The party don't start cause I never walk in

Movies like “Animal House” and “22 Jump Street” depict college as one big party, where students spend all their time getting #turnt instead of going to class.

While this may be true for some students, others like junior Tyler Petty find different ways to have fun.

“If that’s your scene, then great,” Petty said. “But for people who aren’t trying to get turnt or go out on the weekends, there are a ton of great things to do in Chapel Hill.”

Petty said he enjoys having friends over to his house or playing games — specifically Settlers of Catan.

“My friends and I also really like to travel and hike, so if more than two of us have a free weekend we’ll take a camping trip somewhere,” he said.

Junior Hannah Hudson said she’s not super into the party scene either.

Instead, she enjoys Italian dinner nights with her housemates and friends and the occasional swing dancing outing.

“I can have just as much fun wearing sweatpants and my slippers,” she said.

And all the non-party people said, “Amen.”

Hudson said part of the reason she doesn’t go to parties is because she has her car on campus.

“When you’re in a dorm, you’re forced to stay on campus a lot more,” she said. “But when you have a car and live off campus, we can go to a concert, we can go to Durham, we can go to Duke if they’re having a cool event — we can do whatever we want, really.”

Students who live in the dorms — especially first-years and sophomores — can feel pressured to go to parties in order to have the college experience, and there’s nothing wrong with that, she said.

But those who don’t feel comfortable with that should know there are other options.

“I think there is still a little bit of a stigma that just because all of your friends are doing something that you have to do it, too,” Hudson said. “Be mindful that there are a lot of other people on campus who are having fun without going to parties, and you can find at least one of them.”

Senior Alex Koszeghy is a resident adviser, and while she isn’t a big partier, she said she doesn’t care if her residents enjoy it.

“As long as they don’t bring it back into the halls, my philosophy is ‘you do you,’ as long as you’re being safe,” she said. 

If you don’t feel like going to parties, don’t feel bad about it, Hudson said.

College is full of new experiences, so as long as you make good choices (thanks, Mom) you can’t really go wrong.

@alexablazeDTH

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