Keeping It Classy As An Upperclassman
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Student Life

Keeping It Classy As An Upperclassman

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Keeping It Classy As An Upperclassman

Put away the frat-lap shoes and start entertaining at home. Transition to a more mature life style, as an upperclassman. 

Our college experience is compromised of some of the most dynamic and fast-paced years of our lives. Two years ago, I was still busy furnishing my dorm room and now I’m furnishing an entire house. Weekends spent at the fraternities have evolved to house parties and roaming Campus Corner. People who started as friends, freshman year, have become family.

Despite all of the changes and developments upperclassmen have gone through since freshman year, it is still extremely easy for us to fall into a routine of school, work, and trying to have a social life somewhere in the mix. As the schedules become more hectic and the weekends off dwindle, it’s important to start planning your social life as much as your professional one.

My friends and I all run on extremely busy schedules, now that we’ve hit junior year. When we do get a chance to hang out, it’s usually with our computers out and books open. While our time together used to be spent in a frat house or on campus, the constant workload of an upperclassman has lead to spending a lot of time holed up in our individual homes in front of a laptop screen. Because of this, we’ve started having family dinner on a regular basis so we can take a break and hang out, screen-free. 

With our family dinners, we are training ourselves for social gatherings and dinner parties once we make it out into the professional world. Gone are the days of frat-lapping and dorm-storming; they've been replaced with homemade food and company you know you like. 

By junior year, most people have a group of consistent friends they enjoy spending time with. Because of this, keeping it classy with a relaxed small gathering of close friends is a lot more fun than the frenzied laps around Greek row trying to meet new people. 

What’s the point of making a gourmet meal and going to all the trouble of setting up for a nice dinner? Why dress up on one of the precious days that could be spent wearing no pants, watching TV? Well, because despite all the trouble, the effort of putting together a nice evening for friends is worth it.

The ever-encroaching real world awaits, a world full of social practices and etiquette that we were taught in middle school cotillion, but haven’t put to practice in years. Take advantage of entering the older college years to put these long forgotten traditions to use. Trade in that weekend flask for a bottle of wine for the hostess. Refresh your memory on salad fork verses dessert fork and start learning to enjoy a cocktail, sip by sip, instead of slamming down Burnett’s at a pregame. 

Mastering the art of the dinner party is like creating a private date party with a guest list all your own. Maybe it’s the people you live with or the friends you see every day; maybe it’s an opportunity to catch up with old friends from the dorms, or to invite some sisters over whom you haven’t hung out with in a while. No matter the occasion, turning it into an event is good practice for the future and a great way to hang out with friends in a new setting. 

Executing this may seem daunting, but with enough people it’s a piece of cake. If every person is in charge of bringing one thing or making a different aspect of the meal, preparation is a breeze. Becoming an upperclassman in college means maturing, and going from the loud music and drunken stampedes of large parties to the comfort and classiness of a set table in your own home. 

Although our family dinners started with paper plates and enchiladas, we have come to enjoy them so much that friends sitting around a couch enjoying a home cooked meal turned into full-fledged planned events, with every detail accounted for. Our most recent dinner was, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” themed, with everything from an extravagant outdoor table setting down to small details, like flower crowns. 

As the college years continue to push forward at an ever-increasing pace, it is important to age with the changes. At the end of our college years, all we have is what we’ve chosen to make with them. So make memories, take the time to appreciate friends and food and, before you graduate, learn how to cook more than ramen noodles.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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