Welcome to college, freshmen!

You may have made it through Welcome Week without any run-ins with the campus police (congrats!), but you still have plenty of opportunities to meet them up close and personal.

There are going to be many times this year and well into your college career that you will find yourself surrounded by alcohol. And, naturally, you are going to want to partake. Just beware–while you are navigating the university party scene, your RA’s, Campus Police, and Public Safety units are gearing up to bust underage revelers.

Here are some tips on how you can avoid getting written up before your first semester is over.

1. Don’t act like ‘The Freshman.’

Just because you suddenly have access to alcohol, it doesn’t mean you need to consume ALL of the alcohol at once. Even if the cops are out and about, they don’t have the manpower to hunt down every single underage boozer. So, they’ll zero in on the kid stumbling around with a trash can on his head before thinking twice about the passive mingler. The same goes with your RA, who really doesn’t want to walk in on you peeing in the corner of elevator. Read More »

I’ve always been a firm supporter of the phrase, “It’s five o’clock somewhere,” it is almost like a mantra to me.

Whether it was the mimosa I’d sip on Monday morning before class, blind-eyed to my roommate’s disapproving glares, or spiking my Coke with a little nip of rum in the dining commons at lunch to my friends’ bemusement, I’d just smile real big and cluck, “It’s five o’clock somewhere guys! Loosen up!”

Alright so maybe my tendencies slightly resemble that of Sully, the homeless alcoholic on the corner block who’s always singing Ace of Base off-key — But hey! Cheers to being young and reckless! At least he ‘saw the sign’…for happy hour.

Either way, such tendencies made it no surprise at all that I found myself in a bar (Thank you trusty fake ID!) this past Friday getting some drinks with a friend. After a hard week of internship pandemonium, a stiff drink in the city was just the cure. Read More »

Every once in awhile I like going out to bars, clubs, you name it. Buuuuut, I am not yet 21 and I nowhere near look like I am. Because of my short stature, people frequently ask me if I am in high school (and one time even junior high). I know, I know: in 20 years, I’ll be begging for people to think I’m in high school. But for right now, I just wanna pass as 21 so I can go out with my friends. Which is nearly impossible. I still get funny looks from waiters when I order off the adult menu.

So, I got a fake ID. I was lucky enough to inherit an actual old ID of a friend’s after she turned 21. While my friend and I look alike, she is 25 and 5′9. And yet, her ID has worked flawlessly time and time again, even when I don’t wear my seven - inch heels. How does it work, you ask? I follow a few basic steps: Read More »