A common concern on any college campus is alcohol consumption among the student body. Yes, the truth is that college students drink. Some drink too much. But buried beneath all the negative stigmas surrounding alcohol on college campuses is a simple colorful truth: it is a choice.
Marquette nightlife is not meant to be depressing, but more so a playing field for social growth in the college experience. Those who choose to play, and those who do not, will find Marquette's campus a rich social environment with much to offer. Attending parties is optional. Most of the drunken Friday night Neanderthals are actually quite fully evolved human beings who have learned one highly sophisticated lesson: Don't take life too seriously. Let me walk you through a weekend night at Marquette through the eyes of such a man.
A few friends recline in our apartment, it feels good to have the weekend here. We know about a party at Renee Row, so we head over.
At the door, my friend hands me a beer and I thank him. No one is rude enough to turn down a free drink. I meet a cute girl from my English class and we share a laugh. It is good to see one another outside of the classroom. I tell her I'll see her in class when she has to leave to help her friend who has had a little too much to drink. I am wondering what the kid in the polo short is writing in a notebook in the corner when I receive a text from my girlfriend at Caffrey's. Gathering my friends, I thank our host over the loud music and we head out the door.
Sitting in Caffrey's, my friends and I watch my girlfriend buy a pitcher at the bar. The guy in the polo from the party is also here and approaches her. They exchange a couple words and she comes to sit back down. We laugh as she tells us that he called her "voluptuously curvaceous," and shows us the Hollister Co. receipt with his number on it. After a round of drinks, our group says our goodbyes with plans to meet for lunch tomorrow.
In one article (Brandon Stokes' Jan. 24 column, "Night life at Marquette, the way I see it") our entire student body was conveniently generalized into two distinct stages of human evolution: the Neanderthal, too drunk not to drag his knuckles, and the Homo sapiens who walks with his spine a little too straight and his nose a little too high. Unchecked sweeping observations produce unwarranted generalizations.
These parties are not debates designed to find new vaccines or add the final number to Pi, nor are they town meetings that require your presence. Rather, they become mediums for those who choose certain social modes. It is in the "what am I doing here?" moments that I look around and see all of my friends laughing; I feel how young I am, how happy I am, how tomorrow will come, how I am receiving a strong education here at this university, how no one remembers moments perfectly, sober or not, but how moments build into happy memories. That I will remember.