Growing up sheltered is one on its own. We're the children who weren't allowed to go out past 9 p.m., the ones who have the helicopter parents. We're the ones who more than likely grew up in a strict Christian household where no one spoke of a Santa Claus, because at the age of five, we knew he didn't exist. Oh, and forget trick or treating, because Halloween was never allowed.
Now imagine this 18-year-old girl, who has never been to a party, never drank a sip of alcohol and never really dated goes to college. Her whole life has been inside of her parent ruled home in which the lights shut off at 10 p.m. Well, college doesn't necessarily shut off at 10 p.m., it just kind of begins.
Don't get me wrong, plenty of the children who were sheltered will remain in their sheltered ways and refuse to defy their parents and never get mixed up with the wrong crowd. However, this is for the ones who do engage in their fair share of partying.
To the girl who just got invited to her first ever party that didn't involve a pinata or matching plates and cups and a cake, you are about to embark on a journey that may be a little terrifying. You are going to enter a place filled with dancing people, a lot of booze and loud music. Even though your friends are going to set it as their mission to get you intoxicated and maybe try to find you a guy, please remember that you do not have to do any of that. You can go to a party and stay sober and even though your best friend just went home with that guy, you can go home by yourself. Remember to have fun.
A lot of the sheltered girls become party-ers and go wild, I can vouch for that myself. Sometimes it will get out of hand, and it can get to a point that you are wanting to go back and you regret those mistakes you made. It can get so messy when you are acting against the ways you were raised.
There is nothing wrong with cutting loose and having fun every once in awhile, but to the entering freshmen girls who come to college and have always had these rules run their lives, have fun, but don't lose your true self in the mix. The party scene doesn't have to define you, nor does the strict household you were raised in.
