Licking County

For fall break I went to a quaint little place called Granville, Ohio to visit my girlfriend, and while it was probably one of the best weekends I’ve ever had, like ever, the east coast was a bit shocking after spending six whole weeks cooped up on Palatine Hill. At Denison University, where I spent a good portion of the break, I found few “heavy chillers,” as we might call them here at LC. Nor did I go to a “kickback” or find too many “hella legit” things going on in general. No, this school was far more rambunctious than Lewis & Clark. While we might have a “woodland creatures” themed party that ends when campus safety so much as rolls down the street, Denison is having a “barbie and ken” themed party that doesn’t end until someone pulls the fire alarm. Or while I’m standing in the keg line for twenty minutes at the woodland party, trying to get my five dollars worth of pbr, a Denison student has already had four shots of cherry vodka and on their fifth beer without reaching into their wallet yet.

The dynamic was completely foreign to me. Never have I seen a dozen pretty blonde girls walk into Maggie’s and talk for twenty minutes about how shithoused they got the night before. At Denison, this kind of thing is everywhere. Partying absolutely dominates and the kids absolutely love it. They go out on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays of course, and sometimes Sundays. And while “going out” at LC might mean riding bikes down to the cemetery for a beer, or having a half dozen people over to your dorm room to sing along to bob dylan, at Denison it consists of beer pong in one hall, a dance party in another, followed by anywhere from one to three frat parties, five nights a week.

So while I’ve opted for a mellower, less douchey environment than the Denison kids have, they are going to have a much better story to tell ten years from now. It’s much more impressive to hear, “In college, I partied like a National Lampoon movie” than it is to hear, “Man, I used to chill hard in college!” This is something I just didn’t think about when looking at schools. Maybe it would have been sweet to come out of college with a nickname like “slam” or with a reputation for being the kid who actually supermanned a hoe, but as for now, I’m comfortable with keeping at least a few of my brain cells and staying here at Lewis & Clark, even if it means I have to overhear lesbian sex every other night.

-Squaw