By Abby Rathburn
As spring break quickly approaches, I cringe with the image millions of Americans will get of college students. It will be of a student hanging off a balcony with a Solo cup filled with a mystery concoction of cheap liquor and yelling something completely incomprehensible.
I detest those of you who give college students this image.
I don’t care one bit if you go and get drunk every night. Just please refrain from getting arrested and if you do get arrested, don’t mention you are a University of Louisville student. There’s nothing inherently wrong with drinking when you’re 21. If you want to drink illegally underage, that’s your prerogative. Personally, I think the drinking age ought to be 18 anyway. However, if you feel the need to go drink and stand on a balcony, please, please don’t fall off. I simply do not want to explain to my family and work why a U of L student would do such a thing. If you are tempted to go out on the balcony and you can barely walk, remember the sand is softer to fall on from your height than from a 12 foot balcony.
In addition, when you’re down in Florida, forget your camera. Yes, those photos of your boyfriend in a bikini and you dancing all up on some guy will be hilarious when you get back. However, they won’t be so funny when you get fired for not representing the company well, or when they prevent you from getting that dream job right after graduation because you posted the photos on Facebook.
In addition, when you go missing after a night of partying, you would much rather see a photo of you volunteering back at school rather than you taking shots off the stomach of that hot girl you met. You’ll look much more respectable to the public and to the officials.
Furthermore, if you are going to spring break, do not dare complain to me you have no money when you get back.
I understand you need to get away from the daily grind but if you can’t pay April’s rent, do you really think spending hundreds of dollars on a hotel and booze is the best idea?
If you have been saving since your summer job at the pool to go to spring break, go ahead and enjoy yourself. If you decided last week that you wanted to go and had to find the pennies and nickels under your couch to pay gas money to someone, you probably ought not to go. Let’s face it, alcohol, even the cheap stuff, really adds up if you’re drinking half a fifth a night for an entire week. And if you feel the need to get drunk every night of spring break, it would be much more cost efficient to stay in Louisville, where retailers won’t have marked up the price on alcohol nearly as much.
Go ahead and enjoy yourself on spring break, just please stay off the 6 o’clock news.
