There are many times when it's acceptable to go out and drink with friends and enjoy all the good that alcohol can do (make a room full of strangers oddly comfortable in less than an hour, give you the balls to let someone know how you REALLY feel, etc.).

It can be mood-altering to put on a song about being young and insane, do your makeup while repeatedly reminding yourself that you’re a badass, and have a night with friends that makes you feel very college-y and fun-loving.

But when only last night my roommate and I passed out drunk using dog beds as pillows while attempting to do a guided meditation because our week was “hellish,” this here is not the time.

So, here’s news I just learned--it doesn’t really matter if you don’t go to the party. You’re 21, and you're seeing everyone getting so stoked to go out and essentially die just one more night in a row despite three nights prior, despite desperately needing a gallon of water. Which is fine, been there, the bounce-back kind of drinking is loveable and the perfect influence for making another night of too-hard pre-gaming easy as pie.

But when I’ve roamed my apartment like a zombie for a full day without doing one ounce of the homework that is inevitably piling up and chugging coffee at 8 pm (not a great mixer with shots by the way), it might be time to admit that the party can do without my “please call me an Uber I just remembered I can’t psychically socialize right now” presence.

Yes, I would have preferred to stay in and watch a Disney movie in warm Christmas lighting. But OF COURSE, mid-sleep deprived meltdown at 7 pm on a Saturday night, I got the “when should we pick you up” text and forced the living rally out of me. Yes, I did have a few drinks, running around screaming Christmas lyrics with people I really love.

But the feeling of “GOD do I HAVE to go out” can’t hide for long, and thus comes the realization that I SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME.

Now the music I was just dancing to seems loud and annoying, I can't get psyched for beer pong if I try, and I know I have a warm bed and maybe some leftovers waiting. So yeah, if you don’t want to go to the party--don’t go! Stay in! Do a face mask! Order a pizza and eat more than you should!

Maybe even get an actual 8 hours of sleep. There will be another party next weekend, you will not feel like a lifeless corpse, and you’ll have all your young, insane fun in due time.