After a plethora of Little 500 festivities, I ended my Saturday night with throw-up on my feet, alcohol on my legs, and was covered in paint from head to toe. And this was the icing on the cake of being awake, sober, and babysitting for seventeen hours of my day.

Per the Greek community, each party we engage in has a certain number of sober monitors who are basically there to ensure the safety of everyone so there can be ~safe fun~. Because who doesn't love being safe???

Amidst a dwindling semester, I couldn't afford to get drunk every night, so I found myself taking people's sober shifts the week of Little 5. I figured I was still going out, but not getting hammered in the spirit of the greatest college weekend in America. Sometimes I brought my homework, but mostly I walked around, danced, made a couple celeb shots in BP, and had a good time.

For me, a party is a party. It's what you make of it! But for the past year or so, I've felt that the idea of being sober at a party has become a dreaded option, and that there is a large amount of peer pressure to drink. When did it become lame to be sober at a party?

I'm pretty sure my sixth birthday was spent in my pajamas at IHOP. That was a great party (obviously bc pancakes were involved), and I was sober then.

And during my angsty middle school years when school dances were my shit, I wasn't bummed out because I couldn't take a quick swig of Captain Morgan. I had fun (especially if Soulja Boy was requested) and was able to have a great evening.

My point is that even though alcohol is more prevalent on college campuses - with an alarming amount of binge drinking in the Greek community - why is there such a need to drink?

I had this revelation several months ago, and I decided I'd start bringing my water bottle with me to the frats. Who doesn't want to hydrate, you know?

So now, months later, I will show up to the party without fail, Nalgene in tow with a "Flaming Amy's Burrito Barn" sticker on the side. Always filled to the brim with ice water, I serve as a moving water fountain for the intoxicated, and I thoroughly enjoy it.

Chasing alcohol with water isn't obviously the best of flavors, but it saves you from a hangover, and from getting too inebriated too quickly. And sometimes if someone is sick and needs some water, I have some to give them and make sure I can help in any way I can.

Being drunk is fun, though, so I understand why there is a lot of us who are in favor of large amounts of alcohol consumption. Champagne turns me into a 35-year old mom of three who loves the cooking channel and vicariously lives through Orange is the New Black. Who doesn't love someone who refers to themselves as "Mama" in the third person?

But at the same time, getting drunk often hurts your body (which you only get one of, you know?) and it can really screw with your brain and overall health, so limiting it will help your body function at a normal rate, so it's better prepared to work when you finally get to drink.

So often I hear, "You're sober? That sucks," and while it might "suck" taking care of people who aren't in their right mindset, I don't find it a burden to take care of my friends. I know that if I was in their shoes, they would be right next to me to get me through it. I find myself fun regardless of whether or not I'm under the influence, and don't feel the need to drink to have fun. After struggling for a long time to learn how to love myself, I realized that I can have fun if I have the right mindset, and, personally, I don't need alcohol to get to that place.

My point to you is this: binge drinking is a very real thing, and it does a lot more harm than good in the long run. College is about having fun, and blacking out kind of ruins the whole point of "making memories." Taking care of your friends is something you'll have to do for the rest of your life, so doing it now shows them that you care about their well-being, and can be trusted with their life in your hands.

You can always find my orange water bottle at a frat, with probably a bag of cheese-its in the frocket of my overalls. I might be sober, or I might not be, but regardless, I'm having a good time.