The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is known as the third best party school in the nation, but is also one of the top universities for grades and job placement. Both titles are a source of pride to students, as they go out during the week and use the weekend to devour in their studies. How is this a practical approach and why are the weekends so dead?

Every student at the University of Illinois takes their education very seriously. They also take their drinking seriously. Since bars have a 19+ entry age, right off the bat freshman are able to enjoy their partying. Luckily, not all freshman are 19, at least right away. It is better to start college off by fulfilling grade expectations before fulfilling bar expectations, which most students do. However, the world has been forever changed by the term “pass back.” A pass back is when a legal bar age student passes back their ID in the bar line to an underage student. It happens, and freshmen are able to enjoy the fun, fresh and flirty environment of the bar scene. 

Weekdays may be the most pre-game, bar, after party filled days, but the weekends are usually going out shy. Between Monday Night Joe’s (MNJ), Wine Night on Tuesdays at the Clybourne and Country Night at Kams, karaoke nights at White Horse and Papa D’s (low-key) on Wednesdays, the typical Thirsty Thursdays everywhere and happy hour on Friday, it is hard to not have FOMO. Plus, no one can not forget about the liveliness of Saturday morning Block and the sweet smell of Kams in the wee hours of the morning. When the football team starts to get better, maybe Block will start to be less fun. But for now, Block is all we have. Block is a way of life. 

Here's a brief description of Block. When a sorority and a fraternity pair up or "Block with” for a semester, they are set up at one of the three Block bars (Kams, Joe’s or Red Lion). At these designated bars, students drink their morning away with Tequila Sunrises and LunchBoxes. Every sorority and fraternity group has selective apparel that shows off their Block and Illini pride (mostly Block pride). Block can be also known as tailgating, but it is not too similar since the students barely ever make it to the game. The typical freshman will buy the season tickets and realize half way into the season that they still have yet to attend one game. It’s okay, freshman, we have all been there and spent that $100, or so, just to end up at the bars instead. 

By the time Sunday rolls around, after a late Saturnday night meal at Tortica’s, students head to the library to study up for the upcoming week’s classes. It may seem odd that students only use one day a week to study, but here at the University of Illinois, we are taught good time management skills. The UGL is never empty during the daytime, but come night time -- fraternity pregames and bars are where Greek U of I students can be found.