The struggles of a night out as a girl at CU

With the reputation of being ranked by Newsweek as one of the top ten party schools in the country for 2016, it’s a no brainer that when you come to CU you’re not just there for the academics. Everyone takes pride in the usual thirsty Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays to live up to the crazy night expectations.

For us CU girls though, there’s a lot that goes into a fun night out. Not to mention all the things that go wrong or get messy in the process…

Should I wear this for Thirsty Thursday or the day parties at the frats Saturday?

We all want to look our best when we go out on The Hill. Who knows who you’ll meet, right? But then you have to think about the million other aspects that go right along with it. Is it snowing outside? Do I need a jacket? The weather in Colorado in general can be an hour of sweet seventy-five degrees and switch quickly to twenty and a blizzard. Hair up or down? It could be hot inside with all the people and dancing and I could get sweatier faster. Black shirt doesn’t go with my jeans, but there’s less of a chance for visible sweat stains. Dark eye makeup that’s mysterious or red lips and light shimmers for more fun? Soon you’re out the door with all the outfits you didn’t go with hiding your entire floor.

Where do I stash my belongings at all the random house parties on The Hill?

Everyone has their essentials they need when they go out. Wallet or maybe just a few credit cards, cash and your ID, along with maybe a jacket, is the least amount of things you can get away with. Next thing you know your in a bar dancing or at a house party socializing and your carrying all these things with you. You’ve got the extra awkward third hip sticking out where your wallet and money is or the 80’s wrap-around-the-waist jacket look. Super sexy. It’s always good to try and bring as little as possible so you have less to worry about and look after. My advice is your Buff One (especially for freshmen, keep that safe), a credit card, your ID and keys to your house/dorm.

Don’t zig zag from Theta Xi to Chi Psi and back to Sig Ep by yourself.

Boulder is a huge campus and most of the frats are all over the place, definitely far walking distances. When you go out, it’s always good to have some kind of friend to go with you. That way you can walk home or to your car together and someone always has your back. However, sometimes you get carried away and either you have a friend that disappears with someone else or a friend so drunk you have to carry her back yourself at the end of the night. No one likes to play babysitter and ending up by yourself to walk anywhere late at night  is bad news. So pick someone reliable and be some reliable – maybe your roommate, a sorority sister, your best friend, it’s always good to know you have someone who’s looking out for you.

Can we invent an app called Google Hill to go along with Google Maps? 

Lots of us end up sitting on the couch or in our room on a Friday night texting and calling friends asking what’s going on tonight? What is everyone up to? So more often than not we get the random house address, general location of a party a friend of our friend’s sister tells us to come to, or maybe even one of the many frats that all mix together and sound alike. Next thing you know you are driving around randomly up and down different streets, or worse: walking. And who knows what the weather could be like… It’s always the worst when you get an address that feels like you have to go through a labyrinth to find! Best advice: follow the hoards of people around. The freshmen always travel in herds up and down The Hill.

Those sketchy house party awkward situations we all know too well

It doesn’t matter where in the night you end up there will be two kinds of guys who approach you. There’s the intense, awkward, a bit too far off the radar kind of guys and the fun, charming, nice guys. You’ll be dancing and someone will try to dance with you and you notice maybe they are kind of creepy. Just shimmy another direction or just walk away. You’re not obligated to be nice or careful for someone’s feelings getting hurt, it’s your choice and you probably won’t see them again anyways. It’s always good to survey the scene a bit anywhere you go and try to pick out who you know to stay away from.

Welcome to the world of hot fraternity heaven

So like picking guys to stay away from, it’s much easier to walk into a room and immediately see some man candy from across the way. Still take caution – you don’t know the flavor of the donut until you take a big bite out of it, you don’t want a huge bite of raspberry jelly filling when you were expecting chocolate. However, never be afraid to be outgoing. Disco towards him jokingly and stand out a little. Go start a conversation. Who cares if you say something that comes out weird? Am I in a sorority like Alpha Phi? Sure, why not for the night if that’s a conversation starter. Again… you might not ever see them again anyways.

The fake phone number bit

If there’s a guy really bothering you, don’t be afraid to give them your phone number and get them off your back – your FAKE phone number. It’s always good to sound confident about a number that in the back of your head. I’m really sorry random stranger about to get a booty call… I had no choice.

Where’s the best lighting for an insta post?

Nowadays social media stands above all. It interconnects us, keeps us updated on each others daily lives and often leaves us feeling unstylish and like we need to eat some yummy food. So! It’s girl’s night for your sorority sisters or you see your best friend at a party that you haven’t seen all year and nowwww you need a photo. Naturally all these thoughts occur to us. How’s the lighting, is there a cute wall for a backdrop, which side do I stand on because my part goes a certain way and yours goes the other way! So many stupid details that matter so much in that moment.

Random frat floor or your own bed?

At the end of the night, especially if you’ve been drinking, driving home is not an option. So either you stumble home in the late night, you pass out in a place of your choice, usually on the floor of a dirty house or random room of a frat, or the best option… you Uber! Save yourself the misery of trying to struggle home in crazy weather or sleep on a surface that is meant for dead bugs. Save yourself the bad night’s sleep/walk of shame the next day

Welcome to CU Boulder, where you wake up every Sunday morning looking like a homeless person.

When you finally make it home after a fun night and maybe still a little (or a lot) drunk, all you wanna do is fall into bed. Your face has all kinds of different makeup smeared across it and you’re probably not wearing the comfiest outfit, and yet nine times out of 10 we all go right for the bed ignoring the makeup remover and pass out on the comforter with a blanket over us. In the morning we look like messy drag queens that have gotten less than the recommended eight hours of sleep. Should we take five minutes to wash our “faces” and throw on big T-shirt? Probably! But do we? Never.