type of kids that can have lots of fun without being drunk. It just really hurts to have people tell my friends and I that we are boring, when they really do not know who we are, and what we do to have fun. I just want kids to look at what we do as having fun. It is sad to see that kids are so into parties and believe the only place where you can have fun is at a party. Even some college professors talk about drinking and all of the parties because they think every kid in the class can relate to that. That makes me really angry because that goes to show that everyone expects that to be an accepted activity on college campuses. I am really happy that I have been brought up that getting drunk is not the only way to have fun. Even though my parents are not here to tell me what I am doing is wrong, the things they have told me throughout the years keeps me from doing things I know that are wrong. I am having the greatest time of my life since I have been in college.

College is not all about parties. I believe that everyone can have a great time at college without partying. I think kids just want to fit in with the crowd, so they do what everyone else does. I am very happy that I am strong enough to say no to something that I believe is wrong. Peer pressure is another big reason I think kids get sucked in to doing things they normally would not do. Kids think that if they say no to something everyone else wants them to do, then they will never have anyone that will like them. I just want kids to stand up for themselves and say no to things that they know is wrong.