Many college students my age spend their weekends (and sometimes, weekdays) partying. There's nothing wrong with this, and some of these people are even my friends. For me, however, this isn't how I want to spend my weekends. My preferred Friday night includes a cup of Earl Grey, pajamas, my dog, and a good book. This is definitely a case of "to each their own", and I think my unstereotypical perspective rings true for many college students.

I want to go to grad school. This means I need to work my butt off in college in order to get the grades, leadership requirements, and whatever experience I can forage now. This is also the case for many of my fellow college peers. A joke is currently circulating social media on how college is great because the premed student in the corner is drinking a keg while a future judge is passed out in a corner. While that is a gross exaggeration (do premed students even get time to sleep, much less time to party?), my school remains the focus of my studies. Specifically, as a voice major, I can't drink, as it's terribly dehydrating and damaging to the voice. Another aspect is that by the time the weekend rolls around, I just want to relax. Screaming over loud music to talk to the person next to me just isn't my ideal weekend.

In my free time, aka the weekends, I spend it with the people I don't normally get to see throughout the week. I usually visit my boyfriend, who lives a hefty 45 minutes away. Sometimes I go home, about 2 hours away, and recount my stories of hard study to my family. While I have friends who do enjoy spending their weekends at parties, they respect my choice not to partake, and we hang on the weekdays instead.

Forgive me if I'm totally stereotyping, but the idea of being intoxicated around a bunch of strangers in a strange place doesn't seem like my cup of tea. Part of this is my newfound introvertedness. I don't like inebriated people in general, and I like them much less when they're covered in sweat and hitting on me. This doesn't mean I don't enjoy the occasional glass of wine or even a shot of Goose, but I'd rather do that in the comfort of my own home than with a bunch of strangers. From older siblings and peers, I've also learned that the party life gets old after a while.

While sometimes I wonder what happens to make these parties so "fun", I don't feel like I'm missing out. Moreover, I feel that I'm dividing my time differently than some of my peers, and that's okay. Maybe one day I'll finally give in to my curiosity and peep into a party for the 2 minutes it takes to judge whether or not I'll stay.