College more than packed bars
By Nicole Harris
I'll admit it: I'm a sheep. I go to Blinkies on Thursday nights, the Hut on Fridays, and on Saturday afternoons you might just find me playing beer pong in my friend's front yard. As far as the Santa Clara social scene goes, I usually find myself following the herd.
The thing is, I've always prided myself on the fact that I've never been one to follow what everyone else is doing -- if I like it, I'll do it, but if I don't want to do something, then I won't.
Yet, the other day as I was talking to a friend in the Midwest, she made a comment about how great it is that I live in a place where there are so many things to do.
I began bragging: "Oh I know! I mean, the beach is just over the hill and snowboarding's just a couple hours away. In five minutes I can be in downtown San Jose, which has amazing restaurants, museums and bars, and only a short jaunt up the highway and I'm in the middle of one of the greatest cities in the world."
But later that night, as a drunk girl in stilettos dancing to that song about Apple Bottom jeans stepped on my foot, simultaneously dousing me in a vodka tonic, I came to the realization that I might just be missing the boat.
The fact is, the last time I went to the beach was four months ago. I regard the five-minute drive to downtown San Jose as too great a trip to make, and I think of Tahoe as a place I go to on family vacations in the summer.
Instead of dipping my toes in the Pacific or taking in a show on Haight-Ashbury, I was sipping my social lubricant in a bar that's nothing more than a big room with a whole lot of alcohol in it, and where moving more than a foot in 15 minutes could be considered an Olympic feat. And all because it's the "cool" place to be.
Since when do I care about being cool? I'm not going to look back on my college years and think, "Well, I never ventured more than a mile away from campus, but I was always at 'the place to be.'"
We get so comfortable in our "bubble" that we forget that there's so much beyond our groomed lawns and uniquely-named houses.
When I think back to college, I won't remember how packed Maples was "that one night" or how "everyone" was at C&J's on Wednesday. What I will remember about college is spending time doing fun things with the people I care about.
Sure, great college memories can be made at the campus "hot spots," but they can also take place in the surrounding Northern California terrain that so many of us take for granted.
Go to a concert in Golden Gate Park. Eat dinner in Palo Alto. Take in the San Jose Museum of Art on a Saturday afternoon, or experience a downtown club on a Saturday night.
It's time to get out there.
Nicole Harris is the opinion editor for The Santa Clara.