IU: Intoxication University

Welcome Week is over, and classes have started. The Wells Library is back to being a hot spot, and students are forming complete sentences without slurring their words.
Freshmen are just beginning to put on the weight, and upperclassmen are selling their old fake IDs on the black market to pay for their textbooks.

Yep, classes are back in session at IU.
 
But many students are finding themselves counting down the seconds until they can throw back another shot and forget about life for a while. Apparently they didn’t have enough fun during Welcome Week. Some cannot even be sober for an entire day and begin drinking after their last class on Monday – or during class, depending on how lenient their professor is. We might have some alcoholics among us, but who am I to judge?

I suppose we have some sort of reputation to uphold as No. 14 on the Princeton Review’s list of top party schools in the country. But perhaps we are choosing to take pride in the wrong aspect of our school.

IU has made the cut on so many other lists for its exceptional programs and faculty. But students love to make kids at other universities feel lame by wearing T-shirts questioning our allegedly “dry” campus. 
   
Why don’t we make them feel inferior? The Princeton Review thinks that our business school’s professors are some No. 2 in the nation. The Kelley School also ranked No. 4 on the list of “Best Campus Facilities.”

We might be the 14th best choice for party animals, but the Princeton Review ranked us No. 13 on the list of “Best College Newspapers.”

It’s ironic that we can be ranked highly on the list of top party schools and also take third place on the list of “Most Family Friendly” business schools. I guess IU is simply the renaissance college. 

So we like to party. College students have been partying for decades and still managing to obtain that diploma. It’s part of the excitement.

What would college be without waking up for a Friday class after a Thursday night comparable to the experiences of the characters in "The Hangover?" 

While each university has its strengths and weaknesses (and The Princeton Review exists to list them), college is an experience students create for themselves.

What’s great about IU is that it allows students the freedom to decide how they want to spend their four years here. I prefer to describe our school as an academic institution where students can learn, work and play – preferably in that order.

All I know is that IU is a truly special school. It would seem a lot of us manage to succeed in so many areas while being drunk. I wonder if the Princeton Review has a category for “Most Successful Despite Being Under the Influence.”