High school parties and college parties are two different things. In high school, I didn't really go to parties, unless you count prom or homecoming, but I basically knew everyone who went to that party. In college, I didn't know who I would see when I turned the corner and that alone put fear in my heart.
The first college party I went to was a struggle to get to because it was foggy outside and my friends and I had no idea where we were going. At first, we went to a student lead party on campus, which was actually pretty fun, but the first time we left, we went to go get dressed for another party, an actual party, but then I saw that not many people were going and they were going to another party, so we went back to the student lead party and then left again ten minutes later to go to the party we initially wanted to go to.
We get there and the police are surrounding the entire building, which I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I parked (after running into five different potholes) and my friends and I made our way inside. We get in the line to get in and people begin to argue and that just scared me because I thought a fight was about to break out. We get inside and I see that there are police inside the building, so that made me feel a little bit better and safer, but it was slammed from wall to wall in there; I was sweating so bad, you may as well thought that the sun had made an appearance. The center of the floor was filled with sweating bodies moving to the songs the DJ was playing and I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed getting my five snaps to post on my story and I was enjoying being with my friends and then this man walks up and scares us because we didn't see him coming.
He began a conversation, but I could pick up that something was off about him and I didn't like it, so I tried to maneuver our way out of the conversation by saying that I needed to use the restroom and he immediately got defensive and offended and said that I don't need to cut him off, he didn't appreciate it, and he was very sensitive; keep in mind I was never addressing or carrying on a conversation with him because he was talking to my other friend. I knew then that I had to just leave, but I couldn't leave my friends. He continued the conversation and was prodding for information about where we were from, what school we were in, and worst of all, how old we were. That drew the line and eventually he left us alone and told us to enjoy our night and we did; we enjoyed our night as we were high-tailing it right out the building and back to my car to get home.
We walk out of the building and a group of guys starts asking questions about why we were leaving the party early and it was just another uncomfortable scenario for me because part of me knew that they wouldn't try anything while the police were lingering around, but in this day and age, you never know what could happen, so I kept walking while my friends were a few paces behind me talking to them. I turned around to see that they stopped and I asked them why, but I also kept going because I wanted to just get into the confines of my car where I knew I was safe.
It was a good party, but it wasn't a party for me.
I came to the realization that Snapchat is just a fantasy because while I was at home watching the stories of people having fun and I dreamed to be there and be one of them when I got there, it was just that; a fantasy where I wanted to make my life seem interesting.
I was inhaling smoke fumes and having strange men talk to me all for some videos to post on my social media. The worst part of this entire story is my mom told me to stay away from most parties, but I went because I wanted content for Snapchat.
My life was (and to some degree, still is) pretty boring; I go to class, meet with the organizations that I'm involved in, go home, do homework, clean my room, eat, shower, write my articles for the week, go to bed, and do it all again the next day. That's the only life I have ever known because that's how I was raised, but this is the point in a teenager's life (especially a female) where even if our moms and dads tell us about things and share their college experiences, we still want (and have) to go experience it for ourselves; we have to make the mistakes because college today isn't like how it was when our parents were in college. We make our beds and at the end of the day, so it's one we have to lay in.
Do I regret not listening to my mom and going? Not really, no because while I went for the sole purpose to have content to post, I also found out where I do not need to be and who not to associate myself with; in fact, it was an educational night rather than a "lit" night. College is all about learning and this was one of my chances to learn and I learned a lot.
My mom always says, "One day, you're gonna listen to me." and one day I will, but right now I want to live and figure things out for myself.