Although my school, Miami University, is distinguished as a public Ivy League school and is known for its academics, it is also one of the top 20 party schools in America. Between the numerous bars in Uptown Oxford that you can get into at 18 and the many parties at frats and off-campus houses, it's not hard to find a "good time."

However, many students like to take their nights a little bit further than a "good time."

I can't tell you how many times I've overheard a conversation on a Saturday morning in Starbucks or a Monday morning in class where someone is almost bragging about having no memory of their night out. Despite this culture, in my three-and-a-half years at Miami, I've never blacked out.

Call me crazy, but I want to be able to actually remember the memories I'm making in college.

I'm not trying to shame the people who choose to live that lifestyle or judge them for their choices. If going out is truly how you enjoy spending your time, then that's a personal choice. However, I'm living proof that it's possible to go out and drink without getting blacked out and I think a lot of college students don't understand that. I enjoy having a good time with my friends, but I know my limits and I have no desire to surpass them. Not only do I wish to keep my liver intact, but buying that many drinks in one night is expensive. And maybe I'm just a control freak, but I also have zero desire to wake up in the morning and have no clue what I did and who I was with the night before.

I've had so much fun in college, and many of my favorite nights have been spent completely sober or with a good chick flick and a couple glasses of wine. I wouldn't want to trade any of that for nights spent kneeling over disgusting bar toilets and mornings where I have to try to piece together all of the crazy things I did the night before.

I find it so unfortunate that so many people believe that college doesn't get better than that.

So to all the other college students out there, while it's true that college is probably the last (and only) time we can get away with going out on Wednesday nights on a regular basis (any fans of Country Night at Brick?), that doesn't mean that drinking until you black out is the only option. Everyone says that college is four of the best years of your life, so why not try to enjoy them to the fullest?